A historic moment
Photo credit: beagleskin
Today, the day Barack Obama becomes the President of the United States, is an inspiring moment, no matter where in the world we are. For many in the US, this is a landmark for the country’s African-American citizens. For India, there is another connection. The Black Civil Rights Movement and India’s Independence struggle had a common spirit to them, even if they were decades apart - both Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi had adopted the ideas of non-violence and civil disobedience from Henry Thoreau’s 1849 essay, Resistance to Civil Government.
Both MLK and Gandhi inspired millions of people to unite towards demanding fundamental rights that were denied them, and emboldened thousands of ordinary individuals to perform acts of resistance that required remarkable courage.
I admit, I was moved while watching Barack Obama’s inaugural speech on TV. Obama sees himself as a post-partisan figure, whose election united blacks and whites. His victory certainly does not mean the end of racism in the US, but it is a sign that people can at least occasionally, and at critical moments, overcome tribalism when it comes to race and identity.
In India as well, we struggle against the politics of identity, and we’ve seen pretty intractable vote banks around caste, religion, region and class. Obama’s win is a moment of optimism for people everywhere who hope to move past such politics. It’s why his ‘campaign of hope’ resonated so much across the world.
Tags: Barack Obama, Inauguration
January 21st, 2009 at 2:44 am
True, he has raised hope. Though I believe, that his victory is not an achievement yet. He has to go a long way to prove his worth and do his part to abate “blacks” and “whites” division. Nothing has happened to be optimistic about anything. In India, just a win by a black in US is not a door of opportune. We must understand that we need someone who will work at ground level to remove the misery of the people keeping aside caste politics, etc. Obama’s win will be optimistic if he shows such a work in US. Until then, there is nothing to be optimistic from his win.
If we talk about India, we have always been optimistic. Despite our failure we have progressed and have pressed onwards. So, we are hopeful and optimistic that a day will come when identity politics will vanish and leaders will lead the country to new era. Obama’s victory has nothing to do with it.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:21 am
Indeed a historic moment Nandan. With general election round the corner here in India let us see if we have our Obama moment too (though very unlikely but in next decade or so I am sure India will have her Obama moment for sure.). There have been awakening(!!?) in youth (at last I applied for a voter ID card to make sure that I do exercise my franchise this time around) and perhaps we will see gradual change in India also.
By the way you have really nice views on diverse topics
January 21st, 2009 at 10:45 am
Watching and listening to Obama’s inaugration speech was truly inspiring.So crisp and clear about his fundamental themes,so confident and articulate.He truly is a master communinicator.It seemed like every word was coming from the heart.Conviction was written all over his words,style and articulation.In addition to what he said, what struck me was how he said it and the body language.Here’s a man who appears completely in control and supremely confident of what he’d like to do and in what direction he would like the US and the world to move forward.
Indian politicians could learn a thing or two from Obama about how to speak to get the point across.Most cant speak a few sentences without the crutch of notes.More importantly, they sound lame and most unconvincing.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:21 pm
if words can move people to action - in this case voting for Obama, it has worked. i sincerely hope that more words produce more action, as he tries to clean up the dump US has put on the whole world in the last 8 years of bush presidency… back to india - coaliation governments need to end and perhaps have idelogical alginments in crating 2 or 3 parties in Inida..
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:06 pm
The US and India are worlds apart..
India has race, caste, region etc as part of the 25, 26 and 27 chromozomes and it cannot change… or at least the vote-bank loving politicos would not help it change…
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 am
It was very refreshing to see the whole country come together and welcome the new president - it was a festival like environment for a week or 10 days leading up to the inauguration. He has definitely brought hope to an environment full of gloom and doom. America is going through a very rough time now and the hope that Obama has brought to America is commendable. He has to now deliver to make sure that the momentum created by him during campaign and after winning the election is not lost. Reserving comments on the merit of his policies, I think he is doing a great job of connecting with people across the board - he has support of almost every major ethnic group of America. It feels like most of the world wants to see him succeed and so he has best wishes of the entire world!! If Obama succeeds, so will America and many other parts of the world because of their dependence on America. Good luck to the new President!
January 24th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Indeed it was an historic momemts for Americans. I wish our politicians can take a cue from the way Obama handled his election campaign and how he avoided (most of the time accusing others for the problems facing the country). Wish our politicians reflects on what he said and take the country forward rather than showing one upmanship.