A changed America

One of the puzzling things about the media coverage of Barack Obama's rise to the presidency is the unwillingness to explore the link between the 44th first US presidency of Barack Obama and the 1st US presidency of George Washington. In part this is because we feel we must refer to Obama as the first black president because he is half black, even though being half white does not identify him as the first white president. But this focus on Obama's race or ethnicity ignores the pivotal role that the American people played in this election.

We the People of 2009 are not the same as We the People of 1789. In 1789 Americans had enforced a change in their identity by emphasizing that all men are created equal. But the man they chose as their President did not fully reflect We the People because some of the People were denied their full humanity and were excluded from the pool of presidential contenders. They were arbitrarily considered to be 3/5 ths of a person. But the actual fraction used was less important than the fact that they were not treated as any other human in the nation would be.

Referring to Obama as the first black president advances the false notion that it was necessary for America to have a black president or from any other ethnic minority. The Constitution does not advocate a revolving presidency among America's ethnic groups.

But the spectre of slavery made it necessary that a majority white should elect one who could not have been elected when the nation was formed. It would not have been the same if the election of the first non-white to the highest office in the land had only occurred when whites were a minority in America.