Obama's "blackness" in the Muslim world
16 - 06 - 08
Accepted wisdom has it that Barack Obama's race and mixed background will help repair the image of America abroad. This is supposed to be particularly true in west Asia. As Yasser Khalil wrote in the Christian Science Monitor recently, Obama's Muslim heritage and promised diplomatic approach to the region could herald a new dawn in the US' relations with the Arab and Muslim world.
Nouri Luhemiya on The Moor Next Door blog offers an altogether darker suggestion. Critiquing the way Obama's international appeal has been represented, Nouri writes:
The reporter, like many, focuses on Obama’s blackness as an asset outside of the United States. It is not quite PC to ask whether or not it would be a hindrance. My view is that, when one gets to a certain level of power, his color does not matter whatsoever. He will be treated with respect by heads of state, though there may be some gaffes on the part of European or Asian leaders.
It is interesting, though, to ask, just for asking’s sake, whether or not Turks, Syrians, Egyptians, or other peoples in the Muslim world would elect someone like Barack Obama. My guess is that they would not. (The status of blacks in Middle Eastern countries, in everyday life and even folk traditions lead me to this conclusion.) This also makes me skeptical as to the extent to which Obama’s “face” could dissuade people in the region from becoming or remaining anti-American. There is an exceptional amount of severe contempt that many Levantines hold for black people (and other dark skinned people), that many Westerners, especially Americans, entirely miss. I do not know for sure where it comes from on the whole. Part of it is surely the identification of blackness with social and racial inferiority, the result of the fact that blacks and most dark-skinned Arabs have slave ancestry (Arabs have very little sympathy for the descendants of slaves, especially from what African-Americans who have been to the Gulf have told me, and my own understanding of the way that most Arabs view black people). Being black is not as much an asset in the Muslim world as it is in American white liberal circles.
It is hard to believe that the ascension of a non-white leader to the Oval Office would not change in small part the way much of the world, including west Asia, sees the US. Surely even the most bigoted Levantine would register the momentous nature of an Obama presidency. Nevertheless, Nouri is right in his general scepticism. America observers are not simpletons; a charismatic "change in face" is no substitute for the much more arduous and subtle change in policy.
Mr. Tharoor, It was not my
Mr. Tharoor,
It was not my intention to write that if Barack Obama were to become president it "would not change in small part the way much of the world" sees the United States. Neither was it my intention to state that the significance of an Obama presidency would be lost on peoples in the Muslim world. They certainly grasp its significance, as their heightened interest indicates.
It was my intention, however, to state that such an ascension would indeed change the way the US is viewed elsewhere only slightly unless major policy changes are made. I have taken this position for the last several months and continue to hold it. The portion of my post you posted was intended to challenge the prevailing view that Obama's candidacy represents some magical cure to anti-Americanism or is as significant to those living outside of the United States as it is to US citizens. While I have read reports of French blacks being especially encouraged by Obama, since his foreign policy views have become more well known, it seems that the mystique is wearing off. He is after all, an American and while he has been to the Third World, he is surely not of it.
Americans are utterly obsessed with their conception of race and their civil rights movement. And while these are important historical matters, they matter little in the context of American foreign policy in the Muslim world. There is a nativity about many of the commentators contending that Obama is some sort of bridge or elixir to their troubles with the Muslim world. There is also a dishonesty about some of the Muslim and Arab commentators who wish to whitewash their/our peoples' well known (at least to those who bear the brunt of it) distaste for those darker than ourselves and the prospect that should Mr. Obama make serious missteps or deliberate slights in the region, his image in newspapers and opinion pieces could well become that of a monkey, a minstrel or other racist imaginings. How quickly it is forgotten that various Lebanese, Palestinian, Egyptian, and Jordanian cartoonists have shown Condolizza Rice in such a way that would only be called "racist" in the United States, or that she was described as having "skin the color of oil" by Walid Jumblatt only a few years ago. My post aimed to provide a dose of reality to the fantasy that Obama's blackness is nothing but a benefit. It could be the source of an even uglier anti-Americanism. This all hypothetical. It might not turn out that way. But Obama's supporters should draw up at least a few contingency plans in case his magic wears off or does not help him win Muslim hearts.
Certainly the prospect of a man of color rising to Commander in Chief is a major breakthrough in American race relations. But Americans should be more aware the potential limitations that the race of their president can have. Just as a powerful silver haired white man carries with him a certain burden of history and connotation, so does a powerful black man, and his burden is of a slightly different nature. But the point of my posting was that race matters far less than policy and that it is condescending to believe otherwise.
Regards,
Nouri Luhemiya