Dateline: January 20, 2009. 8pm Iloilo, 7am Washington DC.
Dinner at home with my parents. Made it a point to watch CNN for
the O inauguration, and my mom in all her aged, senioriffic innocence made a
comment that is now part of the family’s lore. “Is it dark in there or
is it because there are so many black people around?”
Now you may label that statement any way you want to, but it
was a factual, honest comment from my mother, an Asian
immigrant of a generation ago.
Meaning to share it with my friends, i texted it in the spirit of
shared humor to a few of them, leaving moral judgment to hang in
the air. By actually doing so, I may have revealed about my views more than
i intended to, but as expected, the responses came rapid and
rabid, and in turn, revealed in my mind, a lot more about the
people who did reply than they wanted to as well.
It was an anecdote that Chris Rock or Eddie Murphy would have made themselves in a comedy routine; this wasn’t even from a stereotyped oppressor class. They say that an advantage of a minority is that you can get away with the jokes. But this was different. This was from another minority (in more levels than one) made in reference to another, with my own mother as an unintentional protagonist.
I was called a racist by a few, some in the spirit of fun, some i would gather from the limits of the text medium, a seriously toned reprimand. Now, at this point, I am not one to be fazed by these responses but it got me to think how one text message could elicit such a wide spectrum of responses. Some, in all earnestness, took to explain the time difference, the late sunrise in the western hemisphere, the cold hazy weather. Even the bad cable tv reception. Or that it was broadcast in black and white for dramatic effect. It wasn’t. Most sent back a short, simple “Ha ha!” confirming a shared moment in private humor. My favorite: “Neither. Oprah just arrived.” I will not tell anyone to loosen up, much less get a life. But i must say that it struck me that it was a serious affront to their sensibilities. Sus ah!
The Obamas and the Bushes are getting off the new First Car as I finish off this entry, riding from one building to another. Even before the primaries, I believed Clinton was a better candidate but Obama has gone beyond what I expected from him, and it’s all to his credit that he’s starting to make me question my original opinion. An article today from the NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20transition.html?hp) puts very well why he has the right approach to start off as the leader of the United States of America. It is doubly fortunate to have Clinton and Obama, but had been doubly unfortunate as well for the two Bushes that came their way.
But i remain optimistic. I am not an American citizen but I will be, in some indirect way down the road, be positively affected by what I hope will be a new age in America and the world.
Sige na, ma speech na si Obama. Namaste!
