From Noam Chomsky to my brother, people who understand the limitations of the Obama presidency will say, "But you can't underestimate the significance of a black man in the White House". And I myself have been coasting along, content with the knowledge that even though Obama will prioritise the interests of big business and continue to fly the American imperialist flag, the ugly head of racism has taken an uppercut of epic proportions. But maybe we don't give the world enough credit? Maybe the state of play has advanced in a way that has eluded us as we bury our noses in academic texts detailing the more subtle forms of racism that make clear the order of things as those in power see it.
I am not a scholar on racism, far from it, but I do know that money is king. Street skateboarders, essentially criminals for the public property that they 'destroy', are sponsored by Nike and George Michael enters Australia after declaring his long-standing daily pot habit - it's all okay because if you represent top-notch income, that is all that matters. Paid in full.
So with these examples in mind, maybe we need to accept that the 'skin colour' issue had already been resolved by the time Obama ran for president and in actual fact, the 'black man' was already in the White House, so to speak. I refer to exhibit A, the 'hip hop' phenomenon. With hip hop the world has not merely witnessed a music form that has emerged from the ghettos become a billion dollar industry - former criminals, some of whom glorify 'thug life', have joined the lists of America's most wealthy (examples can be observed in other areas, such as skateboarder Darren Harper).
If African-American, former crack dealer 50 Cent can earn a reputed $100 million dollars from a Vitamin Water drink deal with Coca-Cola, then surely it is reasonable to surmise that colour is not so much the issue in the US as of late, but rather that money is the real issue at hand. In fact, maybe racism is a distraction and media cliche, catching people up who would be better off paying attention to the way in which class plays out.
As I said, I'm not a scholar in these matters, but as a way to soften the inevitable Kennedy-like disappointment, we should just say to ourselves, "Meh, Obama? He 'aint all that really." Because in the end, it's all about the money.
I am not a scholar on racism, far from it, but I do know that money is king. Street skateboarders, essentially criminals for the public property that they 'destroy', are sponsored by Nike and George Michael enters Australia after declaring his long-standing daily pot habit - it's all okay because if you represent top-notch income, that is all that matters. Paid in full.
So with these examples in mind, maybe we need to accept that the 'skin colour' issue had already been resolved by the time Obama ran for president and in actual fact, the 'black man' was already in the White House, so to speak. I refer to exhibit A, the 'hip hop' phenomenon. With hip hop the world has not merely witnessed a music form that has emerged from the ghettos become a billion dollar industry - former criminals, some of whom glorify 'thug life', have joined the lists of America's most wealthy (examples can be observed in other areas, such as skateboarder Darren Harper).
If African-American, former crack dealer 50 Cent can earn a reputed $100 million dollars from a Vitamin Water drink deal with Coca-Cola, then surely it is reasonable to surmise that colour is not so much the issue in the US as of late, but rather that money is the real issue at hand. In fact, maybe racism is a distraction and media cliche, catching people up who would be better off paying attention to the way in which class plays out.
As I said, I'm not a scholar in these matters, but as a way to soften the inevitable Kennedy-like disappointment, we should just say to ourselves, "Meh, Obama? He 'aint all that really." Because in the end, it's all about the money.
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