Orville Taylor, Contributor
I am not going on my knees and closing my eyes in the presence of any politician because I want to see what they are doing. So, forgive me for not joining in the Prayer Breakfast. Furthermore, fasting deprives my brain of essential nutrients and prevents me from thinking and seeing clearly. However, I sure am 'fasting' in their business. Yet, there is indeed a prayer that we all must share and with it the hope that this nation will have a set of leaders who take responsibility for their behaviour. It is also a New Year's wish that a drastic change begin to occur in some of the dastardly patterns that we are seeing.
A miracle is not out of the question because, if Barack Obama can win the Democratic primary in Iowa, then anything is possible. A black man, half Kenyan, half white-American, has drawn first blood in the race to secure the nomination of his party. In doing so, he beat the wife of the former president, who many of us suspect, is himself a black man.
Reputation of honesty
This Christian politician, who used drugs as a youth, has built up a reputation of honesty and forthrightness. He is unlike George W. Bush, who admitted alcohol abuse but side-stepped questions about his suspected cocaine use. Similarly, Bill Clinton, though known to have lied about his sexual liaison with Monica Lewinsky while in office, expects us to believe that as regards his earlier alleged smoking of marijuana, he only rested it in his mouth and "never inhaled".
Obama literally means, "Sent by God" in Swahili, the language of his father's native Kenya, and in Arabic, it is "eagle," and we know this is the symbol of America. He could be a harbinger of hope because he would be breaking a historical pattern that seemed chiselled in stone since the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
For the record, Lincoln was a Republican and his Vice President, Andrew Johnson, who succeeded him, reversed many of his human rights initiatives for the black ex-slaves. It was not until almost a century later that a black person was finally elected to the Senate. This was in the person of Edward Brooke in 1967. Therefore, despite the fact that it is the Democrats who are seen as the pro-black party, Obama is actually an anomaly.
His victory in Iowa is all the more amazing given that it is one of the 'whitest' states in the United States. With a population that is 96 per cent Caucasian, it perhaps tells us that the great 'land of farrin' is indeed ready for a black president. Since independence in 1776, there appears to be two unwritten rules in America: No female and no non-white president! This time, something will have to give.
Apart from his obvious African ancestry, there are two aspects of this enigma that are of relevance to us. First is his specifically being Kenyan. Second, he is the senator for Illinois, and thus, Chicago. Each of these two places has important lessons to teach us.
Kenya is in the throes of impending total social disintegration because a closely fought election gave to the incumbent Mwai Kibaki, a slim but decisive victory over Opposition rival Raila Odinga. There is no director of elections with non-Keyan citizenship, but clearly, there has been an 'electile' malfunction and the results have not stood up to either local or international scrutiny.
As in Jamaica, there are two main tribes, and as one would expect, the ruling party is supported by the largest ethnic group, the Kikuyus, while the Opposition, led by Odinga, gathers support from a set of under-franchised tribes including the Luo and Kalenjin. Similar to Rwanda, 14 years ago, and Jamaica in 1980 and today, simply belonging to an opposite tribe is enough reason to be attacked and killed. The police and army cannot control the situation.
Violence and starvation, the two deadly horsemen of the apocalypse when a nation fights against itself, are at full gallop. Almost 200,000, persons are homeless, 350 have been murdered and some 500,000 are in urgent need of help. For all their calls to prayer, churches have been burnt along with the houses, and not even police stations are safe. If one thinks that the comparisons with Pakistan last week were strong, think again, because this is more serious. There is far more that we have in common with Kenyans than even Ethiopians with whom they share the Great Rift Valley. Not least of all, we both have been 'liberated' from colonialism as half-made societies, struggling with our new-found independence.
Closely connected
Nonetheless, Obama's Chicago is also closely connected. It has a history of gang violence, extortion, associations between political leaders and gangs, and in 2003, with a population of 2.8 million and a murder total of more than 500 that year, it ranks as the murder capital of the U.S.A. There have been several waves of gang formation and thuggery, beginning with the legendary Al Capone, who came to prominence in the 1920s and 1930s, during the same period that our political parties were being birthed here.
In subsequent decades, up to the present, there has been gang after gang, including one that seems not be afraid of police and who label themselves 'Black Stone'. Crushing isn't it?
But how did these form? Because of poor governance in the little black neighbourhood and not enough opportunities for youth. As then, it was convenient to blame family breakdown. That is a lot of Chicago 'Bulls!' The post-slavery family has not changed since 1838 in Jamaica and 1865 in the U.S.A. We know who are to be blamed.
Happy New Year!
Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the UWI, Mona.
