The 2008 Democratic Primary was Barack Obama's coming out party. He burst onto the national stage by courting the help of Oprah and winning the Iowa caucus, setting the stage for a two person race between himself and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. His sudden stardom took the country by surprise, and, despite reassurances from America's moral authority (Oprah), the general public didn't yet know what to think of Barack. This uncertainty was exacerbated by the newness of the whole situation; Barack was not only new, but he was also black. His campaign sought to prove that not only was the nation ready for a black president, but that the nation was ready for this black president, one they barely even knew. In an effort to soothe the nation's worries over this new face, did the Obama campaign attempt to "cover" Obama's identity as a black man? In other words, did the Obama campaign look to emphasize Obama's traditionally "white" interests, while ignoring his traditionally "black" ones to blend him into white culture? This is a difficult question, with no clear answer.
(Quick side note: defining things as "black and "white" is extraordinarily difficult and sometimes uncomfortable. I decided to just go by my own perceptions of society, rather than any reputable scientific list, if such a thing exists. Anyway, if I offend anyone it is not out of malice but purely my own ignorance.)
During the 2008 campaign, Obama's musical tastes seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time in the news. This could be surmised as the campaign's attempt to make him look hip, or it could be viewed as a form of racial covering. If you were to click through the above link, Obama claims a wide array of musical tastes, from Bob Dylan to Miles Davis to the Rolling Stones. Last he mentions a few hip-hop artists but frames himself as totally new to the genre, crediting Reggie Love as being responsible for introducing him to the artists. This is notable because Reggie Love is a black man, who largely fits into stereotypical "black"attributes better than Obama. Reggie Love is tall and well-built, of a darker complexion than Obama. Additionally he is a former Duke basketball player, and, if Obama is to be believed, a hip-hop aficionado. As Obama's body man during the campaign, Love was frequently along side Obama in public appearances. This allowed him to be easily contrasted with the future president. If Obama did anything "black" that was easy to disguise, because he would never be as "black" as Love. If Obama admitted to liking hip-hop, no problem, Love introduced him to the whole thing. If Obama wanted to talk about basketball, it's fine because Love won an NCAA National Championship. In short, by contrasting Obama's "blackness" with Reggie Love's, the campaign was able to make Obama appear more moderate and in line with mainstream white norms.
While some aspects of the Obama campaign appear to have engaged in covering, he did embrace a few traditionally black things. Most notably, the campaign used Obama's love of basketball as a way to frame him as youthful and spry. This was an invaluable trait over the septuagenarian McCain. Obama frequently shot around in front of cameras and gave interviews to important sports journalists. He was also spotted grabbing some soul food in Harlem with Jesse Jackson. However, this was not a well publicized event, so it can hardly be seen as embracing black culture. Most importantly, it is always difficult to pin down attempt at covering in a man you don't know on a personal level. It is possible that Obama truly has little interest in culturally black music, etc.
As you can see, my investigation turns up a mixed bag of findings. However, if I had to guess, I would speculate that the Obama campaign did intentionally engage in some kinds of covering. I would bet that they counted on Obama's being among the first (along with Jesse Jackson) serious black candidates for president as enough to turn out the black vote. With that in hand, it is likely that they courted the white vote by engaging in racial covering, focusing the media on Obama's "white" interests, while downplaying the "black" ones. These are only my own speculations, and I encourage you to draw your own conclusions.
I agree that it seems very likely that both Obama, his advisers, and the wary US public had a lot of pressure working on Barack pressuring him to conform and to cover. That's politics, really. Even our everyday interactions are smoothed and made easier with covering, mirroring, and subtle types of conforming which I would argue are all political microcosms.
ReplyDeleteThe issue with looking at someone and attempting to argue that they are covering is that it uses a stereotype base as its foundation. If a woman is aggressive in the workplace and we make the assumption that she is covering, we are basing that on the stereotype that women are more feminine, when in fact she could simply be a naturally aggressive person. If a gay guy's mannerisms are indistinguishable from a straight guy's, making the assumption he is covering would be based in the stereotype that gay men are effeminate.
When Barack was campaigning, I heard a lot of jokes and comments about how he wasn't actually "black." The huge problem with this thinking is that it assumes that to be "black" is to have certain characteristics, a certain upbringing, a certain way of being. It is a stereotype. Being black only has to do with one's physical skin color and does not give us any information about a person as a person. Barack might have been covering, or he might not have been--no one can know but him, because if we try and analyze whether or not he did, we have to make assumptions about his character that we don't have the authority to make.
I actually totally agree with this feedback and tried to incorporate these points as I wrote. I hope I did a decent job pointing out that I was only able to speculate on Obama's actual likes and dislikes, as well as pointing out that I was using stereotypical portrayals of black culture.
DeleteHowever, I still feel that it's worth analyzing. Even if I can't know what Obama's actual likes and dislikes are, I can investigate what the campaign emphasized, which would indicate covering. I found the music aspect to be particularly damning when I thought about it. I heard a ton about his taste in music in '08, and it conformed to "white" tastes. While this is totally plausible, it spent way more time in the news cycle than I had ever seen from a white candidate. This special emphasis by the campaign is what points to covering to me, rather than Obama liking Dylan or the Stones. So it's not so much covering by Obama but covering by his PR squad.
This reminds me of a video I saw during Obama's reelection campaign. The video essentially argued that president Obama was actually white because of his attributes, such as going surfing, playing golf, dancing on the Ellen show, etc. I thought it was a hilarious piece of satire, but now it actually seems more complex. Perhaps what we see in him is the same phenomenon we see in women. He has to cover to appeal to a white audience but also has to reverse cover to show that he is still black enough to appeal to people of color and the youth who want to see a progressive change.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend watching this video of the ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDxOSjgl5Z4.
Helen, I don't know that we can say it is uncertain if Obama was covering or not. I would argue he was, and like the two of you had mentioned above, it is mainly an issue of politics. I was browsing the web one day, as I do every day, and came across some old vintage pictures of Barack as a teenager. He was laid back, he was cool, and he was puffing on cigarettes and joints. When you actually see the pictures, it takes you by surprise. There is a big contrast in the Obama we know now, as the president of the United States, and the boy in the photo shoot, a kid free of worry and concern.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Kenji's hopeful attitude, I don't belief it is realistic to assume we can try to live our lives cover-free. What if, hypothetically, Obama agrees with marijuana legalization. He would be put in a difficult position (in the public's eye) if he chose not to cover his preferences. He would be risking quite a bit by choosing to be outward and outspoken regarding said topic, don't you think?
Anyway, take a look for yourselves and give it a thought.
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/obama%20smoking
It's interesting that we identify Barack Obama as our nation's first ever black president. His mother is a white woman from Kansas, and his father is a black man from Kenya. So we could say he is part-black, or half black. But why not half-white or part-white? Because of a little thing called hypodescent. It's basically the phenomenon that people are identified racially by the minority that they carry. For example, my mother's entire family is from Poland, my Dad's mother is German and his father is Mexican. So you could say I'm half Polish, quarter German and quarter Mexican, but you would be wrong. When someone notices my last name I am automatically 100% Mexican. Same thing with Obama being black and covering as white-- just because he's part black does that mean he has to 'act black'? Why can't we say he's white covering as black-- citing his transformation of the tennis courts to basketball courts at the White House and his preference for hip-hop, allegedly? I think it's because we're a society so obsessed with this idea that we made up called race that we can't even focus on the real person who's up there.
ReplyDeleteAround Obama's election, I cannot tell you how many times I heard people saying that Obama was trying to cover up every part of him that could be perceived as a "black" quality. But then again, I also heard people who said that Obama represented the black community perfectly, and people were proud of his acceptance and acknowledgement of his African American culture. So which one do I believe? I guess my answer would be both. Were there times when Obama covered his black identity? Definitely. Were there times when he made it know that he embraced his black identity? Of course.
ReplyDeleteIn this particular case, the idea of covering is very complicated. He was trying to win the election to be the President of the United States. He needed to appeal to the masses, all demographics, in hopes of gaining public support and the popular vote. Covering was necessary. He adapted to the audience he was addressing. But I would like to point out that almost every politician does this when running in an election. In fact, I can't really think of a politician who hasn't covered in some way. In the last election, I think that Mitt Romney covered his religion to some extent to seem more relatable to the American public. I feel that covering is a huge component in the political sphere, and this probably won't be changing soon.