November 03, 2009, 08:51 PM ET

A Little Obama Effect

This is awkward. My 2-1/2-year-old son is paying attention to politics and presidents, and as his parents we couldn't be more proud. Except for one problem. He's begun to call every nonwhite male he sees, "Obama!" As in (pointing) "Look Mama, there's Obama!"

Awkward. Sometimes the man is African-American, or in some cases Indian, or even Latino. In not a single instance has he actually been Barack Obama. (Yes, Obama comes to Madison tomorrow -- but Conor will be on his way to Washington so the two will miss each other.) But that doesn't stop Conor from being ever-so-proud to identify his neighbor, fellow airplane passenger, or even my coworker as our current president.

Now what? (Seriously, now what?)

There's been plenty of talk about a positive "Obama effect" on America's children, the effect of a highly accomplished role model from a nonmajority group. The President himself aspired to this when he decided to run for the country's highest office, telling his advisory team that this is what distinguished him from other candidates:

"When I take that oath of office, there will be kids all over this country who don't really think that all paths are open to them, who will believe they can be anything they want to be ... and I think the world will look at America a little differently."

Well, as a white child of privilege (including two parents with graduate degrees and full employment) I have no doubt my son would've come up believing he could be or do anything -- regardless of who was president. But, living where we do -- in near lily-white Stoughton, Wisconsin -- I do worry about his lack of nonwhite role models. Sure, he'll be indoctrinated as a card-carrying liberal (after all my husband's a former executive director of Vermont's Democratic Party), but so what? Even the most hopeful and tolerant adults tend to have stereotypes formed by an absence of figures, as well as the presence of others.

Raised on the East Coast in a community full of Vietnamese and Latino families, it's often occured to me that my decision to work in Madison and live in Stoughton affects the quality of our life. In so many ways, it's completely a joy -- this place is affordable, quiet, and pretty. But when Conor shouts "Obama" I have to wonder ... now what?

Comments

1. willardhall - November 04, 2009 at 09:01 am

Is this really that different than when a two-year-old sees any old man with a white beard and says, "Look, Ma, it's Santa" (no matter the time of year and whether he's wearing red or near reindeer or not)? If your son's still doing this at 4...then you'll need to worry!

2. saasaa - November 04, 2009 at 09:35 am

Ditto to Willard. He knows what he sees. Expand your circle of activities! Spend some time on State Street!

3. mvclibrary - November 04, 2009 at 10:02 am

Actually, Willardhall, I've seen a 4 year old do this and it really saved the day. I was with a friend in court when her youngest was in the dock, waiting to be arrigned on a felony and a woman and her young son came in through the double doors along with a public defender who did look a bit like Obama. This was just weeks after the innaugeration, and as the 4 year old looked up at the attorney and said "O-bama-a", the whole courtroom rocked in giggles. Art Linkletter was right: Kids say the darndest things...

4. 11182967 - November 04, 2009 at 10:43 am

While it is certainly important for this boy to learn to distinguish among individuals, his perception of the President as an icon of non-whiteness is quite accurate and potentially quite powerful. If this has led him to recognize the presence of many Obamas in the world around him, and to accept the concept of non-white people filling many roles, including being in positions of power and influence, then all the better. Stereotypes can best be attacked not by separating individuals from the stereotype but by changing the characteristics which are associated with the stereotype. White people seem very adept at treating the non-white people they approve of as "exceptions," even when the exceptions are in the majority. This boy, however, is associating non-whiteness/color with the President--apparently a postive association--and finding many people like the President in his world. That may not be such a bad thing, especially if a lot of little white kids do it. johntee

5. lisaemily - November 04, 2009 at 12:21 pm

Remember this moment, and when he's an adult, you'll have a good story to tell his significant other.

6. minnesotan - November 04, 2009 at 01:26 pm

7. innfree - November 08, 2009 at 05:08 pm

I am of two minds about this. On the one hand, it is understandable that a young white child in an all-white community could make this mistake. In this instance, his error results in a compliment to those addressed as "Obama".

But here's where I'm troubled: the child's mistake is based upon the proliferation of a particular black image in the media. In many parts of the country, one of the most frequently seen media images of blacks in the "serious" part of the news are images of alleged (or actual) black criminals (many of the other black images are often featured in the "lighter" sports and entertainment sections of the news).

So, for example, if young white children in the suburban, whiter areas of Cleveland, Ohio were to take their cues from recent media coverage, the image of a black man or other man of color might easily cause them to think (though not likely shout) "Anthony Sowell" (an alleged serial killer here in Cleveland recently featured in the local and national media)when seeing any vaguely similar man of color. They may as a result fear all black men. This is not so far fetched; numerous studies bear out the fact that the media plays a significant role in shaping racial attitudes.

My thought then is that parents should act to immediately but gently disabuse young children of the notion that images in the media are necessarily representative of large numbers of people in any demographic.

Lolita Buckner Inniss