With the election of Senator Barack Obama as the first African-American President, a Canadian friend of mine (very) recently asked/commented on her Facebook status message the following: "X (my friend) wants Canadians to imagine how likely they'd be to elect an Aboriginal or First Nations PM...Hmmm..."
Prior to yesterday evening, one of the things I imagined that his victory would bring, would be a sense of possibility - that people of color could not only be elected to high office, but also aspire to run for such office(s) in greater numbers and perhaps participate more vigourously in the process. President-elect Obama isn't the only person of color to be sure to accede to important government positions: Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts (D), Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico (D), Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana (R), and a whole host of members of Congress.
But to return to my friend's query, I think that in order for voters in Canada or other countries to imagine electing an individual, who belongs to a member of a traditionally perceived "other" community, I think it requires a significant diminishment of that person's "otherness" or perceived otherness. It has been said of course that the reason many White voters have been drawn to Obama is that "he isn't really Black" or that the way he speaks is more White than Black - a notion which is highly problematic and will be the subject of a later post. But one of the things that separated Obama and made him a viable candidate for so many, was that he was different from earlier African-American Democratic presidential candidates (i.e. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton). The identity of being 'post-racial' - of being able to move beyond an identity politics - the ability to be more inclusive. Obama rarely brought up race in the election, it was only when he had to address remarks made by Reverend Jeremiah Wright that he launched into what many considered an important statement on race.
But yet I don't think it is entirely impossible to imagine a similar circumstance in other countries. But in order to do so, you will need an individual who can get the voting public to suspend (in large enough numbers) their own entrenched caricatures of what other people can or ought to be. I think a person of colour or an Aboriginal Canadian could potentially do the trick were they able to do a number of things. First, they would have to project themselves more broadly as a Canadian (who happens to be) of aboriginal/First Nations descent (or pick an ethnicity of choice) rather than as an Aboriginal/First Nations-Canadian or other hyphenated designation.
Second, one of the important aspects of Obama's candidacy was that he did not cater to a politics or perceived politics of ethnic grievance. It goes without saying that Aboriginal/First Nations Canadians have much to be angry about, as did/do African-Americans. Yet there is no way Obama would have won if he spoke much about these grievances. This isn't necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, yet it is a political reality.
The case of an Aboriginal Canadian becoming Prime Minister of Canada could be particularly challenging because for many Canadians, Aboriginal Canadians are more often associated with seeking greater independence and autonomy from 'Canadian society' and self governance while receiving money from the state. An Aboriginal Canadian would have to overcome such perceptions.
Even with other visible minorities, the climb to become head of a national party isn't easy either. While there are members of Parliament from visible minorities, there are some if not many who represent constituencies that are primarily comprised of their own ethnic community in addition to others. I think if a member of a visible minority were to break out and run for a leadership position, a real challenge would be to gain support outside of their insular space.
All that said, what made Obama's run so unique was his own individual ability to communicate and his eloquence, an ability to attract people of so many different backgrounds, an ability that few people possess, Black, White, Asian, Hispanic or Aboriginal. It will require the ability to speak in an accent and a voice that doesn't scream "foreign" all over it, a voice that won't take too much adjusting to. Of course there is a double standard involved because we need only hear the majestic erudition that flows from the mouth of George W. Bush to recognize that the same rules don't apply to minority candidates. Had Obama possessed the same speaking skills or accent as the current president, I doubt he would have even won his state senate seat in Illinois, much less what was to follow.
Notwithstanding the hurdles though, Obama's victory provides individuals of colour with a type of pathway (with necessary adjustments for local/national) circumstances that could lead to victory.
