Colorful DNC Audience

One day, my ex, who was born and raised in Iowa, asked me what the percentage of the American population is Latin@. I said, "I dunno, probably about 30%." He was dumbfounded, and estimated 11%, and he was right. But I was born in California, stayed there til I was 19, and then moved to Texas. And in those states, the proportion of Latin@s is 30% and growing. At the DNC last night, I looked at the crowd of people and though how it looks like the America I think of. The camera flitted around the crowd, first showing people of color, then people wearing hats reading "Veteran", then to people draped in beads and waving rainbow flags. They intercut these images while our biracial president spoke, weaving both male and female pronouns into his anecdotes, once showing a woman in hijab. I love the bet that the Democrats made at the DNC: show the spectrum of Americans to Americans, and they will see that you speak on their behalf. I can see why, to the world, Obama's ascendance to the Presidency is so healing.

America has both a history as a colony, and a history of colonialism. Even as white Americans were sending the Bill of Rights wrapped in a big bow of "fuck you" to King George III, they kept black slaves. It can't be ignored that the US, Australia, and Canada, the "white" former British colonies, are closer allies of Britain's than Iran, Iraq, India, or Pakistan. Something about whiteness, perhaps that old "common Anglo-Saxon heritage" (never mind native peoples or Quebecois) keeps us close. So, having a black man, someone married to a woman from a history of enslaved people, represent the country, must feel amazing to brown and black people all over the world. This American symbol is no longer a visual reminder of white imperialism (even if his foreign policy programs and history of deportations is just as bad as any white president's). I love the symbol that Barack Obama and his family are for this country. I saw the way that the President's brown face reflected those of the people of color in the audience. It made me happy to see so many different people together, mentioning their differences explicitly, and talking about their shared citizenship of a country that continues to struggle to see its brown people as wholly American. I hope more scenes like this make our colors less divisive, but no less important.