Barack Obama: The Ultimate Role Model

I don’t tend to agree with everything that former NBA player Charles Barkley says, but he had it right several years ago when he emphatically declared: “I am not a role model!” Leaving aside the implied wish not to be looked up to by millions of young black kids across America, his words still ring true. Our black youth tend to look to sports, cinema and music as paradigms for material success in a culture that supposedly rewards hard work and ambition. These genres, however, only reinforce the “American Idol” effect on society, promising instant success with little sweat.
With the ascendancy of Barack Obama, things may change. Now black parents, mentors, guardians, and extended family members have an authentic, reliable and incontrovertible role model to point to when extolling the virtues of hard work, determination and education – things black folk have always tried to instill in their children. The reason Obama overshadows other black politicians or statesmen as a viable role model is that he has transcended race in a way others – with the exception of Colin Powell – could not. Sports stars are looked up to for excellence in their respective sport, as are actors, rappers and pop stars in their genres. They’re personal failings – and this is why Barkley’s declaration is important – are magnified and, in many cases, vilified. There is, in effect, a ceiling they cannot exceed. Obama, on the contrary, and in spite of personal failings, has the type of capital that can be exploited by black parents – regardless of their political philosophy – that reinforce that jagged yet noble trajectory from obscurity to success.
You don’t have to be a protector of democratic values to recognize the importance of witnessing an African American male on the cusp of the world’s most powerful office. The slaves would never have imagined it, but we should feel fortunate to witness in our lifetime the ultimate role model.