Skip to comments.
Obama, the African Colonial
American Thinker ^
| June 25, 2009
| L.E. Ikenga
Posted on 06/24/2009 10:54:57 PM PDT by neverdem
Had Americans been able to stop obsessing over the color of Barack Obama's skin and instead paid more attention to his cultural identity, maybe he would not be in the White House today. The key to understanding him lies with his identification with his father, and his adoption of a cultural and political mindset rooted in postcolonial Africa.
Like many educated intellectuals in postcolonial Africa, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was enraged at the transformation of his native land by its colonial conqueror. But instead of embracing the traditional values of his own tribal cultural past, he embraced an imported Western ideology, Marxism. I call such frustrated and angry modern Africans who embrace various foreign "isms", instead of looking homeward for repair of societies that are broken, African Colonials. They are Africans who serve foreign ideas.
The tropes of America's racial history as a way of understanding all things black are useless in understanding the man who got his dreams from his father, a Kenyan exemplar of the African Colonial.
Before I continue, I need to say this: I am a first generation born West African-American woman whose parents emigrated to the U.S. in the 1970's from the country now called Nigeria. I travel to Nigeria frequently. I see myself as both a proud American and as a proud Igbo (the tribe that we come from -- also sometimes spelled Ibo). Politically, I have always been conservative (though it took this past election for me to commit to this once and for all!); my conservative values come from my Igbo heritage and my place of birth. Of course, none of this qualifies me to say what I am about to -- but at the same time it does.
My friends, despite what CNN and
the rest are telling you, Barack Obama is nothing more than an old school African Colonial who is on his way to turning this country into one of the developing nations that you learn about on the
National Geographic Channel. Many conservative (East, West, South, North) African-Americans like myself -- those of us who know our history -- have seen this movie before. Here are two main reasons why many Americans allowed Obama to slip through the cracks despite all of his glaring inconsistencies:
First, Obama has been living on American soil for most of his adult life. Therefore, he has been able to masquerade as one who understands and believes in American democratic ideals. But he does not. Barack Obama is intrinsically undemocratic and as his presidency plays out, this will become more obvious. Second, and most importantly, too many Americans know very little about Africa. The one-size-fits-all understanding that many Americans (both black and white) continue to have of Africa might end up bringing dire consequences for this country.
Contrary to the way it continues to be portrayed in mainstream Western culture,
Africa is not a continent that can be solely defined by AIDS, ethnic rivalries, poverty and safaris. Africa, like any other continent, has an immense history defined by much diversity and complexity. Africa's long-standing relationship with Europe speaks especially to some of these complexities -- particularly the relationship that has existed between the two continents over the past two centuries. Europe's complete colonization of Africa during the nineteenth century, also known as the
Scramble for Africa, produced many unfortunate consequences, the African colonial being one of them.
The African colonial (AC) is a person who by means of their birth or lineage has a direct connection with Africa. However, unlike Africans like me, their worldviews have been largely shaped not by the indigenous beliefs of a specific African tribe but by the ideals of the European imperialism that overwhelmed and dominated Africa during the colonial period. AC's have no real regard for their specific African traditions or histories. AC's use aspects of their African culture as one would use pieces of costume jewelry: things of little or no value that can be thoughtlessly discarded when they become a negative distraction, or used on a whim to decorate oneself in order to seem exotic. (Hint: Obama's Muslim heritage).
On the other hand, AC's strive to be the best at the culture that they inherited from Europe. Throughout the West, they are tops in their professions as lawyers, doctors, engineers, Ivy League professors and business moguls; this is all well and good. It's when they decide to engage us as politicians that things become
messy and convoluted.
The African colonial politician (ACP) feigns repulsion towards the hegemonic paradigms of Western civilization. But at the same time, he is completely enamored of the trappings of its aristocracy or elite culture. The ACP blames and caricatures
whitey to no end for all that has gone wrong in the world. He convinces the masses that various forms of
African socialism are the best way for redressing the problems that European colonialism motivated in Africa. However, as opposed to really being a hard-core
African Leftist who actually believes in something, the ACP uses socialist themes as a way to disguise his true ambitions: a complete power grab whereby the "will of the people" becomes completely irrelevant.
Barack Obama is all of the above. The only difference is that he is here playing (colonial) African politics as usual.
In his 1995 memoir,
Dreams From My Father -- an
eloquent piece of political propaganda -- Obama styles himself as a misunderstood intellectual who is deeply affected by the sufferings of black people, especially in America and Africa. In the book, Obama clearly sees himself as an African, not as a black American. And to prove this, he goes on a quest to understand his Kenyan roots. He is extremely thoughtful of his deceased father's legacy; this provides the main clue for understanding Barack Obama.
Barack Obama Sr. was an
African colonial to the core; in his case, the apple did not fall far from the tree. All of the telltale signs of Obama's African colonialist attitudes are on full display in the book -- from his feigned antipathy towards Europeans to his view of African tribal associations as distracting elements that get in the way of "progress". (On p. 308 of
Dreams From My Father, Obama says that African tribes should be viewed as an "ancient loyalties".)
Like imperialists of Old World Europe, the ACP sees their constituents not as free thinking individuals who best know how to go about achieving and creating their own means for success. Instead, the ACP sees his constituents as a flock of ignorant sheep that need to be led -- oftentimes to their own slaughter.
Like the European imperialist who spawned him, the ACP is a destroyer of all forms of democracy.
Here are a few examples of what the British did in order to create (in 1914) what is now called Nigeria and what Obama is doing to you:
- Convince the people that "clinging" to any aspect of their cultural (tribal) identity or history is bad and regresses the process of "unity". British Imperialists deeply feared people who were loyal to anything other than the state. "Tribalism" made the imperialists have to work harder to get people to just fall in line. Imperialists pitted tribes against each other in order to create chaos that they then blamed on ethnic rivalry. Today many "educated" Nigerians, having believed that their traditions were irrelevant, remain completely ignorant of their ancestry and the history of their own tribes.
- Confiscate the wealth and resources of the area that you govern by any means necessary in order to redistribute wealth. The British used this tactic to present themselves as empathetic and benevolent leaders who wanted everyone to have a "fair shake". Imperialists are not interested in equality for all. They are interested in controlling all.
- Convince the masses that your upper-crust university education naturally puts you on an intellectual plane from which to understand everything even when you understand nothing. Imperialists were able to convince the people that their elite university educations allowed them to understand what Africa needed. Many of today's Nigerians-having followed that lead-hold all sorts of degrees and certificates-but what good are they if you can't find a job?
- Lie to the people and tell them that progress is being made even though things are clearly becoming worse. One thing that the British forgot to mention to their Nigerian constituents was that one day, the resources that were being used to engineer "progress" (which the British had confiscated from the Africans to begin with!) would eventually run out. After WWII, Western Europe could no longer afford to hold on to their African colonies. So all of the counterfeit countries that the Europeans created were then left high-and-dry to fend for themselves. This was the main reason behind the African independence movements of the1950 and 60's. What will a post-Obama America look like?
- Use every available media outlet to perpetuate the belief that you and your followers are the enlightened ones-and that those who refuse to support you are just barbaric, uncivilized, ignorant curmudgeons. This speaks for itself.
America, don't be fooled. The
Igbos were once made up of a confederacy of clans that ascribed to various forms of democratic government. They took their eyes off the ball and before they knew it, the British were upon them. Also, understand this: the African colonial who is given too much political power can only become one thing:
a despot.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: africa; african; africancolonial; africancolonialism; auntzeituni; bho44; bhoafrica; blackhistory; blackstarline; blockbuster; investigateobama; jihad; june2009; kenyanbornmoslem; kgb; malcomx; marcusgarvey; obama; obamafamily; obamaorigins; odinga; patricelumumbaschool; russia; stanleyanndunham; uncleomar
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 1,121-1,140, 1,141-1,160, 1,161-1,180 ... 1,541-1,560 next last
To: GregNH
request for change in Social Security Records....
JANUARY 1963
To: Brown Deer
...So, the data was obviously collected well before then, because it would also take time to prepare the book for printing. And, how long do they spend collecting the data? My guess would be at least six months. And if you could establish just how long it takes to get the directory out to the public, you could just about pin-point the approx. timing of Anna Obama's arrival in Seattle. If it takes six months to collate the Seattle directories, then the same might apply to Hawaii.
Perhaps that's WHY the university in Hawaii tells you nothing more about the student enrolled other than Dates of Attendance FALL 1960. If it were to turn out that ANN S OBAMA was a student at that university BEFORE the FALL enrollment, that would really throw a spanner in the works.
To: Fred Nerks
This is the first time I am seeing this. So she used her old name on the marriage cert to Lolo, why?
1,143
posted on
02/15/2018 3:26:45 PM PST
by
GregNH
(If you can't fight, please find a good place to hide!)
To: GregNH
To: Fred Nerks
Maybe I should clarify. I have never seen her name as Ann Obama before. S Ann yes but never just Ann. Hmmm
1,145
posted on
02/15/2018 3:47:10 PM PST
by
GregNH
(If you can't fight, please find a good place to hide!)
To: GregNH
The listing for one of the residents at the birth announcement address was:
ANN S OBAMA.
The Social Security change of name turns Stanley Ann Dunham into the student Ann S Obama...imo = blending
To: Fred Nerks
Don’t remember seeing that one before.
To: Fred Nerks
The women in that photo could be Vivian Regidor and Pat (Patsy) Matsuda. They are listed as "hostesses" for Barack Obama in an article from the Oct 26 1959 Honolulu Star-Bulletin ("Foreign Students Welcomed at Economics Club Reception").
I found photos of them from era and put them together here.
1,148
posted on
02/15/2018 4:39:41 PM PST
by
RubyR
To: RubyR
To: RubyR
Could be any of these girls also...
The woman in the foreground in that 'on the dock' image appears to be Barbara Jay who graduated from the university in Honolulu in 1959. It's the girl standing close to the Kenyan that needs to be identified. Almost impossible as the image is so unclear and she's partly obscured.
To: Brown Deer
Came from We The People of the US blog...haven’t got the link at the moment.
To: Brown Deer
To: Fred Nerks
To: Brown Deer
for the record:
Letters from Obama Snr reveal details of life as a student in US
Monday June 20 2016
https://www.nation.co.ke/news/world/letters-from-Obama-Snr-reveal-details-of-life-as-a-student-in-US/-/1068/3257344/-/ld4uw/-/index.html
By KEVIN J. KELLEY
More by this Author
Several letters written by and about Barack Obama Snr between 1958 and 1964 reveal details about his efforts to study in the United States and his experiences while attending the University of Hawaii and Harvard.
The letters span the period when the elder Obama fathered a son in Hawaii who would go on to become president of the United States.
But the documents make no mention of that boy, and President Obama has yet to read this trove of letters written by his father, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
The Times published a selection of the letters, some typed and some hand-written, along with an account of their discovery at a research centre in Harlem.
In the writings newly made public, Obama Snr comes across as an ambitious, brilliant but impoverished young man. Omissions from these letters, however, also suggest that he put his own interests far ahead of those of two women he had married and the children he had with them.
“It has long been my cherished ambition to further my studies especially in America and therefore any slight assistance which you would be kind enough to offer me in regard to this would be very much appreciated,” Obama Snr wrote from Nairobi on October 20, 1958.
“I would have furthered my studies locally had it been that there were any colleges or universities in our country Kenya,” the applicant continued in his letter to the Institute of African American Relations in Washington.
“But due to the fact that we have none, it has therefore been difficult for me to further my studies taking into consideration my financial difficulties.”
Seven months later, in a formal application for aid that lists Tom Mboya as a personal reference, Obama Snr recounts his academic achievements in Kenya.
“My father did not have opportunity for much formal education but was eager for his children to obtain as much as possible,” the then-22-year-old Obama wrote in May 1959.
“I was interested in my studies and was the top of my class” at Ng’iya Intermediate School.
He added, “I was forced to leave school in my last year due to financial difficulties at home.”
READING EXTENSIVELY
“However,” Obama Snr goes on, “I have continued to educate myself since leaving school by taking courses in secretarial work (typing, shorthand, accountancy) Quantity Surveying and Journalism. I have also furthered my learning by reading extensively on many subjects.”
Obama Snr’s applications for aid and descriptions of his studies in the US were discovered in 2013 in a forgotten archive at the Harlem-based Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture.
The letters had been given to the Schomburg Centre by a foundation that awarded scholarships to African students.
The Times reported that the Schomburg Centre had invited President Obama to review the newly discovered documents in 2013 but received no response.
A senior White House official recently told the Times, however, that President Obama would be interested in seeing the letters after he leaves office next January.
The elder Obama says in one of the letters that he feels cut off from Africa and complains about the high price of food in the US, offering the example of a 50 cent hamburger — “a thing I never experienced before.”
He also noted in a letter from Hawaii that “the people around here have made me feel at home.”
Obama Snr added that they had “called upon me to give several speeches on Africa and Kenya.”
In his financial aid requests, Obama Snr made no reference to his US wife, Ann Dunham, his son, Barack, from that marriage, or the wife and two children he left behind in Kenya.
He left blank the section on marital status and dependents in an application for grants to pay for his graduate studies at Harvard.
The last letters in the archive were written in the year that Obama Snr returned to Kenya, leaving behind in Hawaii a three-year-old son.
The boy and his father would be together on only one more occasion.
Obama Snr spent a month in Hawaii in 1971 when the future president was 10 years old.
The elder Obama was killed in a car crash in Nairobi in 1982 at age 46.
Image with above article:
Barack Obama Senior (seated centre) and a Kenyan colleague, Williamson Gor Obadha (checked coat) with school mates at the University of Hawaii Honolulu. PHOTO| FILE Barack Obama Senior (seated centre) and a Kenyan colleague, Williamson Gor Obadha (checked coat) with school mates at the University of Hawaii Honolulu. PHOTO| FILE
To: Brown Deer
To: RubyR
Could we please ask you to show the entire page of text which you used in that composite you posted? TIA.
To: Brown Deer
To: Brown Deer
here's the image...
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 1,121-1,140, 1,141-1,160, 1,161-1,180 ... 1,541-1,560 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson
