26th
I actually thought Krauthammer had some worthwhile insight here, particularly in the first half. But I want to take issue with — or at least complicate — this bit:
Obama’s unapologetic celebration of Washington and the Founders of the original imperfect union was a declaration of his own emancipation from — or better, transcendence of — the civil rights movement. The old warrior Joseph Lowery prayed for the day when “white will embrace what is right.” Not Obama. By connecting himself in this historic address to Washington rather than Lincoln the liberator, Obama was legitimizing the full sweep of American history without annotation or mental reservation. If we ever have a post-racial future, this moment will mark its beginning.
You can’t just focus on what the speech lacked here. I mean, the Obama people are very smart, and they obviously know exactly what they’re presenting and how they’re presenting it. You can’t just mention Joseph Lowery in passing and then act like what he was saying and what Obama was saying are separate. They’re not. The framing of his inaugural was deliberate and, in my opinion, pretty amazing.
Start with Aretha. That performance was brilliant. And here’s the thing: when you’ve got the Queen of Soul up there in front of the Capitol Signifyin(g) on an American classic — and actually, let’s be precise and, recognizing that it’s to the tune of “God Save the Queen,” call “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” an Anglo-American classic — well, you’re not instantiating a post-racial world; you’re bringing black to the White House, and self-consciosuly so. Same with Lowery and his playful invocation of what David Hollinger calls “the ethno-racial pentagon.” And hell, why do you think the first dance Barack and Michelle had was to Beyonce’s rendition of “At Last”?
So no, this wasn’t about a post-racial world. It was about Obama, and it was about blackness. That might not have been explicit, but that was exactly the point: racial signifiers framed the Address, making blackness a substantial part of the inauguration. It wasn’t thrown in your face, but it was pervasive. It was racialized in a good way.
It was, in short, a celebration of a truly pluralistic America. And that’s better than any empty post-racial utopia could be.
