Recently Jeff Yang of the San Francisco Chronicle sent me an article he had just published in that newspaper. He wrote:
I wanted to share with you guys the most recent installment of “Asian Pop”–which some of you may be aware now appears in both the online and the reconstituted wood pulp edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. The response to it has been quite interesting and, er, high-volume, from black, white and Asian American readers alike. Anyway, if you’re getting this then you’re someone whose opinion I value and whom I think might be interested in the issues involved here, and I’m curious about your thoughts.
Here are some excerpts from Jeff’s article:
“White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children’s lifetime. After all, he displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald’s-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas…”With these words in the New Yorker in 1998, Toni Morrison granted our 42nd president, William Jefferson Clinton, a kind of cadet membership in the grand cultural narrative of black America…
…reading Obama’s absorbing 1995 memoir “Dreams from My Father,” it strikes me that the tropes that surround and define Obama can just as easily be read as those of another community entirely. Which raises the question: Could it be that our true first black president might also be our first Asian American president? [Link]
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p>I will reserve my opinion of what I think of Jeff’s partially rhetorical question. Instead, I’d like to take you now to a fundraiser that happened Sunday in San Francisco (also reported in the SFChronicle):
The Illinois senator said it is “a testament to the American spirit that I’m even standing here before you” as the Democratic Party’s presumed nominee, because some Americans are “still getting past the name,” which he said some consider “funny.”
“Change is always tough, and electing me is change … and it means that people are going to hesitate a little bit,” Obama told a crowd of about 200 deep-pocketed supporters at a VIP reception for South Asian and Pacific Islander supporters at the Fairmont Hotel.
“Barack Obama – they’re still getting past that name,” he said. “…Obama told the group – many of them Indian and Pakistani immigrants – that he is not only familiar with their cultures – but also proud of his lifelong associations with them. [Link]
And now for the money shot:
“Not only do I think I’m a desi, but I’m a desi,” he said, using a colloquial term that describes South Asian immigrants. The remark was greeted with laughs. “I’m a homeboy…” [Link]
Oh but there was more (in front of an audience that included Kamala Harris):
He said that when he went to Occidental College, his first roommate was Pakistani. And in his dorm, he said with a laugh, “Indians and Pakistanis came together under one roof … to cause havoc in the university.”
To applause, he said he became an expert “at cooking dal” and other ethnic dishes, though “somebody else made the naan,” the trademark Indian bread.
“Those are friendships which have lasted me for years, and continue until this day,” he said. “I have an enormous personal affection for the people of South Asia…” [Link]
I’m actually kind of disappointed now that Senator Jim Webb of Virginia has reportedly taken himself out of the running for Obama’s VP spot. With Obama making sambar and Webb making Dosa in the Whitehouse, that ticket had lots of potential! But isn’t it just like a desi man to have “somebody else [make] the naan?”
Word has it that SAFM is trying to get John McCain on the record as being a fan of Pav Bhaji which is less elitist than dal and naan.
Related posts: Is Barack Obama a secret…Hindu?
Does John McCain’s adopted bengali daughter and serious consideration of Bobby jindal as his running mate trump Obama’s pakistani roommate?
Yeah, we all love being pandered to–I went through several masseuses until I found a keeper–who kept remarking on my handsomeness and “muscle tone.” Indulging our baser instincts feels–awfully, awfully, sweet!!
I thought she was an illegitimate child he had with a Black woman. Oh wait – that was just a smear campaign for the South Carolina primary by George W. Bush’s campaign against McCain’s in 2000. Classy guys all around – including McCain for eventually coming around and giving the guy a big hug, despite it all 😉
I love that he said that. He’s clearly humorous (or his writer is), and I’m absolutely sure, he’s a lot more knowledgeable about world politics than anyone else (McCain and Bush included).
I listened to McCain’s blabberings with CNN yesterday. All he wants is war, war and more war. He’s just too aggressive. I don’t totally fault him for it (he’s a military man, and thats how they are, my dad included). If he is elected, a war with Iran is sure to come.
I dont want any more wars. NO MORE WARS! Too many, beautiful, young kids have gone to war and have come back in body bags or wheelchairs. Enough. Stop.
I blogged about this article too, and I though it was really notable the way that Obama discussed being made to feel foreign in his childhood, an experience many desis can attest to. It definitely plays into why so many young desis have become so active and passionate about this campaign.
cease with your obfuscation of what it means to pander rob!
obama!
I’m pretty sure Bubba’s honorary black membership has been officially revoked, especially since his race baiting continues even after he lost. Jim Clyburn’s a former friend and he’s about as black as Gerry Ferraro.
3 · Dr AmNonymous said
Well, that doesn’t make him too different from Obama does it?
Does John McCain’s adopted bengali daughter and serious consideration of Bobby jindal as his running mate trump Obama’s pakistani roommate?
It should, but Obama is the chosen one who will bring balance to the force.
7 · Manju said
yeah, i guess he doesnt believe in the “some of my best friends are black” republican school of membership.
9 · Suki Dillon said
It’s more like Obama is saying search your feelings, America, you can’t do this. I feel the conflict within you. Let go of your hate.
And just so you know, he’s got a lot of friends, that shield generator is going to be down.
Suki Dillon ; That shield generator is gonna go down? Are you referring to Obama as Luke Skywalker, cause i believe he’s more like Darth Vader!
But did he pronounce the ‘d’ in desi as in ‘d’ in decade or d in ‘duniya’. Same with his pronounciation of the ‘d’ in daal. If he nailed both the right ‘d’s, he is Da Man.
I am very happy that Obama feels great attachment to South Asia and had a good Pakistani friend (not just room-mate) that he even journeyed to Pakistan to visit. I am ashamed at the way Muslims have been treated and continue to be treated in India.
I am a NRIndian and a secular humanist. I am from the South and even a Brahmin(not that it matters except in the its relevance this argument. I attended India Day celebrations on the Charles River esplanade in Boston yesterday and was disgusted that the Chief Guest was Subramaniam Swamy . He is a rabidly anti-Muslim, anti-Dalit-causes, (Harvard trained) politician and Economist. I was disappointed that amid all the song and dance Muslim culture (Qawwali, for example which I love) was not represented even though the catch-word ‘diversity’ was much used.
@Bitter American: Your comparison of Obama to Darth Vader on the dark/black side reveals a certain supremacist attitude. Why are you hanging out on a Desi blog?
Kali, let’s not make generalizations. “American” doesn’t mean white. “Bitter American” is more than likely a desi American as well. Please, let’s not get personal.
Where did I say BitterAmerican was white? Do you think that Desis are not prejudiced? Although very unlikely to compare Obama to Darth Vader: that really requires a different mindset.
go oxy!
Mr. Obama sucking up to desi people. Well, If you’re only after people’s votes.
I can’t wait until a Hill-area Indian resteraunt starts naming dishes after Obama.
restaurant*
“White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children’s lifetime. After all, he displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald’s-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas…�
This is not all that Morrison said. There was a lot more irony and not a whole lot of joy in what she wrote in that essay. Unfortunately this gets spinned into some grotesque anointment of Clinton by the famous writer. She actually did no such thing. This is what Morrison actually said in the summer of 1998, at the height of lynch season for Bill Clinton:
If there is some parallel being drawn to Obama as the first desi President – heaven help him.
Could cost him his saber hand though…
Haha, comedic gold! That made me spit out my coffee, luckily none landed on the keyoboard.
I love the Obama gear thats out these days…
Last week, my friend and I were in a small (albeit touristy) town in the Upper Peninsula (while playing spot-a-minority, the result was that including me there was 1 non-white person in the town). It was a blonde girl wearing this Obama t-shirt and me in my McCain Nautical Star shirt with an accompanying Goldwater button. Needless to say, we drew some looks!
@14 Dr Swamy happens to be my neighbor. He’s one of the very few honest, non corrupt politicians I’ve come across in India. This is a guy who has a Parsi wife and Muslim son-in-law (who also lives with him). He does not try to simplify his ideas for the appeasement of the masses, but talks like an academic would: his responses and speeches are educated, meaningful and free of rhetoric. But unfortunately, such people do not have mass appeal…
A guy whose father was an immigrant, has a funny name, an academic overachiever who attended an ivy league school (although my guess is mummy daddy didn’t pay for it). What’s not desi-ish about Obama? He sounds like most of my fellow ABD friends. Not to mention unlike them he actually traveled by himself in Southeast Asia.
Dude, have you ever tried to make naan? I’d be outsourcing the bejeezus out of that, too.
Again with the equivalencies and taking things out of context. Quote the whole damn series of sentences if you want to make a point with my words–Obama never had his children smeared by a political opponent he later hugged as far as i know.
Anyway, if the intent behind this assertion is to muddle difference between Obama and McCain, that’s not happening. the fact that Obama is “anti-dumb” in the words of Gail Collins and that he actually would create some space for change by being a centrist makes him extremely different from McCain. They are both too conservative, but if you compare their stances towards the Middle East, Georgia-Russia, how their campaigns run, etc., it’s quite clear that Obama is supercompetent and centrist while McCain is not supercompetent and acting as more of an ideologue. Think of it this way – Obama represents the interests of capital (i.e. “the centre” or “the people”) while McCain represents the interests of a few elites here and there – Cold Warriors, neocons, oil companies, etc. Understanding them as subject-effects (I know you like your poco theorists 😉
10 · seema said
Heh, I tthought of that when he said this: “You gotta really go some to play the race card with me – my office is in Harlem, and Harlem voted for Hillary by the way.”
28 · Dr AmNonymous said
so in your worldview, the candidate has to specifically hug his smearing opponent and the smear has to be specifically about his children in order to earn a scolding from you? This way you can excuse Obama, but blame McCain, b/c while the behavior may be similar, its not exactly the same.
Yeah that’s exactly what i was saying 😉 Are you on crack or something?
Obama is clearly pandering. But hey, I like it! Go Obama!
Who is obama? He changes identities more frequently than Zelig.
28 · Dr AmNonymous said
Since when is “capital” synonymous with “the centre” and “the people?” Just because the mainstream media (read “capitalist mouthpiece”) in the US says that’s the case doesn’t make it so.
What is this supposed to mean? examples please, or are you rehashing some lame talking points.
@ 33. Waldo
Either your handle is an excellent reference to go along with your Zelig reference or its one of those coincidences that are really freakin cool…the inner nerd in me appreciates it much.
@mynameescapesme “This is a guy who has a Parsi wife and Muslim son-in-law (who also lives with him)” This is like saying my best friend is a Muslim…
“He does not try to simplify his ideas for the appeasement of the masses, but talks like an academic would: his responses and speeches are educated, meaningful and free of rhetoric. But unfortunately, such people do not have mass appeal…”
Well he must be doing something right, the poor fella, because ‘the masses’ in New England invited him to be Chief Guest on IDay. I see he does the round of Hindutva gatherings in the US on a regular basis as well. “Educated, meaningful and free of rhetoric??” Pull the other one, thambi…
Kali wrote: I am a NRIndian and a secular humanist. … and even a Brahmin …
Count on desis to put forth their fighting creds. You can take the god out of the desi soul but just try to take the brahminess away …
37 · Kali said
I think he is saying that Son-In-Law is a Muslim, not his best friend.
Apropos Obama’s Desi-dom and Swamy’s house-mates I strongly recommend another Harvard Economist:
Amartya Sen’s Identity and violence: a small book worth its weight in diamonds.
If I wasn’t an atheist I would be afraid of having to pay for my presumption of claiming brahminhood, by being born a (born-again?) Jindal in my next life…
True dat 🙂
Its funny to see even atheist and “libertarian” posters defend the caste system. A good example of cognitive dissonance. Just imagine: someone who does not believe in God boasting of his priestly status! The whole thing is so fraudulent and farcical.
Joe Kennedy desperately wanted to be a Brahmin. When they wouldn’t let him into the club, he set out to beat them. And succeeded.
@Shazam On page 3 or 4 of Sen’s book you will see him say he is a “secular humanist and a nonBrahmin”. Why don’t you tell him to cease and desist? What if I said I was Dravidian would that be boasting too? What if I said I was a purple fairy? So all this ugliness is in the eye of the reader, is it not? I didn’t ask you to denigrate nonBrahmins or nonWomen or nonDravidians or BlueFairies. Swamy did – get it?
Keep your eye on the ball guys – this is not an opportunity for an exhibition of casteism. No wonder we have so much insoluble sectarian strife…
obama’s just softening us up with thedesi comment b/c he’s about to whack us with biden. this will be worse than 7-11 sushi.
Dravidian is an ethnicity, real or imagined. Big difference. Why dont you answer this: how can someone who does not believe in a religion belong to its priestly caste?
Identifying yourself as a brahmin is upholding the validity of the caste system, isnt it? Anyway, I was actually thinking of some other atheists and “libertarians” here who have actively defended the caste system. The post was not directed at you exclusively.
46 · Shazam said
einstein. jewish.
Absurd defense. Casteism is not tribalism.
46 · Shazam said
Hinduism isn’t a religion. There are no religions that have arisen from India. There are 100s of priestly jatis everywhere in India. You get an F- for that one, a little lower than your D-.
Yeah, fake diamonds!
Hey SM Intern, is your idea of moderation letting loose cannons roll all over the place?
hence the scare quotes–but should have been clearer. I think capital does structurally determine what the centre is in the u.s. (and even by that measure the republicans are rightwing) by determining which of the two parties is going to win despite that i hate that. it’s not the same as the people at all (esp if you look at this globally).
Should you be asking immediately following participation in the loose cannoning?