[Peace-discuss] Obama

[Alfred Kagan]

Of course, individuals are empowered to write whatever they like in 
their own names, but when it comes to an AWARE position, I am sure most 
of us want to be more deliberate. We have already got quite a bit of 
feedback on how we approached the Obama event, and I have participated 
in several very useful and self-critical discussions.  I am looking 
forward to further discussion at our meeting on Sunday night.

I think we are very lucky that several members of the African-American 
community have come forward to tell us about their reactions to the 
event.  We need to pay attention and digest these perceptions.  
Immediate defensive reactions can't serve our purposes.  We need to 
seriously think about how we get to where we want to go, that is, we 
need to find ways to reach people who may be receptive to our politics 
but don't read what we read, watch what we watch, and discuss what we 
discuss all the time.  Our own perceptions of how we organize are 
limited. Constructive criticism from outside can be quite valuable.

I think we have already learned that the African-American community 
sees Obama very differently than most of us in AWARE.   Obama is seen 
as an advocate for African-Americans on domestic issues.  I haven't 
carefully studied his record, but I imagine there is good reason for 
this perception.  Even if he doesn't have much of a record yet, he does 
talk the talk and he is convincing.  He gives a good speech.  He is 
seen as a bit of hope rather than politics as usual.

If we are going to be serious about our anti-racism work, we need to 
understand these perceptions and build our message around what folks 
are thinking.  I am not suggesting that we change our opinions, I am 
suggesting that we need to organize better.  We need to clearly state 
our anti-racist views at the same time we advocate our anti-war 
positions.  We need to show some respect for Obama's domestic agenda 
and advocacy for the black community at the same time we try to 
influence him to change his foreign policy positions.  We need to 
remind him of his anti-war position before the war, and urge him to 
reconsider.  As a politician, he should not want to be too far behind 
his constituency for a long period of time.  I don't think we should be 
calling him a warmonger, rather we should be trying to engage him in a 
productive dialog to show him the winds of change.

To sum up, we need to be sensitive to the perceptions of the black 
community.  To be taken seriously by the black community, we need to 
treat black politicians differently than white politicians. We need to 
clearly state our anti-racist values in the course of our work.  We 
need to forthrightly criticize in a constructive way, with the ultimate 
aim of changing Obama's and others' foreign policy positions.  We need 
to engage black politicians, not beat them up.






Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801

tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu