Very much in agreement with WL w regards to the symbolic significance of the Obama election.
Look. One of the significant things about human beings (qua human) is their long period of development and their long period of dependence upon their caretakers. This creates and reinforces very deep patterns of identification that remain with us (conscious or unconscious) throughout our lives. Without this identification we fail to develop or even live; if we fail to recognize it and transcend it, we fail to develop as human beings. You can crudely say that we identify with "power" -- but it's more complex and deep and interesting than that. No art is possible without this process of identification, imitation, and transcendence. No maturity is possible without this process. So ponder for a moment what it means that the entire U.S. now is in the position of identifying with a black man, his wife, and kids for at least four (and probably eight) years. The brain-scrambling effect of this is momentous, undoing (in a deep, subconscious way) hundreds of years of racist conditioning. This is not nothing, nor is it entirely negated by the class aspect --but perhaps allowing the class aspect to emerge more clearly. This is all a very, very good thing. It is not enough to say that any president is a mass murderer -- that's kind of like saying that all males are rapists. It's not about having the "right" attitude. It leaves out too many very important things. The fact that millions of people felt a visceral need to share this moment of transition -- the inauguration: my daughter's whole school (in Oakland, CA) watched it on TV; everyone at my office came in after lunch because they wanted to be part of it; millions of people went to DC to participate. You can't just reduce that to hero worship and cult of the personality -- not if you want to organize and lead social movements, anyway. Joanna _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
