Well it has finally happened: a black man is the leader of the free world. While this fact , in and of itself, is probably important enough, this past election’s significance is heightened by America’s unique history of slavery and systemic racism. Blacks, like Jews and Atheists, are a minority that faces prejudice in almost every single country in the world, but the historical Black American experience is a particularly troubling one. Between water cannons, dogs chomping on protesters, and the targeted police oppression of their youth, it’s fairly shocking that the black “community” (I know that word doesn’t mean much) has come this far in what is effectively <40 years. Obama isn’t just any black leader - he’s hyper-educated, articulate, and optimistic almost to a fault; In other words he’s exactly the best kind of role model any minority parent could probably ever hope for. He’s not going to be the miracle worker the hype has made him out to be, but it’s a necessary start.
More importantly, Obama serves as an icon of modernity and tolerance to a world that has recently written off the United States for being archaic, bigoted, and laughably ignorant. A black man with a “very black name” is now the president of the United States - the international equivalent of this almost seems impossible: an Algerian French President? A Palestinian leading Israel? A woman or open homosexual in the Vatican? An indigenous Prime Minister of Canada? Very unlikely.
Which brings us to an interesting point: If us silly Canadians (or Soviet Canuckistanians, as my right-wing American friends refer to it) live in a land of so-called “diversity”, why have our supposedly backwards neighbours to the south moved forward in this regard before us? Just take a look at the people that have led our country in the past: French or English old men so white that you have to wear sunglasses just to look at them for fear of going snow blind. Our lone woman leader was pretty much an accident - one we vehemently opposed once we were given the opportunity to actually, like, vote on the issue. There hasn’t been a single minority leading the executive branch and, on top of that, Stephane Dion effectively ruined any chances of becoming the first “known” atheist at the helm.
So could a minority ever become a viable candidate within the Canadian political system? Maybe. Less likely, unfortunately, is the idea of a native Prime Minister. Between the calculated oppression and effective genocide of countless indigenous peoples within our nation, the odds of a native person gathering the social and political capital necessary to attain our highest office are slim. Excluding a few recognizable native leaders within the arts and regional politics, most members of this minority are still too busy fighting for the most basic of socio-economic concerns; Without proper education (let alone water) on our native reserves, addressing the pressing concerns in relation to health, mental illness and chemical addiction within the native communities, and countless undocumented instances of physical and sexual abuse against those residing within urban centres, the future looks bleak. While I don’t want to trivialize the difficulties of being a black Canadian (it’s a hard knock life, no doubt), it is undeniable that indigenous people are the “blacks” within our nation. For us to be on par with the Americans, our society has to evolve to the point where an indigenous person (a woman would be nice) could be elected to office. That looks like it’s a long way away.
With Obama in power, Canadians may soon turn away from our conservative slant and the Harper establishment that comes with it; Our particular brand of Canadian self-assured superiority (read: snobbiness) would likely never allow us to fall too behind our “uncivilized” neighbours. While this could pave the way for someone like Dr. Ruby Dhalla (MP of Brampton, Ontario) to make a run for office, it seems much more likely that the Canadian electorate would copy the push for intellectualism instead of the minority angle. If I had to put my money on the line, I’d wager that Michael Ignatieff will be our next Prime Minister, Harvard education and all; The similarities between him and Obama are striking and people are definitely looking for “smart” leadership during our current economic situation. While the push for some brains in office is a small step forward (although Harper is, admittedly, a very bright but misguided individual) this leaves me asking the obvious question: When are these tiny steps going to turn into the giant leaps that the U.S. is taking?
