Obama’s Hair, Is It Mythical?

On the walls of the West Wing, Obama defies the mandate in a clichéd picture by White House photographer Pete Souza. The picture is of a 5-year-old African-American boy, Jacob, who was on a visit to the White House with his parents. He is patting the hair of President Barack Obama to see if it is like his. Normally, the photos on display in the corridors are changed regularly. This one has been there for more than three years, and nobody seems to think about replacing it. The strong symbol it contains is die-hard. The White House holds on to the picture, and the New York Times, moved by the photograph, analyzes the reasons.

Jacob is not the first cute little boy to be featured in a picture in the Oval Office. The touching cliché of John John, the son of President Kennedy, is forever etched in our memories. He was almost a baby, hiding under the desk.

This time it is 5-year-old Jacob, the son of a collaborator of President Obama, whose picture is the main feature on the walls of the West Wing. The president is bowing before him and submitting his hair to a test “to see if my hair is like yours.” Conclusive test!

What does this photo signify?

Is touching the hair of the president a good luck charm, like touching the tassels of the berets of the French sailors? One can’t be sure, but it is not very common to have this opportunity in the Oval Office. Also, when interviewed by the New York Times at his home (which is pictured under the photograph), Jacob answered that he “would of course like to be President. Or a test pilot,” like his father.

This African-American family welcomed into the sacred office puts the race of the President at the center of the symbolic photograph. During his campaign and since his election, the 44th [President] has devoted himself to be the President of all Americans and to not intervene as African-American. The African-American community reminds him regularly that they feel forgotten. The exception of Trayvon Martin, the teenager murdered in Florida, created an eventful moment when Barack Obama spoke in personal language and went as far as saying that “if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.”

This photograph speaks also to the dream realized by Barack Obama of becoming the first African-American president, which is also probably the dream of all African-American children. It is also possibly there to forget the reviled cliché of the American President bowing very low in front of the Emperor of Japan on an official visit in the end of 2009. This picture was never seen on the walls of the West Wing!