Obama's blackness unsettles African despots
By Allan Tacca
If my memory is correct, the only time I have written about US
President Barack Obama was in January this year, when I observed
(among other things) that Obama is the first U.S. leader - and that
there may be no other one for a hundred years - to be free from the
racial baggage that prevents white Western leaders from confronting
their African counterparts with more forceful moral authority.
In simple terms, the descendants of slave owners, imperialists and
brutal colonialists could always be reminded of that history and
intimidated into silence whenever they tried to "teach" democracy
and good governance to Africa's despots.
But Obama presents special difficulties to Africa's tough guys. He
can say that he has enough African blood not to entertain that old
racial crap. And they need no reminder that he has enough
communication skills to meet any rhetorical challenge from the
continent. And yet, paradoxically, their biggest headache may turn
out to be Obama's responsibility to the very identity of blackness.
I will return to this point.
European explorers and early anthropologists tended to characterise
the African native as incapable of profound thought, moral judgement
or long-term perceptions. The native was a brute obsessed with food,
sex and alcohol. Although this blinkered view of the African was
subsequently debunked, it was partly responsible for the wholesale
humiliation of Africans through the twisted history of slavery and
colonialism.
The work of better informed observers and scholars, the phenomenon
of jazz and other cultural expressions went some way to restore the
African on the continent and in the Diaspora to full human status.
However, the politics on the mother continent, the cynicism of the
rulers and the cycles of violent conflict have conspired to project
the African - and by extension black man - as a backward brute
unable to see beyond selfish manipulation and personal advantage.
More than any other type of primate, the African politician has lent
a breath of life to the otherwise discredited view of the African
(the black) as belonging to a lower order of humans.
Although virtually every sub-Saharan African ruler would have been
thrilled to host President Obama (if only to bask in the camera
flash-lights), only Nigeria openly cried about being left out. In
the aftermath of his visit to Ghana, the reactions from officialdom
around Africa are predictable. Some will dismiss what Obama took to
Ghana as sour grapes; so they missed nothing particularly valuable.
Because Obama is a young man who was relatively unknown until a
couple of years ago, the rulers are disconcerted (even annoyed) that
this upstart should so smoothly take control of the most powerful
nation on earth, while they have to deceive peasants, buy and steal
votes, imprison and kill their fellow citizens to stay in control of
their filthy, grovelling little republics. Green with envy, they
know that deep down in his heart, Obama probably despises many of
them.
The reaction to any suggestion of this contempt in his Ghana speech
is again fairly predictable. It comes from the Gospel of Obstinacy.
It is the proclamation that Obama does not have enough experience in
power; or that his knowledge about Africa is insufficient; so he
cannot teach them anything about governance.
Neither does Obama have much hope in changing their attitudes. But
he is not going to bomb them out of their presidential palaces. To
rescue the black identity from the menace and shame of these
despots, and to restore it to its proper dignity through political
action, to project blackness as capable of maturity, rationality,
justice and fair play, Obama has assigned the youth. It is a call
for a new brand of patriotism all over the blighted continent. If
they listen to him, is the stage set for a spate of new revolutions?
First published in The Monitor.
Ghana’s rising political credential
The global meltdown and Africa’s shrinking offshore funding.
Escalating violence in Somalia. Worsening Humanitarian conditions in
Darfur, Sudan. Increasing cases of kidnappings and militancy in the
Niger Delta of Nigeria. Rising numbers of AIDS related death in
south of the Sahara. Africa paints a picture of violence, disease,
death and hopelessness.
But not so! The complete picture is not hopeless. With mounting
economic problems and the increasing failure of the continent’s
political leaders to provide the much needed direction, respite
appears dim.
The continent’s inability to salvage itself in its post colonial era
has repeatedly hinged on the collective failure of an inept and
corrupt political leadership. In other words, Africa knows its
problem. Its problem is its political principals.
In about 50 years of political independence from Europe, Africa has
remained beggarly in productivity and in dignity. The crass
incompetence of its political elites has brought multiple tragedies
that are equally complex.
Lacking leadership with substance in the much the same way that
China has had in Chairman Mao with the legacy of political leaders
that after him mounted the saddle; or as India found in Mahatma
Gandhi and his progenitors thereafter, Africa has fallen deeper into
global un-reckoning due to absence of substantial leadership.
But hope beckons in Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah’s legacy, in spite of its
inherent flaws; his belief in a self-sustaining continent; a black
power of substance; is slowly but firmly taking root.
All that the founding fathers of the anti-colonial movement believed
in; their vision of a continent with economically buoyant countries
of proud achievers is coming to roost in Ghana.
In Ghana, everything is adding up: The flaws of Jerry Rawlings and
his capacity for forward thinking leadership; The democratic
tradition of give and take that saw him voted out of office
peacefully to usher in the immediate ex President John Kuffour who
in January through a peaceful transition handed over power to an
opposition party give credence to Ghana’s stature as a political
giant on the continent.
In eight years, Kuffour led Ghana through its painful challenges of
building an economy desperate for growth. In eight years, Kuffour
had the sense of purposefulness of Rawlings to build on. It is to
his credit and that of Rawlings that Africa can look forward to
finally having a ready answer for the rest of the world that it is
not bereft of ability to appreciate and sustain true democracy.
TThe same beautiful tradition is taking shape in South Africa. The
momentum may be different but the dynamics is the same. The import
should not be lost on us all. If Africa can fix its leadership
problem, it can fix its social and economic problems. In Ghana, we
have a star; truly.
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