[Image description: Obama and a little boy in the Oval Office. Obama is bent over so the boy can put a hand on his head. End description.]
Recent photo of a little boy visiting the White House. He wanted to feel Obama’s hair because he wanted to know if the President’s hair felt just like his. Obama obliged. Priceless.
This, to me, will always be Barack Obama’s legacy. The part I bolded is the reason why Obama could sit at his desk and play with his balls for the next four years and he’d still be one of the most important Presidents of all time. This kid now knows that the President’s hair feels just like his. Like… this picture always makes me so emotional. Black children growing up didn’t have the opportunity to see a President that looked like them or looked like their family until Barack Obama was elected. When white people deny white privilege, I always bring up the example of the Presidents; white children have the privilege of seeing 43 examples of a white man being the leader of the free world. Until Barack Obama, the major images of black success were in sports and in hip-hop, two avenues that are both defined by white people anyway, since it’s whites who own the sports teams and record labels. Barack Obama gave black children an image of success. The President looks like them. That’s why I’ll always defend Barack Obama no matter what “radicals” want to say about him. He’s my President and just by sitting in the White House he is doing more for black people than OWS or Anonymous has ever done.
Never seen so much bullshit in my life.
Here’re the worst parts:
- “the reason why Obama could sit at his desk and play with his balls for the next four years”
- “most important Presidents of all time”
- “When white people deny white privilege, I always bring up the example of the Presidents”
- “the major images of black success were in sports and in hip-hop, two avenues that are both defined by white people anyway” (YES. OBVIOUSLY HIP HOP WAS DEFINED BY WHITE PEOPLE HAHAHAHA)
- “He’s my President and just by sitting in the White House he is doing more for black people than OWS or Anonymous has ever done.” HOW IS OWS FOR BLACK PEOPLE? HOW IS ANONYMOUS FOR BLACK PEOPLE?
THAT BLOGGER MAKES NO SENSE.
The whole entire point is:
“Barack is black, other people are black, they must really like him - because he’s black. Because he’s black, he’s the most important president.”
Here’s a fucking RADICAL idea, if we stop talking about race and color, racism and all that shit, things will be more equal.
HERE’S MORGAN FREEMAN TO ILLUSTRATE MY POINT
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you white d00dz, complete with citing that Morgan Freeman quote that’s been ripped a part a million times, denying white privilege, and gleefully noting that OWS isn’t for black people (as if we don’t already know OWS isn’t for black people).
(via simplycomplex27)
“Here’s a fucking RADICAL idea, if we stop talking about race and color, racism and all that shit, things will be more equal.”
dion, didn’t you know? if we stop talking about shit, it won’t hurt you. stop calling fire fire, and it won’t burn you anymore.
smh. Racism exists because we talk about race and colour, because we see people of different races as different, and not in the way that we see people of the same race as different. Racism is something we as humans made up. Its not “real” it can’t be touched. Though, Fire also can’t directly be touched but thats a different topic for a physics professor…
I agree.. being Black doesn’t make President Obama the best president. He’s done a lot of good for our country, I think, but being black wasn’t one of those things. It certainly has put a stepping stone in “Black History,” but not one that I think wasn’t coming. People are very, very slowly moving away from racial issues, and it can’t happen fast enough. That said, I have to disagree with OP for the reasons outlined above.
Furthermore, I’m not sure white privilege is actually a thing in this day and age, at least, not to the extent of the connotation that accompanies it. I think what is commonly considered as white privilege is rich privilege, and the fact that people and families tend to hold on to wealth. With the historical repression of dark-skinned people, white people have traditionally had more money and because of this have currently embued a sort of symbol in our society of being good business leaders, et al. But its not solely because they’re white. The whiteness is just what we’re used to for that class of people. Obama has helped change this, and interestingly, the only time I think to myself “huh. Obama is black.” is when issues of race are brought up.
I look up to Obama as my president and elected official. As someone whom I think has managed to do the best he can serving our country, and whom I think is better for our country than the other mainstream candidates.
I can’t, however, deny the fact that this little boy’s life, which may have been full of the stereotypical situations associated with African-Americans, may certainly have been changed thanks to this day, where he saw that the president is just the same as he is, and that one day he too could be president.
Its not important because Obama is black, I’d argue; but because Obama is showing the common citizen “we’re really the same, you and I. And one day, maybe you can be president too.”
