|
An Appropriate Pride: Obama's Inauguration, National Self-Focus and Global Crises |
 |
 |
 |
|
Written by Michael R. Walker
|
|
Tuesday, 20 January 2009 16:18 |
Comparing news coverage among U.S. and foreign media outlets is often cause for embarrassment (if you're from the U.S.), but the typically celebrity-obsessed and self-focused content generated by the American media has seemed appropriate on the occasion of Obama's inauguration to the office of President of the United States.
I'll begin with a few images.
The homepage of CNN.COM focuses on the personalities involved in the occasion, both the "First Family" and the inauguration's onlookers: "America Parades past newly inaugurated Obama," and one "top story" is entitled, "U.S.: What a proud day for all of us."
Foxnews.com displayed a similar focus: "Obamas Greet Revelers on the Way to the White House":
Meanwhile, the French newspaper, Le Monde, centers not on Obama the man, but on his diplomatic posture toward the world: "A New Era of Responsibility" is the headline, quoting Obama.
The UK's Guardian also headlines Obama's message, focusing on the event's implications for the rest of the world: "President Obama: 'We must remake America'...First black president vows to restore US moral standing":
And the Iraqi newspaper Aswat-al-Iraq headlines the quotable line regarding Iraq from Obama's inaugural speech: "U.S. will leave Iraq to Iraqis, says Obama":
Granted, all these headlines are self-focused, in that they center on what will be of most interest to their own readers. For non-U.S. newspapers what is of most interest are the clues to Obama's emerging foreign policy.
But the American media's focus on "Obama the man," rather than attending to his inaugural address and the challenges to which he exhorted the American people, or his message to the rest of the world, also strikes me as appropriate on this occasion, however caught up in the typical frenzy over celebrity-status it may be. Regardless of how one feels about the particularities of his domestic and foreign policy agendas (I myself find his statements on "life issues" inconsistent with his own profession of faith), it is the fact that this man was elected President of the United States that probably speaks most clearly about America's potential to have an enduring positive influence in the rest of the world. Yes, I am referring to the fact that he was born to a non-white African father, spent much of his childhood in Indonesia, *may* have practiced Islam to some extent as a child (that's not a derogatory statement, and the testimony of some of those who knew him as a child supports it, whether or not he had any personal commitments to it, so this is not to say he was ever "a Muslim" in his own eyes, which he says not), became a Christian in the United States (which I take to have been a genuine conversion), etc., etc.
In short, it seems nearly impossible to me not to marvel at the fact that the racial, cultural, and religious intersections of Obama's own life have now intersected with the most powerful office in the world, at a time when the world is intensely struggling against the odds to discover a basis for mutual civility amidst the human distinctions that too frequently have led to violent divisions. I am no optimist in the face of the world's present crises, and I'm not a relativist when it comes to the truth claims of the world's faiths. However, I think we ought to promote civility in the face of even the longest odds, and uphold human dignity regardless of faith commitments. Perhaps the fact that this man was elected President of the United States demonstrates the continuing strength of these ideals in the nation best positioned to elevate them on the world stage.
|
|
|
