Obama is…Asian…African-American…a Bicycle?!

By Jalisa Logan and Maynard Malaxi

Guest Star Dorian Mariana on the Asian Pacific Forum jokingly said that considering Obama the next Asian-American president was like calling Obama your new bicycle. While we can all agree that Obama is not a metal structure on wheels, Mariana’s ultimately argued that it’s Obama’s experiences that have connected him to the Asian community which doesn’t make calling him the next Asian American president as farfetched as it sounds. This essay explores the relationship between Obama and the Asian American community while looking at how the music of the Inaugration portrayed Obama’s stance on race.

While calling Obama Asian-American is ethnically incorrect, Jeff Yang’s article entitled “Asian Pop- Could Obama be the Next Asian American President?” fosters an Asian association supported on the basis that Obama grew up in Hawaii, lived in Indonesia, and has a step father and sister that are both of Asian descent. It’s important to note that this connection is fortified by the fact that it occurred in the influential time of his childhood which is a time of molding, shaping, and nurturing. Obama is not strictly considered Asian by association, but rather Asian by apt occasion. Once clay has hardened, it’s not easy to influence it, much like people as they enter adulthood. Because Obama had this experience throughout most of his childhood, it’s easier to draw legitimate connections.

We recognize that Obama’s experience gives him the unique ability to perhaps empathize with the Asian American community. But while he may be able to speak on behalf of the Asian American community, the fact of the matter is that his skin color screams African American to the world, which automatically makes him a member the African American community by default. His lack of real-world experience as a true, physically featured Asian American invalidates his ability to claim any type of Asian American experience. It seems perhaps superficial, but someone who doesn’t have the look, cannot always claim the “experience” because the world does not give the benefit of having the experience.

The importance of the surface aspect of the appearance of race at the Inauguration on Tuesday was exuded by the rainbow of ethnicities of performers during the performance of “Simple Gifts” composed by John Williams. Asian-American cellist YoYo Ma’s participation may not have been an anyway an expression of his Asian roots musically, but superficially, he helped to collectively portray an image of diversity and unity with the other minority artists. The artists were perhaps skillfully chosen as to delineate something that Obama adamantly stands for and so naturally represents.

Much of the music before the actual inauguration catered towards the celebration of African Americans and a young generation of supporters. Performances and appearance by Beyonce, U2, Mary J. Blige, Jamie Fox and Tom Hanks during pre-inaugural activities reached out to a young generation of people, while the Inaugural Ceremony performance of “Simple Gifts” and Aretha Franklin’s “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” pointed towards an older, traditional, more mature audience of supporters and viewers.

Overall, Obama is a figure that represents something different to everyone. Whether it be a beam of hope. A father. A politician. A lawyer. A civil rights activist. A lover. A basketball player. So, we can call Obama the first Asian American. We can all Obama the first Latino president. We can call Obama our new bicycle. Heck, we can call him ice cream. It’s all in how you perceive this man through your own eyes. When it comes down to it, Obama’s ability to empathize with a variety of people is what gives him so many labels. His childhood makes him Asian. His struggles make him Latino. His skin color makes him African American. His strong frame and desire to steer our country into the right direction makes him a bicycle. The fact that he has melted so many hearts can make him an ice cream cone. Obama becomes what you see him as.