I recently stumbled across a NYTimes oped, headlined “Obama, Melville and the Tea Party.” Intrigued, and frankly not knowing what the connection could be, I clicked on the headline and was surprised by the argument by professor Greg Grandin: in our society, Obama is representative of Babo (to conservatives, at the very least). Going back to Obama’s first election in 2009, Grandin argues this event superficially signaled a “new, ‘postracial’ America…but the optimism turned out to be premature,” while referencing the Tea Party surge. Grandin points to Benito Cereno as a bleak portrait of American history and says Captain Delano is a symbol of a new age of racism.
Here is a transcript of the heart of his argument:
“Benito Cereno” is based on a true historical incident, which I started researching around the time Mr. Obama announced his first bid for the presidency. Since then, I’ve been struck by the persistence of fears, which began even before his election, that Mr. Obama isn’t what he seems: that instead of being a faithful public servant he is carrying out a leftist plot hatched decades ago to destroy America; or if not that, then he is a secret Muslim intent on supplanting the Constitution with Islamic law; or a Kenyan-born anti-colonialist out to avenge his native Africa.
No other American president has had to face, before even taking office, an opposition convinced of not just his political but his existential illegitimacy. In order to succeed as a politician, Mr. Obama had to cultivate what many have described as an almost preternatural dominion over his inner self. He had to become a “blank screen,” as Mr. Obama himself has put it, on which others could project their ideals — just as Babo is for Delano. Yet this intense self-control seems to be what drives the president’s more feverish detractors into a frenzy; they fill that screen with hatreds drawn deep from America’s historical subconscious.”
I thought this opinion piece was interesting because it puts the historical piece of Melville’s work into a modern light. While this comparison can be seen as a stretch, I think it is insightful commentary on stereotyping, especially by more extreme groups like the Tea Party. Delano automatically thinks the West Africans abroad are slaves; the Tea Party automatically think Obama is disingenuous in his politics and background. Like how Delano becomes more interested in Babo, the Tea Party continues to scrutinize Obama. Similarly, Delano often talks about how he is free, while the Tea Party claim to be exercising free speech in potentially hurtful protests and arguments. Grandin ends his argument with the most obvious connection to Benito Cereno — a Republican politician’s protest of Obama’s presidency through an image of the president’s head decapitated on a pike. This direct reference to Babo’s death drives home his argument, but the article in entirety raises more questions — is the racism behind the treatment of Babo’s character and Obama’s presidency similar enough to make a connection? What are flaws in the connection? This article can be seen as problematic; but regardless, the history of racism in history and modern day can’t be ignored.
Read the entire column here:
Read more of Grandin’s theory focused on the history of slavery here:
http://chronicle.com/article/Slavery-in-FactFiction/143551/
—Alexa Lomberg
Your commentary concerning the nature of stereotyping by certain groups both historically and in our current political moment is very apt. I also find the particular quote that you chose from the article to be interesting, especially hearing President Obama compared to a blank screen. This immediately made me think of our discussion of Henry James and "The Turn of the Screw". What is it about stereotypes or misconceived notions that lend themselves to a comparison with a screen and a projected image? It is certainly interesting to think about.
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