I don't think his accomplishments, at this point, measure up to those of previous presidents who won the award. Nor do they measure up to those of previous Afro-Americans who won the award, Ralph Bunche and Martin Luther King. That said, all the vitriol eminating from the right has been absurd.
No1KState
· 2 months ago
Ubstu! What it do, baby? Good to hear from ya.
Yeah. I think I agree. I'm not sure about my thoughts. But as far as previous presidents, Woodrow Wilson was a racist bigot. I give him credit for ending WWI, but the idea that all people deserved freedom except people of color?
So, I guess I can see how people can get worked up. And while, yeah, I'm not very sure how I feel about it . . . ultimately, it doesn't matter how I feel about it. And it shameful and awful that there's been such public backlash. And the right has been atrociously ugly about it.
By the by. What's with all the people who think Reagan deserved the Prize? Just because he said something about tearing down a wall that was gonna eventually come down anyway?
ubstu34
· 2 months ago
Wilson deserves credit for ushering in a new age of internationalist thinking, even if his ideas were ignored for an entire generation. As the most racist of our chief executives, however, he appears small next to recipients like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. I have not thoroughly studied Theodore Roosevelt's role in negotiating peace between Russia and Japan, so I am not at liberty to comment on whether he was a valid recipient of the award. I think Carter was deserving of the honor. As far as people who think Reagan should have received the prize, it is worth mentioning that two key figures involved in ending the Cold War were Nobel winners--Gorbachev and Lech Walesa. It is not like the circle of people who grant the prize ignored this moment in history. Reagan, by the way, was responsible for Iran Contra.
In terms of comparing Obama's status as a peace keeper to previous black Americans who won the award, I don't believe he measures up thus far. As a UN representative in 1948, Bunche negotiated a land mark peace deal with Israel and its neighbors which lasted for about twenty years. His effectiveness as a negotiator was facilitated by the fact that he could empathize with people of color and racial minorities and gain their trust in a manner that no white westerner could have. (Colin Powell once said that Bunche's status as a Nobel winner had an empowering effect on him as a black American and demonstrated that black Americans could find success in arenas outside of traditional race leadership and sports and entertainment. It's too bad that Powell ended up becoming a neocon tool.) Martin Luther King adopted strategies pioneered by Ghandi in his struggle against British colonialism and applied them to his struggle against Jim Crow. In doing so, he emphasized the value of international solidarity and brought international attention to injustices that the United States would have preferred to ignore.
If Obama is too earn recognition as a peacemaker, he has a lot of work to do. I will say that his speech in Cairo was awe-inspiring and believe that it will go down in history as one of the most significant foreign policy speeches ever delivered by an American president. If he can build upon those words and turn them into concrete actions, then he will be deserving of his Nobel. At this point, he is in the strange predicament of being honored as a peace keeper and in the middle of escalating the war in Afghanistan. For this reason and for the fact that he has been in office for less than a year, I think the award is both untimely and somewhat unwarranted.
I've been doing ok. I would really like to return to school and attain a masters or doctorate someday. Right now, however, that doesn't seem to be in the cards. I am glad that you are posting more often on your blog. I always make a point of dropping in pretty often.
No1KState
· 2 months ago
Like I said in my response to Ram Rush, I really appreciate that you follow my blog. I too plan to go back to school as soon as my health obliges. I yearn to learn! Fortunately enough, yeah, I can post more often. I'm digging that, too!
What I can't figure out is why the Nobel Committe gave it to him. They seem to be as surprised by the reaction as we are by the prize! Maybe the really hope to?influence him out of Afghanistan?
ubstu34
· 2 months ago
It's obvious that a big reason the European community loves Obama is that, on the surface at least, he represents the almost polar opposite of Bush. But I think there is a lot more to the love affair than that. This is all the more surprising given the fact that Europe appears to be moving to the right politically, while the political pendulum in the United States is beginning to swing to the left. What is just as amazing is that people of color in Europe (I may be wrong--this is just a hunch) have not broken the same kind of ground in terms of seizing the reins of political leadership that Americans of color have. Leadership in Europe does not reflect the growing racial diversity of the population the way the political leadership in the United States does. This may be because racism in Europe has historically been more subtle and there is hence less motivation to redress the power imbalances; but I don't know for sure. I am not trained in the field of Afro-European history. The important point is that although (white) Europeans fawn over Obama, a large number of them are undoubtedly blind to the racial disparities and injustices in their own midst and would probably be miffed if someone pointed them out. Indeed, racism in Europe has grown more overt during the last forty years as more and more Africans and people of color have migrated to the Continent. If Obama's father had chosen to study in Britain and fathered a child with a white British women, would his offspring have grown up to become Prime Minister? Probably not. He might not have suffered the same cruel indignities, but would he have been inspired to break new racial ground? I am not sure. Like a lot of white American liberals, I believe white Europeans are enthralled by the myth of a post-racial world which Obama seems to represent.
I think the important question to ask is if the European community is pressuring the president to draw troops out of Afghanistan by awarding him the peace prize, what would they have to gain from such an action? A sense that they can influence the most powerful country on earth? I am not sure it is because they avidly want to heal the wounds between the West and Islamic world. Islamophobia is deeply entrenched in European society. What is your take?
No1KState
· 2 months ago
Racism is still quite problematic in Europe. I can't recall to what degree, though. Only that it does have a negative impact on the lives of people of color. So I definitely do think that Obama deserves something for being the first state leader of color in the Western world. As far as liberal vs conservative, European conservatives don't mess with their universal, "socialist" healthcare systems. In some ways, their conservatives are to the left of our Democrats.
As to Afghanistan. . . hmm. I'm not sure Europe saw this as a way to pressure us out of Afghanistan. I think they were as surprised as the rest of us. Maybe the individuals on the committe hoped to influence his decision? I don't know.
All Comments
Yeah. I think I agree. I'm not sure about my thoughts. But as far as previous presidents, Woodrow Wilson was a racist bigot. I give him credit for ending WWI, but the idea that all people deserved freedom except people of color?
So, I guess I can see how people can get worked up. And while, yeah, I'm not very sure how I feel about it . . . ultimately, it doesn't matter how I feel about it. And it shameful and awful that there's been such public backlash. And the right has been atrociously ugly about it.
By the by. What's with all the people who think Reagan deserved the Prize? Just because he said something about tearing down a wall that was gonna eventually come down anyway?
In terms of comparing Obama's status as a peace keeper to previous black Americans who won the award, I don't believe he measures up thus far. As a UN representative in 1948, Bunche negotiated a land mark peace deal with Israel and its neighbors which lasted for about twenty years. His effectiveness as a negotiator was facilitated by the fact that he could empathize with people of color and racial minorities and gain their trust in a manner that no white westerner could have. (Colin Powell once said that Bunche's status as a Nobel winner had an empowering effect on him as a black American and demonstrated that black Americans could find success in arenas outside of traditional race leadership and sports and entertainment. It's too bad that Powell ended up becoming a neocon tool.) Martin Luther King adopted strategies pioneered by Ghandi in his struggle against British colonialism and applied them to his struggle against Jim Crow. In doing so, he emphasized the value of international solidarity and brought international attention to injustices that the United States would have preferred to ignore.
If Obama is too earn recognition as a peacemaker, he has a lot of work to do. I will say that his speech in Cairo was awe-inspiring and believe that it will go down in history as one of the most significant foreign policy speeches ever delivered by an American president. If he can build upon those words and turn them into concrete actions, then he will be deserving of his Nobel. At this point, he is in the strange predicament of being honored as a peace keeper and in the middle of escalating the war in Afghanistan. For this reason and for the fact that he has been in office for less than a year, I think the award is both untimely and somewhat unwarranted.
I've been doing ok. I would really like to return to school and attain a masters or doctorate someday. Right now, however, that doesn't seem to be in the cards. I am glad that you are posting more often on your blog. I always make a point of dropping in pretty often.
What I can't figure out is why the Nobel Committe gave it to him. They seem to be as surprised by the reaction as we are by the prize! Maybe the really hope to?influence him out of Afghanistan?
I think the important question to ask is if the European community is pressuring the president to draw troops out of Afghanistan by awarding him the peace prize, what would they have to gain from such an action? A sense that they can influence the most powerful country on earth? I am not sure it is because they avidly want to heal the wounds between the West and Islamic world. Islamophobia is deeply entrenched in European society. What is your take?
As to Afghanistan. . . hmm. I'm not sure Europe saw this as a way to pressure us out of Afghanistan. I think they were as surprised as the rest of us. Maybe the individuals on the committe hoped to influence his decision? I don't know.