It’s been awhile, but I’ve been doing nothing but relaxing since I graduated from college a couple weeks ago. And reading, of course.
I recently finished “Dreams from my Father,” a memoir by Barack Obama.
Obama wrote this before he began his campaign for president–it was first published in 1995.
Since I despise politics, I figured it would be a better read because he wasn’t trying to gain anything (power, favor, etc.) that would help him further his career in politics.
Although a bit redundant because I have already read a biography written about him, Obama’s memoir was still an interesting read–it is comforting to get to know one of the world’s most powerful politicians on his own terms, especially when he comes off as sincere and honest.
Obama’s memoir begins with his roots–his African father and Kansas-American mother and how they met, his American grandparents and how they met and his family in Kenya. He then moves on to his childhood growing up in Hawaii and his college days in California and then New York, his first career as a community organizer in Chicago, and finally his trip to Kenya to meet the rest of his family.
The main theme he never strays far from, however, is that of race relations in America and how his being black affects him and those around him.
Of course Obama is black–everyone knows that. But he is only half black. He is also half white. This is something Obama fails to acknowledge. Yes, he is black. Yes, this affects him. Yes, this makes it difficult for him to understand himself and have others around him understand him. But he is also white. And was raised by white grandparents. In Hawaii. He had a better and more privileged upbringing then the vast majority of Americans today. But still, throughout the whole book, he is trying to understand how being black affects who he is. ‘What about your being white, too? How does that affect you?’ I was thinking the whole time.
It seems that even with my hope of this being less politically biased and weighted, Obama still chose early on what to be, and that was black. The question that remains is, why?