Obama struggles to balance African Americans’ hopes with country’s as a whole |
Obama struggles to balance African Americans’ hopes with country’s as a whole
The Washington Post
2012-10-28
Peter Wallsten
Barack Obama stood at the lectern, trying to figure out what to say — or at least how to say it. He started speaking, then stopped, then started again, each time searching for the right tone, the right cadence, the right words.
The audience was a small group of advisers, including two African American scholars who were counseling him on how to get his message across most effectively with black voters. Obama, whose memoir years earlier had explored his mixed-race background and search for racial identity, wanted to connect with African Americans but remain true to his own style and voice.
“I can’t sound like Martin,” Obama said at one point, according to the scholars. “I can’t sound like Jesse.”
Obama was still more than a year away from becoming America’s first black president, but already he was parsing that identity in his mind…
…Obama rarely discusses his innermost feelings about being the first African American to occupy the Oval Office, according to friends and associates, preferring to keep his thoughts closely held, shared with only a select few. He has shown himself to be drawn to the symbolic, or even aspirational, aspect of his presidency.
One of the iconic images of his tenure is a 2009 photograph of Obama leaning down to let a 5-year-old black boy, Jacob Philadelphia, touch his hair. The boy wanted to see if his hair felt like the president’s. The image, captured by White House photographer Pete Souza, has been on display ever since, just outside the Oval Office in a hallway that Obama passes through regularly…
…If the election of four years ago put to rest the notion that the United States was not ready to elect a black president, this year poses a new question: Can an African American president, after four years as a fixture in Americans’ lives, win reelection?…
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Tags: Jacob Philadelphia, Peter Wallsten, The Washington Post, Washington Post