Monday, July 13, 2009

A Strange Circle

The headline says Obama's visit to fort a "Full-Circle Experience". The full circle is an American black returning to the location where his ancestors were forcibly removed from their homeland.

Except this has different implications for Obama. His mother was white and her family owned slaves at one point (there was speculation a year ago that one of Obama's ancestors may have owned one of Oprah's). His father was African. His family never left Africa except Barack senior for a few years to attend college and father an American child. Any connection between Barack senior and slavery would have involved Obama's family benefiting from selling the compatriots.

Obama made a different circle on the same trip. Rather than appologize for slavery and colonization, he told Africans to get their act together. He passed over his father's native Kenya in favor of Ghana because of Ghana's dedication to free, open elections and the corruption in most other African countries. These comments were personal for him. His father had been a member of Jenya's government and was pushed out due to corruption.

Obama's speech to Africa was a welcome change from Bush and Clinton who both felt the need to appologize for not solving all of Africa's problems for them.

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