Barack Obama's grandmother is gravely ill. My temptation yesterday was to say nothing. And then, this morning, I came across this picture at Andrew's place. I've reflected a lot--personally--on Obama's campaign and the values of parenting. I often think about how his Dad left him, and never knew that his son would be within days of the presidency of the greatest power in history. Think about this--what else could a father want? My own Dad often says that too many black men see child-rearing as "responsibility" and not "personal investment." They forget about the joy that children bring, and instead focus on the bills, or on stupid, petty beefs with women. As my own son creeps past eight, I've been reminded of that.
Obama's mother, a relatively young woman when he was born, will not be here to see him inaugurated, should he win. Whenever, I think of that I just get sad--mostly because she did know the rewards of parenting and threw herself at her kids. There's something unjust in the fact that she won't get to see the results of all her work.
But now, more than anyone, I am thinking of Barack Obama's grandparents. One of the big mistakes we make when we look at the history of race in this country is to focus on big people and big events. What should be remembered is that, though our racial history is mired in utter disgrace, though the deep cowardice of post-reconstruction haunts us into the 21st century, at any point on the timeline, you can find ordinary white people doing the right thing. Frederick Douglass, himself a biracial black man, is a hero of mine. But arguably more heroic, is Helen Pitts, his second wife--a white woman, who traced her history back to the Mayflower, whose ancestors founded Richmond Township, NY, and who was cast out for marrying Douglass. Here is a white woman who spent the best years of her life fighting for suffrage and racial justice. After Douglass died, she dedicated the rest of her life to seeing him honored, when everyone else was on the verge of forgetting. Please read up on her. She was the truth.
Likewise, I was looking at this picture of Obama's grandparents and thinking how much he looks like his grandfather. And suddenly, for whatever reason, I was struck by the fact that they had made the decision to love their daughter, no matter what, and love their grandson, no matter what. I'd bet money that they never even thought of themselves as courageous, that they didn't give much thought to the broader struggles in the the world at the time. They were just doing what right, honorable people do. But the fact is that, in the 60s, you could be disowned for falling in love with a black woman or black man. There is a reason why we have a long history of publicly biracial black people, but not so much of publicly biracial white people.
We often give a pass to racists by noting that they were "of their times." Fair enough, and I know Hawaii was a different beast, but still, today, let us speak of people who were ahead of their times, who were outside of their times. Let us remember that Barack Obama learned the great lessons of life from courageous white people. Let us speak of those who do what normal, right people should always do when faced with a child--commit an act love. Here's to doing the right thing.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Well said. It can be easy to underestimate what it takes for the individual whites who did the right thing when it would have been both easier and more socially acceptable to continue to perpetuate a system rigged to their advantage. They have always been part of the struggle for equality in this country and that shouldn't be forgotten.
Also, to add, it must be incredible for them to think that their (at the time) random act of responsibility would have had such an impact on the Nation, and the world.
I'd also say there's something wonderful that WE get to see the results of all her love.
Children are work, but they're also love. They're worry. But they're also joy beyond anything I'd ever imagined feeling. Thankfully, Obama's grandparents already knew that, and they gave the best of themselves to him; they taught him to give the best of himself to others.
They were good parents. I hope I've lived up to their example, set such an example myself, passed such an example on to the next generation.
We often see Edmund Burke's words about all evil needs is for good people to do nothing, but we don't often think about the flip side of that, which is that good people do good things every day, and as a result, much of what we consider evil is thwarted, without a second thought. You just pointed out a great example of that. Even if Barack Obama hadn't grown up to be the man he is today, his grandparents did an unqualified good thing, and they probably never gave it a second thought.
Melissa McEwan over at Shakesville has a metaphor for that--a teaspoon. She talks about the huge oceans of hate and anger that exist, and that individually, we only have teaspoons to use to drain them. But if we all use our teaspoons, we can make a difference. Obama's grandparents used their teaspoons and we all stand to benefit from it.
Wonderful post. Despite all the despicable drama going on in the campaign right now; thank you for a wonderful post highlighting the common humanity of good and decent people everywhere. Emotions are (understandably) high right now and it's easy to lose site of this.
I think this may be the best thing I have seen you write, and I enjoy reading your blog. Thank you.
What struck me last night is how deeply sad it would be on a personal level if she was to pass before the election. His parents are both dead, his grandfather is dead, Michelle's father is also gone.
Clearly this woman means a great deal to him. Leaving the campaign with 2 weeks to go to be with her is not something to be done lightly. That should tell you what she means to him.
Great comment.
On the political front, I can't help but wonder that reminding people with a picture and this sad news that Obama was essentially raised by Kansas born white folks will help change some calcitrant undecideds minds that their racial concerns are unfounded.
Some voters will identify with losing (essentially)a parent.
And some will be calmed and identify with a good son of an aging white woman.
This was in good taste. Well said.
Damn Ta-Nehisi
I can't believe you weren't going to say anything and then you just dropped something so profound I need to sit down...
Bravo...
What a wonderful post and done in the best of taste. While it is completely necessary to call out bigotry for what it is, it is just as necessary to honor those who "use their teaspoons." (Fantastic illustration Incertus.)
This and the people who called out the Bumper sticker guy at the McCain rally give me some sort of hope in these troubled times.
Wonderful words, and very definitely in good taste. And I had never seen that particular photograph before--You are right about the resemblance: It's especially clear in those trademark ears! :)
You choked me up this morning, Ta-Nehisi. I lost my own Grandfather a few years ago -- Obama's uncle served with him in the 89th Infantry. They liberated a concentration camp together. Amazingly, my grandmother is still still uncomfortable with the idea of a president who isn't one hundred percent white. After hundreds of conversations where I kept my cool and tried to be sensitive and understanding, I simply don't know what to say to her anymore.
But I have a wise friend who said, "You know what we'll be able say to people who refused to vote for Obama for obviously raciest reasons? Nothing. We'll be able to say, 'My president and I have work to do,' and hang up the phone. I'd prefer a more inclusive answer, but at least we'll have that.
I'm going to send her this post and this picture, though. Maybe Obama's resemblance to his grandfather will shake her. Maybe she'll begin to realize we're all made of the same stuff, that we're all family and it's long past time to start acting like it. It helps to hope so.
Definitely in good taste. Very moving.
This election has caused people to walk in each other shoes and hope.
Thanks!
Well said. Maybe you should re-title your post and call it: Family Values. But isn't lasting change only brought about by ordinary people doing extraordinarily ordinary things? Or, as you put it, doing the right thing?
Now everyone eligible for early voting, go vote! No early voting? Get an absentee ballot and vote!
Beautiful.
Last night, after watching the video of frothing whites screaming impotently at (mostly black) folks waiting in line to vote here in NC, and reflecting on the disgusting displays of Limbaugh essentially calling Colin Powell a n** in the tank for another n**, I was so bitter and demoralized... But maybe, as you wrote in the previous post, we are witnessing the ugly end of their time, and the early days of this courageous culture gaining strength.
TNC: This is really beautiful. Thank you for challenging my own comfortable perceptions and beliefs.
I've been reading Dreams from my Father but the first chapters are largely about Obama's grandparents and mother. I pray that "Toot"(his grandmother) will live to see "Bar" become president. She has already seen him accomplish so much from the love and care she gave him- Columbia, Harvard Law, Rresident of the Harvard Law Review,state senator and US Senator and a wonderful marriage and children. Hopefully, she has been well enough to see how far ahead he is in this race.
It's stories like theirs that give me hope that people are, in the end, essentially good; that most of us are strong and brave, and love their children, and that in the end, maybe we'll all be okay.
...and here's something that's completely tasteless-- Barack inherited his maternal grandfather's ears. My grandmother always said to never marry a man whose ears stuck out....
That was beautiful. I hope she pulls through this and gets to see her grandson elected the next President of the United States.
Just wanted to say that I really enjoy reading this blog. This is great stuff this morning and I am sniffling at my desk. Very touching.
Yes it was in good taste...and brought tears to my eyes this morning.
You are SO right about how much Obama looks like his grandfather. And I think that tells us a lot of what we need to know about the lie of "race" (not everything, because we unfortunately need to understand it's very real social existence).
But, that sort of stuff aside, I hope Obama has a good visit with his grandmother. Saying goodbye is hard (if it has come to that point), but I know from experience that the chance to do so is also a gift.
Beautiful post TNC.
I feel for Obama in this way: his grandmother is all he has left of his own family, the older generation.
As we age and become adults, then older adults, we lose our blood connections one by one. There's nothing we can do about it. And with them, our keys to a thousand stories we'll never know.
The last time I went to the Philippines, I stayed with cousins instead of my aunts and uncles. One by one, they're all passing on. It makes me sad. It's a very particular form of loss, especially if you are of different worlds in some way. You lose a whole world. I realized that there are certain connections that, if you lose them, you can never quite regain as you age.
It must be a loss, that Barack's mother isn't here with her son now, couldn't be on the campaign trail for him like McCain's mother could, seeing the man he's become, supporting him.
I definitely agree with your assessment that there has always been ordinary white people doing the right thing, but I would differ on Helen Pitts Douglass being "arguably braver" than her husband. One thing that stands out for me on Pitts Douglass was noted in Paula Giddings's seminal book on the history of black women in America,When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America. Giddings notes in her chapter on women's suffrage that Susan B. Anthony "dissuaded Helen Pitts, Frederick Douglass's second wife - who was White, and a suffragist in her own right - from addressing the plight of Black women in southern prison camps." The early suffragists were not big on including black women in their work.
This is the same Susan B. Anthony who bitterly complained about the 15th Amendment giving black men instead of white women the right to vote. Anthony's words (as noted in the same chapter) - "While the dominant party have with one hand lifted up TWO MILLION BLACK MEN and crowned them with the honor and dignity of citizenship, with the other they have dethroned FIFTEEN MILLION WHITE WOMEN - their own mothers and sisters, their own wives and daughters - and cast them under the heel of the lowest orders of manhood."
No one is perfect of course, and Mrs. Pitts Douglass was certainly noteworthy, but I don't know that she "braver" in any sense than her husband.
I've rarely seen a better example of what, exactly, good taste is than this post.
I don't believe in praying, but I am thinking many good thoughts about Senator Obama and his family. And the many other families and individuals in the country and the world who do the right thing every single day.
And thanks, TNC, for the tears this morning. I needed that note of grace today.
What a drop-dead beautiful post. Doesn't get any better. Thank you, bro.
TNC,
Your wonderful post caused me to tear up thinking of my grandmother who died a couple of years ago. She was greatly involved in my upbringing and we had a very special bond. I was fortunate to travel a long distance and get to her bedside for one wonderful night before she died the following morning.
If 'Toot' is anything like my grandma she won't give a hoot about whether Barack becomes POTUS or not though. The fact that he has and will continue to be a loving dad, thoughtful husband, and a kind and good man are the things that matter most to grandmas.
"They were just doing what right, honorable people do."
Well done. Well said.
A few random thoughts:
They were just doing what right, honorable people do. This is so true. It reminds me of the people telling off the smearsticker people yesterday. And of the film Walk the Line, in which June Carter's parents are the greatest example of living one's Christian values that I have ever seen on film.
On judging people by their time and place: It makes a difference whether times were changing, and they came down on the side of right, or times were different and it didn't occur to them that life could be different. (I can look at my own views on gay marriage a decade ago--yeah, it should be legal, but that won't happen for 100 years and let's concentrate on civil unions....oh, woops, here's history.) But even in the former case, people can change. Things do get better over time. One of the blogs quoted a woman who came from a fairly racist family, first to go to college, dating a black man. Her grandmother, who over several years had come around to accepting the possible grandson-in-law, voted for Obama, telling her granddaughter she was glad she was raised with fewer prejudices than the grandmother was.
geg6, a note of grace indeed, and these tears feel cleansing and real and necessary.
i too was close to my maternal grandma and thankful that she loved me even though i didn't always carry on my life the way a supremely religious woman might have liked.
bravery comes in many forms, big & small. sometimes plain and simple love is the greatest act & gift of all.
my prayers go out to barack and toot.
"They were just doing what right, honorable people do."
at a time when doing the "right and honorable" thing was not an easy thing to do. TNC, your post has made me stop and take a few moments to reflect on all the little right and honorable things my parents did in their time here, and they were never easy.
I'm a white guy from suburban Baltimore, currently living in Philadelphia. I am a liberal Democrat and proud of it. I have been a big Barack fan since I first saw him in 2004. All that being said, I come from a very conservative family that has had its racial issues over the years. I love my parents, but they are trapped in the mindset that has hurt our country so dearly for many, many years. I don't know how to open their minds, and I'm afraid I'm running out of time to do it (they are both 64). Your post is a powerful one, and speaks to what so many of us white folk hope is really in the hearts of the majority of white people today.
Perhaps I cannot change my own family, but I can put in the work that is necessary to open the minds of others. That is a cause I would always consider worth fighting for.
Keep up the great work Ta-Nehisi.
Great post, here's hoping Obama's grandma makes it to see her grandson become the President. What better reward could there be for years of hard work and sacrifice?
An excellent post! Reminds us that inherently all people are good and kind but sadly we don't hear of them that often. If Obama gets elected President, it would be the perfect culmination of the good deeds that white people have done in actively eliminating the hate of racial prejudice. As you rightly pointed out, they didn't preach or impose their values on others but merely did the right thing. I'm sure there are thousands of such folks out there and that's what keeps my hope in America alive.
PS. I'm an Asian-India immigrant.
Spottieottie,
I think she's already had a better reward than her grandson becoming President; she had a wonderful, strong daughter, and a grandson who is, by all accounts, smart, tough, and a loving father to his children. It's a cliche, but raising good people is better, IMO, than raising a President. ("Toot" has a lot more to be proud of than Barbara Bush, as far as I'm concerned.)
wonderful post.
"I hope this is in good taste"
Perfectly so.
Just wanted to add another note that this was a beautiful post and has me holding back the tears at my desk at work. It also made me think about my own parents--pops Japanese-American, moms white--who got married in Virginia just a couple years after the Loving case struck down anti-miscegenation laws there.
"Last night, after watching the video of frothing whites screaming impotently at (mostly black) folks waiting in line to vote here in NC, and reflecting on the disgusting displays of Limbaugh essentially calling Colin Powell a n** in the tank for another n**, I was so bitter and demoralized... "
Bitter and demoralized, sg? Then you are a better person than I am. That kind of behavior is a sign of desperation, and I can't help gloating, and I am a little ashamed of that.
These are the people that made it such a feat of courage for people like Toot to do the decent thing. Their screams are music now.
Wow, I too am holding back tears at my desk. This post is especially relevant as I am expecting my first child in the next three weeks. Who knows he/she may even come on election night when Obama is elected president. It gives me chills to think about it, even more so after this beautiful post. Thanks Ta Nehisi for some (much-needed) perspective.
the ears and the shape of his head are pure granddad.
but the thing that really defines him is the smile and one look at his grandma in that pic tells you that he got that smile straight from her.
what it tells me is that he probably saw her flash it plenty of times and he had many, many reasons to proudly show his grandma his version of her own smile.
TNC,
This was not a blog entry; this was art.
Thanks
Thank you for that. That was a beautiful post, and I agree -- Obama does look so much like his grandfather. Although, you can see him in his grandmother's smile, as well.
Coates,
this was beautiful and deep. And, you are right - he totally looks like his grandfather
that was lovely ... truly a beautiful post
A tasteful and kind post. Kind as in "kin," from the same Indo-european root word that meant to give birth.
This campaign has caused me to return to James Baldwin, who wrote, "Blackness and whiteness do not matter, and to believe that they do is to acquiesce in one's own destruction. Hatred, which can destroy so much, never fails to destroy the man who hates and this is an immutable law."
In this campaign we are seeing that immutable law in action. The racists are finally destroying themselves, not the innocent. In this same essay, Baldwin wrote, "I imagine that one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, that they will be forced to deal with pain."
True that. We're all kin here; that fact is written on the lightened face of almost every African-American. The sooner we face this the better. This photo is another step in that direction. Thank you.
Your columns have long inspired me, but few as much as this one.
It's hard when all the racebaiting words are swirling around us to remember that this election is about HOPE, and that hope is founded on love -- love that is expressed in action.
Change comes when hearts change, and your words will, I hope, inspire many hearts.
PS one minor note of correction: Helen Pitts' ancestors founded Richmond Township, NY, not Richmond, VA.
My grandmother -- a white Southern Baptist, born in the South in the 1890s but who struggled to adjust to changing times and recognized the fundamental morality of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and '60s, would be greatly heartened by this photo of Barack's grandfather. "He's got good ears," she'd say. She put a lot of stock in large ears as a sure sign of a good blood line and upbringing.
I know, that sounds silly. But we all get to where we are from where we've been before.
Someone sent me this posting and I must say, I'm glad they did. It brought back memories of my mom -- a White woman who married a mixed-race man in 1950. My mother was totally colorblind but she raised us to know that the world would perceive us as Black regardless of the fact that we were mostly White. I find it fascinating that all some people see when they look at Obama is a Black man. It's a sad commentary on our society and how little a large segment of our population has really changed in the last 50 years. I probably won't live to see it, but I'm still hoping that some day we will become a truly colorblind society that judges people based on their character rather than their race. Having Obama in the White House will be a huge leap in that direction.
Lovely, indeed. I have always been far more struck by the courage, heart and open minds of his grandparents than anything else. His mother, God bless her, was clearly a rebel, and though she surely suffered some rejection from other whites for her choice to love a black man, the dynamics were different for her. Just as they were for his father. Say what you will, the history of interracial unions between black men and white women in this country are long, fraught and anything but uncomplicated;often it's not "just about love."
But his grandparents. What amazing people, to so fully and completely open their hearts to what must have been totally outside their experience.
I'm praying she hangs on. But even if she goes, she goes, I'm sure, in peace.
Absolutely in good taste. I've read your stuff for a while now (since the Cosby article) but this is the first time I've commented. Absolutely moving and incredibly true.
Agreed in good taste. Very progressive of Obama's grandparents.
But, of course, Grandpa Dunham wanted a boy so bad that Ann Dunham's first name was actually, yep, Stanley.
Thank you for a wonderful post.
This post is in Excellent taste.
My dead parents and grandparents were born black in America and managed to survive and thrive for many years in Jim Crow Birmingham. While I have mourned that they have been unable to witness the presidential candidacy of Sen. Obama, I have been thankful that his grandmothers have been able to.
Your post highlights for me the idiocy of the racial hatred that permeates this country and its history.
Racists in America should ask themselves, to paraphrase you, "Am I just doing what right, honorable people do?"
There is no way they can respond "yes" to this question truthfully. These racists believe that having solely a white bloodline is so much more AWESOME than not, that the introduction of "one drop" of non-white DNA totally obliterates it. Pretty much a self-defeating and idiotic argument to me.
Thanks for putting your thoughts so beautifully into words and sharing them.
Thank you for posting this. It was lovely to read.
How terribly sad to think that she may the fruits of her labor play all the way out....but then Martin didn't see the promise land either.
I think the "giving a pass to racists" behavior is a major part of the problem. It condones, allows and enables continuied racism. If a baby screams at the restaurant and you shove a cookie in its mouth to shut it up it will scream at every restaurant you ever take it to...viola, no consequences equals mucho cookies.
Personally, I'd much rather see this racism in any form (like the McCain Airplane/Terrorist mailer that he was so proud of today) greeted with the disdain and fury it deserves every single time. Anything less is just a cookie.
The last time I was this moved by a column was Leonard Pitts, Jr. writing after 9/11.
I would, however, like to pick one nit: Yes, Hawaii is different. But Obama's grandparents weren't from Hawaii. They were from Kansas, which is a very different culture. That makes it rather more significant that they simply did the right and honorable thing. It may help us all remember (or learn, for those who were not born at the time) that even in the ugly parts of the 1950s and 60s, and even in the more bigotted parts of the country, there were still a lot of people who did not embrace the hatred (and/or fear) that characterize the history of the time.
Wonderful post.
Recently, I was thinking about how much different this campaign might have been if Obama's mother was still around. To have her (a white woman) embracing her son on stage after a speech would have been a powerful message to those who insist that Obama is 'teh other.' But then I pondered what if her presence did not quell the hate (a likely prospect) and Obama's mother had to listen to people disrespecting her son so horribly.
I had been assuming that his grandparents had long passed, but it heartens me to hear she is still holding on. Hopefully this photo (and those ears on grandpa) can communicate to folks that we are all on this ride together. Let's hope that his grandmother hasn't heard too many of those slurs and she makes it to November (or even better, January).
The 'real America' indeed.
TNC,
This post is beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes. Barack does look so much like his grandfather - the ears, the tilt of the head, the eyes...it's uncanny.
Their courage has occurred to me before. Who knows what they might have heard about their daughter's choices and their grandson from people whose minds were closed. Thankfully they chose love above all.
Thank you for such a moving post.
Your article did my heart good. I feel for the Senator that he may lose his grandmother soon. But I dare say that Senator Obama choosing his grandmother over important campaign stops may be a greater testament of his character to the American people than one of his wonderful stump speeches.
... the presidency of the greatest power in history. Think about this--what else could a father want?
Plenty. (But I take your point.)
Not to knock the web, but turn this into 750 words and PUBLISH it someplace -- try the NYT. It's good work.
But, admit it. When you wrote "how much he looks like his grandfather..." you were REALLY thinking "so that's where he got the ears."
Beautifully said. I have such pride in both Obama and Biden and the way they are both so tied to their families. These are fine people, who know that none of us succeeds without the support of a loving family, and who have endeavored to be good fathers. Obama has shared so much of his own story, his doubts and self awareness. And he has publicly shared the great debt he owes to the women in his life, his attempts to understand his own racial identity, his struggles to be a good man without a consistent male role model. These guys represent America, in all its complexity and diversity.
TNC,
Absolute beauty.
Thank you for this.
(and a continued thanks to Sullivan, without whom, I may never have found my new favorite blogger).
This was just beautiful. I'll be reading it to my family at the dinner table tonight. Thank you.
TNC,
Thanks for a wonderful blog!
I've just started reading the Atlantic blogs in the last months but you are all outstanding. I'm particularly fond of yours.
Keep up the good work!
God bless
Sorry to strike sour note after that beautiful post, but here it is. Obama usually includes some bio in his stump speeches. He could say that he was raised by a single mom, but instead he always says that his father left when he was two years old. It strikes me as unduly and calculatingly negative.
When I saw the picture, my first reaction was how much Obama looked like his grandfather. Then I realized that it wasn't only a physical resemblance. His grandfather was gregarious, but very much a devoted and loving family man. His grandparents remained married until his grandfather's death in 1992. I can see in the picture his grandfather with a playful look, enjoying life, but never losing the love. Obama seems to have picked up so much of that quality: enjoying all kinds of things, but always with love. Anyway, for what that's worth, that's what I see in the picture.
A wonderful picture and a lovely post. Thanks!
Wonderful post; stirring and comforting at the same time.
The resemblance struck me when I first saw this photo this morning. I, too, strongly favor my maternal grandfather, but had always assumed that Barak looked like his dad (whose photo I don't think I've seen). But give grandpa a deep tan and an African nose, and you've got his grandson. I imagine caricaturists are happy grandma fancied a man with what my wife calls "good handles."
I don't know what Obama's absence or focus on his grandmother will mean politically, but who cares. This is a very touching and insightful post. Madelyn Dunham has so much to be proud of--both in her grandson, and as you've pointed out, in herself.
Definitely in good taste.
Reading about Helen Pitts what struck was the fact that even though her parents were abolitionists they were very much against her marriage to Douglass.
grandpa and grandson at the beach:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/070323obama-early-photogallery,0,5458360.photogallery
a truly lovely post, tnc. and a nice antidote to the usual noxious b.s.
Thank god for people like them. I might lose complete hope for this country if not for such courage.
Well, Mr. Coates, I would like to thank you, I really would, for providing me with the really long, good cry that has been building up inside me since that January night in Iowa.
I knew it was coming, but it surprised me that your piece is what made the dam break. :-)
My own sweet grandmother raised me, too, and there is not a day in my life that I do not miss the beautiful, wise Yelena Tarkanish.
To the Brave. And, to Grandparents, Everywhere.
I don't think it would be such a bad exit (imagining myself in his grandmother's place) to turn out the lights just as your grandson is on the brink of a historic victory, a triumph for humanity, to be celebrated with joy all around the world.
I think it would be very sweet, as in the sweetness of passing out of this world in beautiful bright sunlight, surrounded by those who love you.
What more could one ask?
Mildred Loving just passed away last April.
Loving v Virginia, DECIDED IN 1967.
6 YEARS AFTER OBAMA WAS BORN.
Where did McCain stand in 1967 on miscegenation? (He was calling MLK a commie into the 1980's)
Mildred Loving was a real hero, not just someone who survived a calamity forced upon them.
my grandmother fell in love with a bi-racial man in the 40's. she was disowned by her family and struggled with raising 8 children on her own. i'm thankful for her. i wish she could be here to share in this joy.
Stanley and Toots made a profound contribution to their country, and possibly the world, by the "simple" act of loving and raising their remarkable grandson. These folks are the salt of the earth. I'm praying for Toots to pull through.
Thanks for a moving and important post.
I think that was in the best possible taste and the most fitting testament to a heroic woman who does all of us proud.
Along the lines of this beautiful post, I urge everyone to honor the memory of Jonathan Myrick Daniels. If you don't know about him, look him up. If you find yourself in the black belt of Alabama in August I strongly recommend attending the Johnathan Daniels Pilgrimage, an event sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. You won't go away unmoved.
Beautiful post.
I too often think of his mother, and how incredibly proud she'd have been of her son today. It saddens me to think his grandmother might not see her grandson inaugurated as president.
But, up there in the spirit world, she'll have a lot to tell her daughter and her husband, won't she? Blessings to her.
Obama resembles his grandmother strongly as well. Look at that smile!
Thanks for reminding us of brave progressive grandparents. My grandparents hosted biracial religious discussion groups in their home in Raleigh, NC back in the 20s. If NC turns blue this election, it will be a tribute to a long history of brave progressives in this state. There are grandparents like Obama's all around the country who deserve our thanks for keeping the flame of justice and equality alive through some very tough years.
A wonderful respite from the campaign, and a nice rest stop before we go into the next two weeks.
Wonderful, insightful writing. Thank you.
Look at the language and the love in this post and its comments and see the direction in which Barack Obama is already taking us. These are the first notes in a new song, a song our country has been desperate to sing for decades. Centuries. "A miracle is nothing more than justice postponed, arriving to compensate those it had cruelly abandoned." And who's to say Barack's mother won't get to see the results of all her work? She just might have the best seat in the house.
Thanks for the beautiful post. Barack's grandmother is my cousin. As a transplanted Californian living in Arkansas it has been interesting to see the reactions of the local population to the published news that most of them were related to Barack Obama. Some reject the idea, others are wary, and more than what I would have thought are proud of him. I was a teacher in California for twenty years and taught many mixed race children and saw first hand how the love for a child broke down the barriers that keep us thinking of ourselves as "others". Again thanks for the post.
A lovingly crafted grace note. One that I have already forwarded along to those that I love and care about.
As has already been alluded to in earlier comments, this is emblematic of the hunger for inclusiveness that has been a subtext to Obama's campaign thus far. Its really less about race in its classic sense and more about fairness, responsibility and acceptance. All of which, when viewed through the eyes of parents to their, or anyone else's children, is typically, love. Ta-Nehisi renders this elegantly and without saccharine. Not easy to do given the emotions behind it.
Bravo!
As one who intends to vote for John McCain, I think the policies advocated by Sen. Obama will be very damaging to the US, now or at any time.
But I do admire the choice of his grandparents to love and care.
And that is part of why I am a conservative.
When someone voluntarily gives of themselves to those who are disadvantaged, it is charity. The giver is blessed; the recipient is helped, and challenged by love to get up and try to be a giver himself.
When someone is taxed to give to those who are disadvantaged, it is confiscation. The giver is resentful; the recipient is supported, and weakened by entitlement to continue to take.
This article has beauty in it. It is the beauty of voluntary giving, even when it is unpopular. It is the beauty of love.
Thank you-- this is beautifully stated.
Beautifully said. I hope Barack's grandmother gets to see him become President-elect.
In very good taste, and great company.
It's remarkable (well I guess it shouldn't be) how much Obama looks like his grandfather. Same ears, same head shape, similar nose. I bet that's what his grandmother thinks every time she looks at him.
Very touching - may America manifest for ourselves what is best for us. Some of us dearly hope that to be President Barack Obama leading us a new era of peace & prosperity for all. May Barack's grandmother feel great pride at his election & inauguration.
Barack's grandmother favors Barbara Stanwyck. And Barack favors his grandfather heavily.
Wonderful piece. We must always remind our young of the importance of their ancestors.
I am not counting my chickens yet so I am bookmarking this for now. After the election I will send it to my children to remind them of their African American grandmother who fully accepted me, her son-in-law, more than 30 years ago. (It took a few years for my parents to accept their African American daughter-in-law. They did come to love her though.)
Wonderful and well said. I'm a white, Southern woman who has mostlu voted for Republican (but NOT for McCain this time ;-p) yet, in spite/because of all that (LOL!) I will support an Obama presidency. I think he's the right man at the right time.
I pray every day for Barack Obama, his family and our country. I can only hope that he lives up to my hopes and expectations.
Your comments about Obama's grandparents - "They were just doing what right, honorable people do." - made me think of a favorite quote by the Chinese writer Lu Xun:
"Hope cannot be said to exist nor can it be said not to exist. It is just like roads across the earth. For actually the earth had no roads to begin with, but when many men pass one way a road is made."
The utterly simple idea of individuals waking up every day and being responsible and going about their business and naturally doing what's right - it is from there that hope emerges. And so it always has.
"There is a reason why we have a long history of publicly biracial black people, but not so much of publicly biracial white people."
Strangely, I am not sure what the difference is between the two types set forth above.
The cultural imperative of whiteness defines itself in opposition to the other, so it is hard to understand how biracial white people could actually exist. As a person of mixed racial phenotypes, who presents brown, should I choose to call myself biracially white, I am sure people would treat me respectfully, until I left the room, at which point they would laugh me out of the academy.
A further reason, besides the cultural impossibility of a biracially white person is historical.
That there is a paucity in the coming out of "publicly biracial white people" is logical in a society where whiteness is invisible, and where the obsession with the non-white other brought the one drop rule and the classification system common in the old days which labeled one as a quadroon, a quintroon or an octaroon, based on the distance of your black antecedents.
Dunham is my family name although I'd have to hire a genealogist to prove a link (Although I have reason to believe that NHL Goalie Mike Dunham is a second or third cousin). But my family likes to joke that my brother has Barack Obama's ears (which are so big that we used to compare him to a taxi cab going down the street with it's doors open). And ohh yeah, every Dunham woman in my family has had breast cancer. Coincidence? Probably.
lovely.
As the white, English and very proud mother of biracial black American sons (both of whom I've forwarded this moving post to), all I can say is thank you.
Tears. Just briefly, but still tears. Parental pride, and the intersection of the duty of parenthood with the fact that nothing could make one happier than seeing his child grow up to be a great person...it always gets me.
Well done.
Lugs and chin.
That photo, and the photos of Obama on the trail, are part of the story of an American century, of the small acts that got us here.
Losing parents and grandparents sometimes marks a change in the way you see yourself across generations: you're no longer someone's grandson or son, and perhaps more exclusively someone's dad.
Great, great post, T-NC.
You made me cry, Ta-Nehisi. This was absolutely beautiful and spot on.
Beautifully written. I read this at work and had a hard time not crying.
really nicely done. thank you.
When Have we Ever sat, perusing a photo of a Presidential Candidates, grandparents this way in our history?? I think this alone, says a lot!
The photo is so remarkable that I pray it can find its way into the old media, to honor both his grandparents. Thank you for publishing it and for your great comment.
There's something unjust in the fact that she won't get to see the results of all her work.
this is just wrong - your kids provide instantaneous mega-rewards for every of morsel of personal investment you pour into them. Obama's mother received untold satisfaction for the time she had with Barack and the effort she put into him. She would tell you exactly that if she could. Furthermore, your child becoming POTUS means nothing more or less than anything else they do. To a parent, the ONLY thing important is that your child feels good about themselves doing whatever they choose to do. Obama being satisfied with his chosen road and accomplishments on that path are what would please her, not being POTUS.
.
simply visceral writing, Ta-Nehisi. With this post, you put yourself in the same category of Barack and his grandparents--people who can look beyond and beneath the surface to see a marrow of good. tight work.
I don't get the comments about hoping that "Toot" sees her grandson become President.
Me, I'd settle for Thursday. And being aware enough on Thursday to see her grandson, whom she loves dearly, and whom she would love dearly no matter what. Being able to hold his hand once more, and look into her eyes, and see the face of her late husband beside her at the End of the End.
Thank you so much for your beautiful thoughts. As many have said here, it's one of the lovliest and most profound blog posts I've seen in a long time. I found this post through Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish and now am seeing it on my favorite liberal blogs.
As a mother, it brings tears to my eyes - especially: "Let us speak of those who do what normal, right people should always do when faced with a child--commit an act love".
I'm sending this to my friends and kids and have now bookmarked your blog.
Although this piece was well written, and I think that I understand the intent behind it... I see what his family did as something that families are supposed to do for our children. We care for them. And when fathers don't do it, its a shame. When they do, it does not make them heroes. When White people show racism and prejudice, shame on them. When they "do the right thing", it does not make them heroes. It simply makes them human.
His mother and grandparents raised an extraordinary man whom I respect deeply. I repsect and honor them as parents of an honorable man. Raising Black children is not a horrible tasks that deserves any more attention when done well than what any parent deserves (let me quickly say thank you to my wife and my mother).
I simply find it difficult to say "thank you White people, for what you've given us". Why do we find a way for White people to get a pat on the back for simply doing what they should? Why do we find a way to give White people so much credit for what this Black man has accomplished? Why are all of my office colleagues patting themselves on the back for being "White allies"? Why do we have to say "thank you, cause we sure couldnt have done it without you"!
Came here from Atrios.
Great piece.
This is one of your best posts. It all comes down to the simplest thing on this sometimes sad planet of ours: loving a child.
Very nice post - I agree with a lot of it, but would quibble with the excerpt below - I'm sure Obama's mother loved him and all, but she did send him off to live with his grandmother so that she could pursue her hippie/professional student lifestyle. Frankly, that was probably to Barrack's advantage, but did she really "[throw] herself at her kids"?
"Obama's mother, a relatively young woman when he was born, will not be here to see him inaugurated, should he win. Whenever, I think of that I just get sad--mostly because she did know the rewards of parenting and threw herself at her kids. There's something unjust in the fact that she won't get to see the results of all her work."
Your column made me weep. There's no other word for it. Thank you.
Those ears are funny to see on someone else's head. But it's clear that Obama's skinny frame did not come from grandpa. And lookit the position of Stanley's knees -- clearly the couch is too small for him!
Madelyn Dunham was quite beautiful as a young woman.
Add another thank you.
As the single adoptive (white) mother to three black children, I live in gratitude to people like the Dunhams. Our life as a family is much like other families with a 10, 11, and 13 year old......we deal with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as they arise, And I know it is people like the Dunhams who have paved the way for my children and me to Be in the world. They make it possible for my kids and I to discuss an article in Ebony about whether white people should even be allowed to adopt black children.
In fact, this fall has been a continual celebration of the possible as we all volunteer together making phone calls for Obama, and delight in seeing a family that looks like OURS in the news.
I worry about Obama like I worry about my children. Although I have NO right, I am so proud of him. He is not my son. But I feel like his mama. My heart breaks for both Barack and Toot. On the edge of her passing, whether it be now or in the future, lies the impossibly sad, the bittersweet, and pure grace. I know the strength of a bond that transcends color, and is, perhaps, even deepened by difference. I am humbled to be "in it". And thankful.
Coates, this neat little ode to Obama's maternal folks means a lot to me. Being biracial myself (Spanish and Black) I had a lot of moments later in my adult life where I realized just how profound it was for my maternal uncle (rip) to proudly display his biracial nephew all over his favorite bars and haunts in Zaragoza--completely indifferent to whatever 80s racism or anti-American sentiments his famously stubborn and xenophonic Aragones countrymen might have felt...or for my Yaya, my maternal grandmom, to have embraced my very birth from Day One regardless of what the old biddies around the way had to say about it behind her back.
I connect to Sen. Obama's story on a lot of levels, but I'm pretty private about the very real emotional connection I feel from having gone through similar things he went through growing up, though it was the Reagan 80s and not the Nixon 70s...
Thanks for this my man, I'm gonna forward it to my mom. :)
They were personaly put to the test and past it.
If it wasnt their own blood though, what would of been thier perspective?
My family loves my bi-racial children and I would expect no less. But Im not naive. If they were'nt their own some of my older relatives my not be so warm.
I guess ultimately we wont get past the race issue till we are all one race. Its going to take more time and alot more sex.
Ta-Nehisi,
Why does this post make us weep so? You've touched something here at a subterranean level. Perhaps it's part of what's made us so enthusiastic about Obama.
A chance to turn a page, perhaps. A chance for catharsis, and healing, and living out our full promise as a nation. And yes, a chance to be courageous - individually and collectively - by redefining who can be POTUS.
I'm half Latino and I learned long ago that racial distinctions are an anachronistic and silly way to relate to each other.
Yes, we like Obama's policies, his temperament, his judgement. But after reading your exquisite post I can't help but think those are rational supplements to an emotional connection to his story, which in a way embodies ALL our stories.
Thank you again for this and feel free in the future to risk a contemplative tone any time you wish! :-)
I read this earlier today, but I was too moved to comment. I still can't say much other than thank you. This was a beautiful post about a loving family.
I especially enjoyed your article. I am the third generation of a freed slave. My Great Grandfather was born in Phiippi, WV., or Virginia before the Civil War.He was born 1852, and never knew his parents. We believe the Mother died in childbirth. The white family that owned him, reared him , and brought him west eith their family when they moved to Iowa. Their name was Hutchison. They had three sons of their own.They apprenticed him to a barber to learn a trade. He also worked part time for a German farmer named Dillon, in Van Meter, Ia. He met my Great Grandmother, the farmers daughter. They eloped in 1876.They had six children, who they reared, three of them to college. Two never married, two daughters married white men, and two,a son and a daughter married black My Grandmother was one of the daughter that married a Irishman. They had two daughters, both married white men, one being my Dad, who was from a Czech immigramt family. I am white. y children and Grandchildren are white. I am 61 years old now, and I remember the discrimantion of the 1950's, and 60's WHen we went shopping, I remember the sreange looks we woould get. I day a lady in J.C. Penny's ask me if that lady was my nanny. Sje could not eat at the Five and Dime lunch counter with us. She always had some shopping to do while we ate. I wa sixteen before I knew she could not sit with ua and eat. This was the kindest, mosst gentle woman you would ever meet. I still cry when I think about it. Most of you white people have know idea what blacks have suffered in this country. Bigotry is a horrible thing.
That's one hell of a post, Ta-Nehisi.
One thing that is very apparent from Senator Obama's demeanor, and the way he reacts to his own family, that there was an awful lot of love from his mother, siblings, and grandparents.
He seems absolutely secure in who he is, and where he came from. So many people, including his opponent, don't. That speaks of good, loving parents.
I recently wrote an article for Harlem Magazine in honor of Coming Out Day, that was in a similar vein.
My grandparents have four children. Out of the three sons, two are gay (one passed).
My grandparents demonstrated th importance of unconditional love and support. And it has been passed on to me and my cousins.
This post is being linked all over the place, and for good reason. I just linked it myself. This is arguably the single greatest blog post ever written.
I want this man to be president so badly that I'm not sure I can stand it if he isn't.
Thanks, Ta-Nehsisi. This was note-perfect. I'm all sniffly now, but in a good way.
Beautiful piece.
I have to agree with Holdfast - Stanley Ann Dunham was not a sterling example of hands-on motherhood.
But I think that we can give Obama's grandparents a lot of credit.
Thank you for this, Ta-Nehsisi.
I was born three months before Obama, in June, 1961. Like Obama, my dad checked out early, leaving my mom, an emerging, Betty Freidan feminist, to raise me and my brothers by herself. Like Obama's mom, mine died young, of breast cancer, at age 53.
Of course, even if my mother had lived, she wouldn't have seen her son run for president. But I can totally identify with the sadness you describe as I look into my children's eyes -- eyes my mother never got to see -- and see a glimmer of her.
Thankfully, that glimmer, that of a 'courageous' single woman, is something that my kids have within them.
Well said...well said.
To me, Barack Obama is a culmination of the American Dream. Obama, by his very being, is a living breathing example of the melting pot ideals that we teach in our history classes. Anyone who subscribes to these melting pot ideals should be willing to openly accept this man as their leader regardless of their political position.
Barack Obama is not asking us to agree with him 100% of the time, but he is asking us to help him to take us to a better future.
To think that Barack Obama is at the doorstep of the presidency and the leader of this country is beyond exciting to me.
Superb post. Certainly among your best both in style and content.
What you have said here is of extreme importance to Americans because what it means is that while most of us will never be "the great man" or woman who shapes history, ALL of us have the future of the world in our hands and what we do with our children and youth, how we conduct ourselves, what we stand for and against matters very much in the scheme of things.
Few of us will be remembered by name two days after we die, but the ripple effects that we cause in our lifetimes can and do change the world. Whether it is Obama's grandparents and Mom or the mighty Frederick Douglass' wife, there are millions of such people all over the country. If there weren't, Obama would never have gotten where he is. We literally have in our hands today the power to create the world anew or at least the world as we would like it to be. Obama's nomination and with luck, his election are only a symbol of our hopes and dreams for the world. But let's not forget that the symbol is not the full story. There is much left to do and a great deal of struggle ahead and it is the good people who will never be known that will determine the fate of the nation and the world.
WOW !
This was truly beautiful !!!
I am so proud that we live in a country where this is possible !
Thank Gawd that Obama's grandparents didn't make him feel like they were doing him some big favor and that they were so generous and courageous for loving someone as unworthy as him. I doubt if they expect all the accolades for doing what they were supposed to, and would probably be infuriated by the comments here for making the assumption that they weren't supposed to... love their grandson.
"Let us remember that Barack Obama learned the great lessons of life from courageous white people."
sarcasm/ Indeed, if he was raised by black relatives he'd probably be a pimp, drug dealer, in prison, or dead. /sarcasm
This is a wonderful post. And YOU ARE SO RIGHT. He looks just like his grandfather.
Every time I hear, "Americans might be too scared to elect a black man," I think and when I'm fired up, I say, "He is a black man and he is a white man, too. And he is better than most of us."
Please, God, let us elect the right man for the job for a change.
thank you for such an eloquent and thoughtful piece of writing
may all americans come to do the right thing one day
Very moving and thoughtful post.
I was an Edwards supporter during the primary. I was agnostic on Obama. I shouldn't have been. His dad's from where I'm from originally. I've never read Obama's books. I listened to his 04 speech and was definitely impressed but thought he wouldn't win this year. He's absolutely grown on me. My sister told me a while back that Obama looks like our dad did in his earlier years. And he does. Same ears. Same hands. Same eyes. Same mouth. Same huge set of choppers. Dad's nose was bigger. We're of East Indian heritage so obviously the skin tone and the hair's different but its kind of odd how similar they look. When I saw the early pics of Obama with his mom and grandparents I've thought of how tough it must have been for all of them. Even in Hawaii, it's got to have been difficult. All the racial stuff that's come out this year, not just anecdotes but in my real life, has made me so sad that we can't get past this race piece. I've had three people tell me they won't vote for Obama because he's black. That's it. Not because of issues, just because of the color of his skin. These are the "What's the matter with Kansas" people who actually hurt themselves by voting for McCain.
Beautiful post.
I thought the same thing when I saw a photo yesterday of the two of them together: wow, Obama looks like his grandfather.
The photo brought to mind a photo of a co-workers brother, a white commercial airline pilot, and his wife's family, black except for the white girl they adopted.
Here's the thing, and I hope it offers Ta-Nehisi some solace -- I disagree. I think she did see the results of all her work. Her son grew up to be a good and mighty man. That we are electing him to be President is just our recognition of what she already knew.
Here, here, sir!
Very well said! Senator Obama is the product of love and caring. Special people in his life (Mother, Grandmother, and Grandfather) who have shown him the true path to excellence and integrity.
As you do, I despair that his Mother will not see his ascension to the office of POTUS. But his Grandmother will. She is Irish, if I don't miss my guess (and I usually don't. Kind of like a bloodhound that way). She'll tough it out, if there's an ounce of life left in her.
God bless Mrs. Dunham, and I pray that she could stay awhile longer. Senator Obama has no other immediate family, save his half-sister Maya.
While it would be wonderful to see Senator Obama, his lovely wife Michelle, and their darling children onstage at the Inaugural, I hope he can have someone from his young life there.
He is such a serious man (God knows that's a refreshing change!), but we all are human. He is no different from you or I, and he needs his family there with him.
..and yet he called his grandmother a "typical white person" just to make a political point...Obama, a profile in courage.
Wow, that was gorgeous. And made me sob for the better part of an hour. Then I sent it to my sister and listened on the phone while she sobbed for an hour.
I learned a few days ago that I'm going to be an aunt. My sister, who is my elder by just under a year and my best friend in the world, is pregnant. My niece or nephew will be biracial and a first-generation American - the child of an African immigrant.
I've though a lot in the last week about what this moment means. Mildred Loving passed just days after my sister got engaged (in Virginia, no less). By the time this baby is born, the president will likely be someone with origins incredibly similar to theirs. It's awe-inspiring. But I realize that this huge moment is a culmination of a thousand smaller moments, and your post captures those moments, brought about by ordinary people, perfectly.
I know my sister hasn't chosen the easiest path, but I am profoundly grateful to all who have come before and made it just a little easier. I can only hope that my family will be as strong, and as loving, and as good to our new baby as Obama's family has obviously been to him.
Thank you so much for this post. It means a lot.
Lovely piece.
He sure does favor both of his charming grandparents. Particularly in the way his smile, like his grandmother's, shines from his eyes as well. She reminds me of his oldest daughter as well. Such a beautiful woman and even if, God forbid, her grandson didn't win this election, we would owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude for the way she helped raise Barack and the way he has elevated the discourse and awakened people's hope and consciousness and better instincts.
Beautiful post. If the entire photo were shown, you would see Barack's mother as a young girl sitting next to her father. That is how the picture was originally published on various newspaper sites. Barack's mother also looked a lot like her father.
Ta-Nehisi,
Great post. Thanks also for the Helen Pitts Douglass link. I live not far from Rochester and will be sure to check out her grave (and Frederick Douglass's grave) at Mt. Hope Cemetery.
Peace,
Ranjit
As a black woman, now 59 years old, I was fortunate to have the same exposure to diverse cultures during my formative years. My junior high years were spent in an environment that was almost exclusively Jewish. During those young years, for the first time in my life, I had teachers who recognized my innate talents and were not deterred by the color of my skin. Because I speak very proper English, I had had rather frequent negative interactions with gangs of black kids who would chase me home from school, prior to my moving into a predominately Jewish neighborhood. All African Americans are racially mixed. My own maiden name is German. My grandfather was half-white. My youngest son was born with blond hair and blue eyes.
The most significant thing I learned from this diverse high school experience is that color/ethnic background is not the criteria to judge the quality of the human being you are interacting with. I've known pretty people who were ugly inside. It saddens me that is 2008 this narrow criteria still defines so many. Much of the beauty of the world and its people is lost with such myopic vision.
I can't stop coming back to this post and reading it through tears. Thank you so much.
I would just offer a slightly different take on parenting. You say "They were just doing what right, honorable people do." I believe Obama's grandparents did what they did not because it was the right or honorable thing to do (sounds more like it requires a conscious effort) but did so out of love, which is something you don't have to be taught. (You have to be taught to hate.) My bet is that they didn't do it for personal investment either, but did what comes naturally when we are given the blessings of children and grandchildren -- they realized they were fortunate to be given a gift, like any parent or grandparent is given when they have a child. My guess is that they didn't even think about it as a duty, a right. More like a privilege. The result of that deep love is what we now see in the person of Barack Obama and what he has accomplished.
Wondeful post Mr. Coates and terrific comments here, especially AH. Products of love is what we hope we are.
Beautiful.
Thank you for this act of love, in sharing this with us.
I was moved by your thoughtful remarks. I so well remember the 1960s when it just became a little more acceptable to be in a biracial relationship. Everywhere. Everywhere one heard older people say, "But where will the children fit in? How will they know who they are?" So many of those doubters are gone, but i wish i could have given them a peek at the future when they asked that question. As the happy grandmother of a beautiful, new, biracial baby, i have no doubt the stars are in my genetic future.
too many black men see child-rearing as "responsibility" and not "personal investment."
I find this a racist comment. (Of course I do not believe you are a racist. It's good to be aware of unintended implications.) One could say this about many men regardless of their race. And Obama's dad was from Africa and from a totally different culture. To believe the above statement one would have to believe that someone's race determined this cultural trait.
Lovely piece.
He sure does favor both of his charming grandparents. Particularly in the way his smile, like his grandmother's, shines from his eyes as well. She reminds me of his oldest daughter as well. Such a beautiful woman and even if, God forbid, her grandson didn't win this election, we would owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude for the way she helped raise Barack and the way he has elevated the discourse and awakened people's hope and consciousness and better instincts.
What a lovely article.
Hawaii is is indeed a different beast, The strength and love of his family entwined with the aloha spirit of ohana have all contributed to rhe character of this most unusual leader.
Students in HI take pride in their multiple ethnicities, it is the norm rather than the exception. Getting along and living in harmony is valued highly. Barack is black, white , but mainly Hawaiian. We can all learn from the Hawaiian way.
Last night, after watching the video of frothing whites screaming impotently at (mostly black) folks waiting in line to vote here in NC, and reflecting on the disgusting displays of Limbaugh essentially calling Colin Powell a n** in the tank for another n**, I was so bitter and demoralized... But maybe, as you wrote in the previous post, we are witnessing the ugly end of their time, and the early days of this courageous culture gaining strength.
Posted by sg | October 21, 2008 9:59 AM
Don't worry, last year during our elections downunder we had a similer hate filled campaign by conservatives. I saw many Labor Party campaign workers being abused and even spat on by angry rich right wing idiots. They couldn't get their heads around the fact that ordinary Aussies had had enough of the lies and the greed of Howard and his big business mates.
The good news - John Howard (George Bush's mate) was thrown out in a landslide, he even lost his own seat. So to my American friends I say ignore the negative ratbags. You will win the day. Just stay positive. Obama has to win, America and the world need this change
Sorry to ruin the positivity.
I had made a bet with a friend wondering when Obama visiting his ailing grandmother would be spun into an attack by the Republicans. Sad to say, I won the bet
GOP Strategist On Palin's Clothing Allowance: Real Outrage Is "Obama Taking A 767 Campaign Plane To Visit Grandma" (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/23/gop-strategist-on-palins_n_137226.html
Ta-Nehisi...I agree, had you not written this so much would have gone unsaid and taken for granted. I always thought that African-Americans are more likely to accept outside of their race than other ethnic groups. African-Americans have dealt so long with interracial marriages and realize that family is more important than who you are and where you come from. I am in awe that this white family accepted an interracial grandchild during a time in history when it was difficult and unacceptable. I applaud them because they made a choice that will set an example for the world when this is all said and done. Yes, there will be those who are set in their ways and can't see the forest for the trees. Let's pray for them, our country and Senator Obama. Once again I say "I am proud to be an African-American".
A fine piece. One should be proud of such great persons irrespective of any shade or division!It is not an easy thing to do!
This is really moving and insightful. Especiallly the history you dropping about Helen Pitts. Cheers to thinking outside the box!
My thoughts are of your parents and how proud they must be! How wonderful it must feel to them to see these responses and know that their work paid off ... and even more, that through their efforts you have transcended and moved and enlightened so many people!
I've never before, longed more, to see my son grow and become who he is destined to be. I pray that I have set the example of Barack's parents, grandparents, your parents.
Ooooooh! They did what they was SUPPOSED to do and we are supposed to give them a medal or something.
Coates, you are losing it. Stop writing anything until a month after the election--by then, should Obama win, the backlash should have set in.
What a brilliant article! Too often does the discipline of history relegate this kind of history to sub/alternative history. Helen Pitts is America. Her story is the history of the realization of the American ideal. Bravo to you and other who work to make sure that all American, men and women of all racial backgrounds, are celebrated for their efforts to make America a country that protects the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for all Americans.
Well penned. Thanks for this article.
Z
It's very sad that the people who shaped the life of our future president are all gone ( mother, maternal grandmother, and maternal grandfather). They will not see the fruits of their labor. The paternal family members who were not there to wipe Obama's tears when he fell and scraped his knee, when he needed comfort and love, and who did not financially support him, will be able to be at his side when he becomes president. God works in strange ways.
Not even a week after the president election the blond topblogger from Sweden, Linda Ekholm speaks out loud about Obama!
And I really believe this is truly written by heart. Scary!
http://www.finest.se/userBlog/?uid=30701&beid=1040511