Obama!!!
David Sedaris
Presidential elections are a very big deal in America. Most people have a very strong opinion about whom they think should win, and very few don’t care at all. The months before an election you would have to be both blind and deaf if you didn’t know the election was going on. Signs banners etc are all over peoples’ front yards, it’s all they talk about on TV and radio, and debates and discussions are started within classrooms. The election in 2008 was a very big deal. America could end up having their first ever African American president. Many doubted it was ever going to happen; that America was still trapped in the world of segregation. At the time of an election many people usually think they’re experts on the subject, even in Europe.
David Sedaris, who is an American author and comedian, lives in France. In his essay from the essay collection Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls he discusses the Presidential Election from 2008 amongst other things. He explains how big of a deal the whole election was in European countries. Even though he didn’t write about politics he would still be asked political questions during interviews. The most common question was of course who he thought would win the election. He explains how people in France didn’t think America would elect an African American president because “they’re racists”, so whenever he answered that he thought Obama would win he was met with the same with a pitiful facial expression with a shake of the head on top: “’Americans are racist’. They said. ‘Americans are afraid of anything different’.” (l. 190-192). David was asked countless times, as if it didn’t matter that it was his own private decision, but whenever he wondered who his French friends was voting for during French elections no one would answer him, because it was considered rude asking such a personal thing.
When Obama of course won the election everyone made a huge deal about the fact that he was black, as if it wasn’t obvious. David Sedaris was in London when he watched Obama be sworn into office and he explains the experience as “laughable”. BBC made it embarrassingly clear that Obama was in fact black, that his family was black, and that they were about to live in the White House, which was white and not black. David found it annoying but realized it would’ve been the same if it was a gay president. He then goes on to make fun of all the people who threatened to leave the country if a black person won the election, and he starts talking about the legalization of gay marriage and questions why people who don’t want to marry someone gay needs to have an opinion on the subject. David Sedaris is gay, and even though Obama was against gay marriage he still voted for him. More because most of the candidates that year was against it as well, because being for gay marriage was basically like suicide for a politician, and that fact annoyed David. The fact that a small factor such as wanting to legalize same sex marriage could destroy your entire campaign dumbfounded him, but he accepted the fact: “But you pick and choose, don’t you? Some things you can sit on, some things you can’t.” (l. 279-281). He was just happy Obama could deliver a speech opposed to the two previous democratic candidates.
The tone in David Sedaris’ essay is very mellow in the beginning. He briefly discusses some different subjects and tells about old experiences, it is not until he starts talking about the 2008 election that he starts changing his tone. He becomes a little more aggressive and he uses humor to cover up the fact that he’s annoyed. Some of his jokes are done through references to places or people and if you don’t know what he’s referring to, for example the one with Disneyland and the Small World Pavilion, it can be very hard to understand the comic relief and you’re just left confused instead. If you do understand the joke it’s actually rather funny. When he starts talking about gay marriage the jokes are over and he straight up says he’s annoyed with how gay people are being treated when it comes to marriage. Even the very last sentence in his essay can be interpreted either as a funny comment or a sarcastic mean comment: “Oh, get your own black president.” (l. 287-288). He’s tired of the French constantly talking about Obama and how America “made the right choice in their eyes”.
The on again off again joking gives the essay its style and it works well as comic relief. Some of the jokes are just stupid puns like “I’ll bet you that half of America could elect a half-black president”. Others are actually quite funny like he explains how much he exaggerated about how BBC broadcasted the inauguration of Obama, and how he explains how Americans who threatened to leave the country if Obama was elected should move to right-wing Europe. He also uses humor when explaining Americans’ use of front yard signs and buttons with exaggerations such as “for town slut” and “I am a huge asshole”. You can’t help but laugh when you read things like that among serious campaign slogans for signs and buttons.
Besides the comic relief there are various forms of prejudice explored in the essay. First of all, the fact that every French person David encounters doesn’t believe Americans will elect an African American president is probably the biggest prejudice we can find in the essay. They think Americans are still so narrow-minded that they will look above and beyond his intellectual and leadership abilities and will define him solemnly because of his skin color. They don’t sweeten it up or give a subtle hint; they lay it down flat and call Americans racist. Besides the racism David also brings up the prejudice people have against gay people. He admits that it ticks him off how states are actually voting to take his marriage rights away, just because many peoples religion is against same sex couples and therefore don’t think they should be allowed to marry. David expresses his frustration by contemplating on “… what gives you the right to weigh in on your neighbor’s options? It like voting on whether or not redheads should be allowed to celebrate Christmas.” (l. 267-270). By using an example as extreme as redheads not being allowed to celebrate Christmas he states just how stupid he thinks the voting against gay marriage is.
Even though there have been numerous people fighting for civil rights, not just in America but all over the world, racial segregation is still a big problem in our world today. Today prejudice doesn’t stop with racism or gay marriage. After the numerous terrorist attacks and misinterpretations of the Islamic religion many people are prejudice against Muslims and some people can’t help but let their mind wonder to “what if” if they see one on a plane, bus etc. People are judgmental every day, all over the world. I don’t know if you can say it’s a part of being human, but it sure is a part of our society and world. Even Presidential elections are hit by it.