Obama’s election has black nationalist revisiting stance

Michelle Obama caused a firestorm during the campaign when she said that she was proud of her country for the first time. This sentiment was politically untenable for someone who was poised to become the first lady of the United States of America. Yet, this is mild stuff compared to the real feelings of many rank and file African-Americans living in “the hood.”

As a black nationalist, I have considered myself an American only as a technicality or an accident of birth. I’ve never hoisted the red, white and blue, only the red, black and green. I gave up on the American dream a longtime ago. I have worked and looked forward to autonomy and self-determination in our communities. I never imagined that I would live long enough to see an African-American president. I never even believed that I would live to see a black Miss America. But America fooled me! Even as I predicted an Obama nomination and then a presidential win, the reality of what happened on Nov. 4 still has me totally stunned.

Obama ran on the mantra of change, but his win has forced me to change too! My perspective on American society has changed and I am in the process of re-adjusting my philosophy to accommodate the fantastic thing that has occurred. This milestone is not just significant for African-Americans but for everyone. Politically, it is simply astonishing!

Like many black folk, I have spent most of my life extremely angry about the oppressive treatment and double standard that has always existed in American society. Forty years after the assassination of Dr. King, progress has been made but only tortuously and incrementally. Even after the many victories of the Civil Rights Movement, the double standards and marginalization continues in many aspects of American life. Our enemies have fought us tooth and nail every inch of the way. This, while they boasted of being champions of freedom for those in far-flung places around the globe, especially those living in communist countries such as Cuba, North Korea and the former Soviet Union. We had never been made to feel that we are really Americans and accepted as equals, unless we were willing to renounce much of our history and culture.

When Sen. Joseph Lieberman became the vice presidential running mate of Al Gore in 2000, I thought, “there goes the election.” I had no faith and confidence in the American people to elect a Jewish American to that high office. Why should I? It had never happened before. Nothing even remotely similar had ever happened before. No ethnic name had ever been uttered as president of the United States in its history. The closest had been Kennedy, Eisenhower and Van Buren, which are Irish Catholic, German and Dutch, respectively. Samples of presidential names are: Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Roosevelt, Wilson, Washington, Lincoln, Adams, Jackson and Johnson. I wrote off Michael Dukakis from day one. How could he possibly win with that name? Mario Cuomo, who I thought was a much more knowledgeable and credible candidate than Bill Clinton during that particular election, wouldn’t even run.

And now we have a President Obama! The mold has been irrevocably broken! The possibilities of opportunity in American life have been exponentially expanded.

I am still wary of the promise of these opportunities because of the gross structural inequities built into “the system.” But given the psyche-shattering results of this election, I am willing to at least meet anyone halfway in the new pursuit of that promise.

• Muhammad Yungai lives in Decatur.