Barack Obama has a special place in history as he is the first African American president of USA. Born in Honolulu to Ann Durham and Barack Obama Sr., Obama served as Illinois Senator for a time period of approximately three and a half year from January 2005 - November 2008. As soon as he was elected as the President of the United States, he resigned from his post of Senator.Obama's childhood was quite tumultuous as his parents separated when he was just two years old. His father went to Kenya while his mother stayed back and later married an oil manager from Indonesia and moved to Jakarta, Indonesia when Barack was only six. Barack moved in with his grandparents and was mostly brought-up by them. During his childhood, his father visited him once, when he was ten years old.
He was a bright child and attended Columbia University. However, the racial problem in New York made him worry a lot. During his college years he formed a small community to help Southerners. Later he attended Harvard Law School. It was in 1990 when he achieved the honor of being the first African American editor of Harvard Law Review. One of his fine career moves was when he started teaching at University of Chicago Law School. Over there he met Michelle Robinson, who was a fellow attorney. He married her in 1992. Later he was elected as a Senator to Illinois State.
It was in the year 2004, when Obama got elected as a democrat to the US Senate. He was representing the State of Illinois. He won his bid for Senate by a huge margin in which he took almost 70% of Illinois vote. He came into limelight when at a National Convention at Boston, he gave a stirring speech where he urged for united American Union that was well received by the Democrats. When he ran for presidency in 2008, he had had just four years of experience in politics. Despite that, he won the elections. It was in January 2009 when Barack Obama was sworn as forty-forth President of the United States and he was one of the youngest members of US Senate that time.
Obama grew up with his white grandparents and admitted to the fact that there was time when his grades slipped. He used to spend numerous hours lazily on a basketball court with his friends. He admits to have been addicted to marijuana and cocaine at one point of time. However, all this was taken care of by his grandparents who taught him value of life.
The Barack Obama racism issue in America is one that threatens to tear this nation's core values apart. Whether you are a red or blue state follower is less important than the values that we bring to our children and our children's children. If any one "race" has "claim" to the U.S., it's the indigenous Native Americans. Other than that we are all immigrants here.
As an American born Chinese growing up in San Francisco, I saw firsthand how cultural differences caused misunderstandings, distrust, and sometimes even hatred. But, I never understood how these cultural barriers began. I was called everything from "Chink" to "Slanty-eyes" to "banana." The funniest part of that was being called "banana" by even some of my own race. Banana refers to being yellow (Asian) outside, but white on the inside.
Dissecting "white on the inside" a bit further, it means not truly acting "Chinese or Asian." How is an AMERICAN born Chinese / Asian supposed to act? None of us spoke Chinese, so by default we were American, wouldn't you say?
The Barack Obama racism issue also holds no logic. Here is an AMERICAN born black person with degrees from Columbia and Harvard, Magna Cum Laude, no less. How many Americans, forget about whether you are Yellow, Brown, Black or White, have that type of pedigree? Couple that with the fact that he was a respected Senator who dedicated his life to public office.
I find it interesting that the 2008 US Census doesn't even know how to "categorize" people. While the overwhelming category in the U.S. is 79.8% White, the definition includes peoples of Europe, Middle East or North African descent. In some people's calculation North Africa means you're African American. Let's also look at the Asian category, which according to the 2008 bureau stats is about 4.5% of the U.S. population. They include people of Indian and Pakistani descent. Yet, knowledgeable PhDs believe that they should be considered "white."
The categorization of Middle Easterners as "white" would suggest that the "white" culture should have no issue with accepting people from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia, to name a few. Yet, we know the prejudices or predispositions that we ALL bring to the table when we meet someone who is culturally different or appears to be different from ourselves.
At a minimum this tells me that the Barack Obama racism issue itself is one that makes no sense whatsoever. Whether we like it or not, the U.S. was founded on the principle that "all men are created equal" and we pledge as Americans to "liberty and justice for all."
Barack Obama will go down in history as first African-American president of the United States. His place in history is secure for that, if for no other reason. It does not stop there, however. He was elected president in 2008. Although his popularity has declined substantially since his election, due to many factors, there are still many people who will support Obama in 2012.
President Obama's Unique Story -
While every U.S. President has a somewhat different story than the average American, President Obama's story stands out, even among this group. Born in Hawaii, he was born of two University of Hawaii students. His mother was American, and his father, a Kenyan student from Nyanza Province who was studying in America. The early 1960′s was a difficult time for interracial marriages, and the young Obama's faced tremendous pressure. This, among other things culminated in the couple's divorce when young Barack was only 2 years old.
His mother then met and fell in love with an Indonesian man studying for his master's degree, Lolo Soetoro. Soon they were married and the family then relocated to Jakarta, Indonesia. At the time of the move, Barack was 6. While there, they had a daughter, Barack's half sister, Maya. While in Indonesia, Barack attended a private Catholic School, SD Assisi. He later attended another excellent elementary school, SD Besuki Menteng. After 4 years in Indonesia, Barack moved back to Hawaii and lived with his maternal grandmother.
After moving back to Hawaii, he frequently played basketball, a sport at which he excelled, and enjoys playing to this day. By most accounts he is still quite good. He even played on his school' s well regarded varsity team, although he wasn't a starter. While in high school he worked at a Baskin-Robins ice cream shop.
After graduating from high school, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he attended Occidental College for 2 years. He got good grades, and after his sophomore year, transferred to Columbia University in New York. At this prestigious, Ivy League school, he again excelled, and graduated with his political science degree.
Barack Obama's Early Political Career
Barack has reached the pinnacle of U.S. politics, being elected President of the United States in 2008. However, he started out far more modestly, back in his adopted home city of Chicago. He won his Illinois Senate seat in 1996, after he manages to get all his opponents disqualified. As he was the only candidate on the ballot, he won easily.
In 1999, Obama began his fight for the U.S. Congressional seat of Rep. Bobby Rush. He lost that contest in 2000, but was determined to continue his quest for a Federal government office. To that end, Mr. Obama set his sights on the U.S. Senate.in 2003, in preparation for the 2004 election.
He again managed to receive significant assistance from the press and the missteps of his opponents. His main challenger for the Democratic primary was ousted due to a sex scandal that the Obama campaign was only too happy to assist the media in reporting. Again, the future president used what some consider "dirty" tactics to help secure a nomination.
That was only the beginning, however. Later in the campaign, after he had won the Democratic primary, he again received substantial assistance due to an opponent's scandal, which his campaign was the beneficiary of. This time it was his Republican opponent in the 2004 Senate campaign who fell by the wayside, actually withdrawing from the election, and paving the way for an unopposed Obama victory. He was now a U.S. Senator.
If anyone thought he would receive such an easy victory in his run for the Presidency, they would be mistaken. Although he had very limited governmental experience, and no leadership experience in the private sector, Mr. Obama is undeterred in seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination for 2008.
Facts about Barack Obama -
Barack Obama
44th President of the United States (D)
Date of Birth:
August 4, 1961
Place of Birth:
Honolulu, Hawaii
Parents:
Mother - Ann Dunham, Father - Barack Obama Sr. (Divorced when Barack was 2 yrs old)
Barack lived with grandparents (Madelyn and Stanley Dunham) in Hawaii from the age of 10
Wife:
Michelle, born 1963 - Married Barack on 10/18/1992
Children:
Mailia Ann, born 1998
Natasha, born 2001
High School Education:
Punahou Academy - Honolulu, HI - Graduating Class of 1979
College Education:
BA-political science, Columbia University, 1983
Law School:
Harvard, 1991, editor and president of the Harvard Law Review
Employment:
Director, Developing Communities Project (DCP), 1985 - 1988
Lecturer, Constitutional Law, University of Chicago 1992 - 2004
Government:
Illinois State Senate, 1997 - 2004
United States Senate, 2004 - 2008
President of the United States, 2009-
Barack Obama Books:
The president is a best selling author. He has authored 2 books.
The first was Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
published by Times Books in 1995, and the second, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (Vintage),published in 2006 by Crown Publishing. They have been very successful and probably won't be his last.
Barack Obama Quotes - A Window Into His Soul?
Much can be discovered about a person by the original things which they say. Here are some of Barack Obama's quotes. They give us a good glimpse into the man himself.
"A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, 'Huh. It works. It makes sense.'"
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
"Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential."
"I cannot swallow whole the view of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator."
"I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions."
"I don't take a dime of their lobbyist money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House."
"If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost."
