The history of the United States is one filled with great turmoil, controversy and injustice, politically, socially and economically. Race has long featured often and remains a contentious issue in relations among the people and institutions of America. From the days of African servitude, to hurricane Katrina, and now to Obama, race and class continue to dominate American political attitudes.
It may now be old news, but on November 5, 2008, the world witnessed history in the making. The United States had elected its first African-American President. The 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, will now be known as the man who changed the ideological world by starting with the global dominant hegemony.
America has come a long way since the time of slavery and even since the era of Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. whose famous, moving speech in the summer of 1963 echoed the sentiments of a quarter of a million Americans who marched for the plight of Civil Rights and equality. His infamous quote has been the catch-cry of the fight for racial equality in the United States, and still today.
Racial Inequality is a Global Issue
It is not just African-Americans who have suffered, though through different stories Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans alike. And it is not just limited to the United States.
Australia has been widely condemned by human rights activists on many occasions. The most significant being the ‘Stolen Generation', where under official government policy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were subjected to forced removal from their families between 1909 and 1969.
Aspects of the White Australia policy also included a restrictive immigration policy that limited non-white immigration between 1901 to 1973. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders of half-blood also suffered under the policy, as they were forced to assimilate into ‘white society’. The first sign of restoration in Australia’s indigenous relations came in 2008, when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd officially apologised to the indigenous population.
In the UK, Arabs and Asians live in non-officially segregated areas, like in France where the Maghreb find it hard to get out of the historically and politically-rooted rut that is the cités. In 2005, the national unemployment average for university graduates was just 5%, whereas the average for university graduate banlieusards of North African origin stood at a staggering 26.5% [1].
Italy’s Roma also endure discrimination at the hands of its far-right Prime Minister Berlusconi. In these places, crime and unemployment are high and morale’s are low.
Obama’s Challenge
The Bush Administration did not do much to unite the world ideologically. In fact, post-911 with Bush’s rhetoric and Cheney’s foreign policies, we have seen the gap widen and the notion of ‘other’ become more prevalent in Western politics.
Like many Presidents and Prime Ministers before him, Obama may or may not fulfil his election promises. He may or may lose the political confidence of his party, and he may or may not be able to lead the world out of the mess that is the financial crisis, but he has changed the course of history, because social change starts from the bottom-up. It starts with a change in attitude of those who matter the most - the citizens.
By voting and electing Obama as their President, the Americans have reaffirmed their place as the world’s hegemony. They have taken the lead by affirming, despite the post-911 international climate that, we are all equals. This is a victory not just for Obama and for African-Americans, but for humankind. As President Obama affirmed, “our stories are singular, but our destinies are shared.”[2]
References:
1. Astier, Henri, Muslims Face Job Discrimination, BBC News Europe, 2 November 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4399748.stm.
2. Elliot, Geoff, Victor’s Challenge: to govern for all, The Australian, 6 November 2008.
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