Column:
Obama not exempt from black stereotypes
Published Sept. 1, 2009
So as the summer winds down, I'm sure we've all heard of the "Barack Obama's not a citizen unless you show us proof, which we will not believe because proof has already been shown" fringe of Americans affectionately called birthers — as opposed to deathers and tax partiers.
Fringe extremism is totally the new bipartisan, didn't you hear? Well, this week some birthers have reached a new low. In some of the comments on the Web site Free Republic, some birthers came up with an ingenious new way to decide whether our already democratically-elected president is a citizen. Let's just take a gander at his penis. Yes, his penis! If he's circumcised, he's a citizen. If he's not cut, he's a crazy foreigner. Oh the logic, or illogic if you will.
This is ridiculous and slightly creepy. Yes, we get it. Obama is an attractive male. Sometimes you get these feelings you can't define, but this is not the way to act on them. There is still something to be said for race and how we oversexualize black men.
Contrary to popular belief — I'm looking at you New York Times — Obama did not destroy racism, nor is he some superhuman: the first "raceless" being. Instead of using trite terms, such as "post-racial America," we should realize we are living in a post-modern racial structure. Racism is subverted and disguised most of the time, but ever-present. One way to examine this is the way our first black president is treated. I am going to put this out there: I have never seen a dildo of Bill Clinton, yet an Obama one is produced.
Why is America more comfortable reducing Obama, a black male, to his physical parts for pleasure or examination, than it ever was with previous presidents? Historically, since the inception of this country and the slave system, there has always been a resistance and fear of black male sexuality. Like most phobias that are created in the mind of their believers, this phobia was coupled with an obsession with the sexual proclivities of black men.
Speaking of black men with such animalistic language allowed white people to dehumanize them, and once they were dehumanized, there was more of a moral defense for slavery. A man ruled by passions, so the argument went, needed the guiding hand of a white man for not only white people's protection, but for the black man's own protection. Like in many other instances, our history is imbedded in the consciousness of all of us — whether we deliberately rely upon it, or unwillingly bring it out — it lurks right beneath the surface.
And here is Obama at the crossroads, the highest ranking person of any color in America and still dealing with this bullshit. I mean the logic doesn't even make sense; circumcision has never been required in American medical establishments and is not a defining characteristic for male "Americaness," if you will. And yes, I know this is what I get for spending my time reading the Free Republic. I should have stepped away after the Sasha Obama twisted hair debacle — can someone define American hair for me? — but these are the sacrifices I make for my column, and because I enjoy the whack jobs on the Internet a little too much.
