Obama by David Sedaris: Essay Analysis

English –Essay

“Obama!!!” is written by David Sedaris (American comedian and author), in 2013 and it is an extract from the collection: Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls. The essay is a flashback from David Sedaris time in France during the election in 2008 in the United States. Skin color. Our skin color is part of our appearance, but is it also a part of our personality? In America this question were discussed when Barack Obama was running for his presidential election in the year of 2008 - 2009. Many Europeans believed it was impossible to see a half-black candidate win the election in 2009, because they thought that many Americans would never vote for a black candidate. In David Sedaris essay: “Obama!!!”, he explains, in a rather humoristic way how prejudices can lead to huge misconceptions between different countries.
The reader mostly hears about Sedaris’ life in France. The essay focuses on the differences between European and American politics, when it comes to racism, race discrimination and sexual discrimination. One of the things David Sedaris mentions is how much an American election all of a sudden becomes a “world election”. In the start of his essay, David Sedaris describes how people he lived among in Normandy did not take part of their national politics and local government affairs. However, when a black candidate is running for president in America, thousands of miles overseas, they wake up and are willing to be a part of the election - even though they are not inhabitants. This can be interpreted as the importance American politics has in Europe. In this context the topping of the cake is when a black is leading the campaign for president in the USA, which is host the famous Kukus Klan and also the Tea Party movement. This irony and sarcasm constitute the tone and style throughout the essay: It’s not that I don’t have opinions about these things; I just don’t feel they’re in any way special.” David Sedaris uses a lot of humor, so that his message becomes more “eatable” for the reader. I does this to raise concerns about the topic in a humoristic way, without it becoming frivolous. What allows him to talk about prejudices and racism is that he is a gay comedian, which is the ironic and humoristic fact about David Sedaris. This allows him to talk about these sensible subjects, because many in Europe and USA have prejudices towards gays and comedians.
Sedaris explains, which headlines where published in the French newspapers during the years before the election. Sedaris writes:
“The farmer across the road from us, Robert “Bob” Gerbenne was profiled in the late 1990s. “The Man who Truly Whispers to Horses”, read the headline. The picture was of him seeming to gossip into the ear of his Percheron, a dappled mare as solid as a dump truck.”
Then it takes a turn when people finds out that a black man is running for president. The story above is completely different from the stories during the American election in 2008-2009 it turns 180 degrees to a more global perspective. Sedaris believes it is the skin color of Barack Obama which draws the attention and not his politic which makes the people of France interested in his campaign. During his time in Normandy Sedaris describes how people approached him and told him that: Americans never would vote for a black candidate, because many in America are racists. This key point is, elaborated later in the essay.
In this context, he also describes how his dad thought that people in France were hostile towards Americans and it was a dangerous place to for an American to be. By this, Sedaris plants the thought in the readers mind that when a French individual thinks of a typical American, the individual bases his thoughts on a fictive stereotype. This also applies when an American thinks of a French or other Europeans. Sedaris writes:
“I remember my dad calling after the Iraq war started and asking if I felt safe on the streets of Paris. He had the idea that Europeans, and specifically the French, had become openly hostile and were targeting Americans – even throwing bottles at them. If that was happening, I neither saw it nor read about it.”
In this passage, David Sedaris tries to tell the reader that to judge an American or a European based on prejudices and stereotypes is wrong. This is seen clearly in the last sentence in the passage above, where he tells the reader that none of his dads’ prejudices is correct –and he is not experiencing any hostile behavior from the French people in the period during the Iraq war. Therefore, David Sedaris’s main allegation is that it is impossible to judge people without knowing them properly. In this context David Sedaris is being rather objective because he criticizes both countries for having prejudices towards each other. This makes him very reliable because he has lived in both countries and experienced both cultures – therefore it makes his allegations and conclusions reliable.
Sedaris moves on and tells the reader about his experiences with the European reporters during his travel through Europe in 2008-2009. David Sedaris was surprised by the European attitude and he describes them as a people with many prejudices towards the American people. David Sedaris says: “The reporters in Greece, the ones in Australia and Amsterdam and Dublin, all of them assured me that the American people never would elect a black president.” To this Sedaris replies: “Maybe,” he said, “but I’ll bet you that half of America could elect a half-black president.” By this Sedaris means that around half of the American inhabitants are colored and therefore would be able to elect Obama. This consequently leads to David Sedaris’ main point in the essay; David Sedaris is surprised that many Europeans believe that inhabitants Americans would not vote for Barack Obama because of his skin color and not because of his politic program. The Americans are therefore accused of being more racists than the European countries. In this context, David Sedaris wonders why France has a far-right political party, where the leader glorifies the Nazi-occupation of France during World War 2. This is an interesting point, because we often tends to forget how our own political system works when we compare it with other countries. In this case, the people that David Sedaris talks with forgets all about how their own country works and looks in the eyes of none-inhabitants. They wanted Obama because he was black and because his politic was more like the European politic.
The conclusion to the essay is that David Sedaris explains how prejudices between different countries can lead to huge misconceptions between nations and how different political systems affect the minds of people - in terms of judging other countries political system. Sedaris also concludes that racism is still a part of our normal life; it has changed from the known “Nazi-racism” to a new form of racism. Throughout the essay David Sedaris is being rather objective because he criticizes both countries for having prejudices towards each other. He does this in a humoristic way, so that no one feels offended.