Barack Obama and the Fist Bump

Every minority in America who finds themselves dividing their time between white culture and their own also finds their identity somewhat divided. And when your job is involved, behaving one way around your ‘root culture’ and another around white culture is essential; especially when your root culture is (consciously or not) associated with negative stereotypes.

In America today a lot of things are, well, black and white. You’re either for us or against us. And for minorities, success often means choosing one culture or the other, especially for those minorities in the public eye. You’re either Al Sharpton or Clarence Thomas and both choices have consequences. ‘Keeping it Real’ is honorable, but gives the opposition the endless ammunition of negative cultural stereotypes. On the other hand, completely distancing yourself from that culture and being lauded as an exception to the racist rule just helps reinforce stereotypes.

Unfortunately, for minority candidates and professionals in general, the latter is the obvious choice despite the consequences. In order to be successful it is often times necessary to ‘play the game’. Which, roughly translated, means making white culture comfortable with your difference by closeting it. Or, at least, that’s the way it was.

When Obama announced himself as the Democratic Party’s Candidate in the face of Hillary’s refusal to let it go, his wife gave him a ‘fist bump’ (or pound or dap depending on whose culture you identify with). Those more foreign to black culture’s equivalent of a handshake called it ‘silly’ and used it as an excuse to question his leadership capabilities. But, while cross-cultural miscommunication does happen, like his initial, natural defense of his (albeit misguided) mentor, I think that they have gone out of their way to misunderstand.

And I think that any black person, especially Obama and Michelle who constantly find themselves called to the defense of the inconsequential and irrelevant, would know that the opposition would latch on to this like a dog with a bone. If you’re a black professional, that might be the way you say ‘what’s up’ to a friend at a barbecue, but you probably wouldn’t greet the boss that way at a business function. Especially not one held in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Unless, of course, you felt that you had already scored the democratic nomination, and the only thing keeping me from becoming the 44th President of the United States was an ineffective octogenarian who was worthy of being ignored for the greater part of the presidential race. Then you could do whatever the *beep* you wanted to. Like “Dubya”.

When George W. Bush first took office, he was an inarticulate southern hick. Characteristics that, pre-2000, most Americans preferred to disassociate themselves from. But several years later, a drawl and a gun license were no longer characteristics of a dumb hick, but of a ‘man of the people’.

As a black American, I think that my favorite part aspect of Obama’s presidency will be watching the cultures collide. The first year or so will be overwhelmed by ‘cultural misunderstandings’ fueled by intolerance which will make black people giggle and white people consider repatriation. But, in the end, I think that Obama will be able to do what Colin and Condi could not: make it o.k. to be a minority again.