By Jason Lim
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― By all measures, Barack Obama's inauguration represents a celebration of the momentous struggle for equality and fairness by untold generations of African Americans.
By announcing that he will be sworn in with the same bible that Lincoln used at the same place that Martin Lither King Jr. electrified the world with his ``I Have a Dream speech," Obama is fully embracing his historic role in this struggle, tracing a direct line from Lincoln to Martin Luther King to himself.
At noon on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, I can see Obama mentally saluting the parade of civil rights heroes ― from Frederick Douglas throwing off the yoke of slavery with such eloquence to Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus with quiet courage to the Greensboro Four sitting stoically on the lunch counter as the crowd behind them jeered ― as he recites the oath of office for the presidency of the United States of America. It's sure to be an emotional moment for him and all African Americans, a moment that I am honored to witness right here in Washington, D.C.
Writing in the New Yorker in October 1998, Toni Morrison, the renowned author, wrote the following about Bill Clinton: ``White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president; blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime.
After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas." I can only imagine how glad and inspired Toni Morrison feels that we didn't have to wait till our children's lifetime to have a real black president elected to the office, not one designated so because of supposedly shared demographics.
But is Barack Obama the first Asian American president?
I ask the question because I have heard many in the Asian American community call him thus, welcoming him as one of their own. Asian Americans, especially those in the second generation, supported Obama overwhelmingly. Admittedly, a lot of this has to do with Obama's strong ties to Asian culture, having been born in Hawaii (the only state where Asian Americans are the majority) and raised in Indonesia.
As Gene Kim, a second-generation Korean American who worked as a Congressional staff member and political campaign operative, puts it: ``Part of the hope in the Obama presidency lies in what he has yet to do. Hope that he, as a minority president with an immigrant father and strong ties to Asia, will understand the needs and struggles of our community and enact policies to make this country a better place for all of us."
But would that make Barack Obama the first Asian American president in much the same way as Bill Clinton was the first black president? Or can Obama translate his Asian cultural background to policies that specifically addresses Asian American issues? If so, what are these policies and issues?
Something unexpected happens when I ask the following question to Asian Americans who supported Obama: ``What does the Obama presidency mean to the Asian American community?"
Instead of numerating the various policy initiatives that Obama could take up on behalf of the Asian American community, as might be expected, they overwhelmingly point to Obama's message of hope and change as the main reason for their support.
As Myrna Lim, an independent television producer, writer and director, and community activist based in San Francisco, says, ``Barack Obama won because his message of hope and change resonated with the American people, especially with the Asian community … Asians voted for Obama because he represents hope and change. Americans are eager for Obama to succeed."
By all accounts, Asian Americans were ``inspired to support Obama" by what he represented, rather than be ``convinced to support him" based on a profit/loss analysis of what he could do for them. As Kim goes on to say, Obama's election gives rise to ``hope that America really is a country where anything is possible. Hope that our generation can follow his lead and overcome the glass ceilings and discrimination that our parents faced … that Obama's presidency inspires more Asian Americans and Korean Americans to become involved in politics and the public sector. We have a stake in the future of this country, and it's about time that we made our voices heard."
In short, Obama has given the Asian American community the first real sense of true and valued participation in the political process at the highest levels. Of course, it goes without saying that the same is true for all Americans, for Obama's presidency represents a significant milestone in the evolving maturity of the greatest democratic experiment in human history.
Obama is indeed the first Asian American president because he is truly a president for all Americans. We can only pray that he lives up to the challenge of being the change that we can continue to believe in.
Jason Lim was the 2007-2008 fellow at Harvard Korea Institute. He can be reached at jasonlim2000@gmail.com