To understand how the culture of Washington is about to change, consider the conference call Obama held on the day before the election. He spoke with some of those African-Americans closest to him. House majority whip Jim Clyburn, a veteran politician from South Carolina, might have been predicted, as would political adviser Donna Brazile, who had run Al Gore’s campaign eight years ago. But there too were the 88-year old Reverend Joseph Lowery, dean of the old civil rights movement, and Obama’s first celebrity supporter, Oprah Winfrey. And the final man on the call was Sean “Diddy” Combs, a rapper-turned-clothing entrepreneur. Diddy had just come from telling Vote Obama rallies in Florida “we have to do it for the people that died for us to have the right to vote.”
Remember that on Obama’s first date with his wife Michelle, he took her to see Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. And the time he says he got angriest in politics was when his black senate election opponent Alan Keyes claimed that Obama’s African-born father meant he had not shared the African-American heritage of slavery in what became known as the “not-black-enough” debate.
If you are a subscriber, please log in »
This article is available to subscribers only
Subscribing to Prospect is the most reliable and convenient way to receive the magazine every month, and offers the best value.Subscription Types:
Online
An online subscription offers you complete and unlimited access to the entire website, including our searchable archive of every back issue of Prospect, and a PDF edition of each new issue: all this for just £20 per year. Purchase an online subscription »Renewal
Renew an existing subscription »Institutional access
If you are a library, business organisation or any other large institution that needs a multi-user licence, you can obtain institutional access.
Share
Subscribe to post comments
Print
