I'm Here Because of Bubbles

This year I have closely followed two epic stories. The Wire, a fictional television show which tells the truth, and the Obama campaign, a real event that nonetheless relies heavily on narrative. A few weeks ago, the blog Postbourgie: The Audacity of Dope posted the question, “Can you be an Obama Supporter and be a fan of ‘The Wire’?” putting me squarely in their crosshairs with “If you buy the central theme of The Wire—that institutions will ruthlessly self-perpetuate and stymie even the best of intentions—then how does one ride for Barack Obama’s promises of changing the culture of Washington?” The Wire has certainly prepared me to be disappointed in Obama. SPOILER ALERT: I’ve watched Tommy Carcetti turn from a seemingly earnest reformer to a slimeball, Bunny Colvin ostracized for trying to do right by the local community, and Omar, the most legendary character of them all, betray his own code and then fall at the hands of the unworthy. Yet, with Obama I’ve allowed myself a measure of hope, although it is constrained with heavy skepticism. As I’ve said before, I know he won’t bring fundamental changes, but even the inch that we can get from him has become important to me. But recent events have caused my hope to wane.

The controversy over the Reverend Jeremiah Wright hurts and disappoints me in a profoundly deep way. Obviously I am incensed by the blatant lies and extrapolations taken from the Reverend’s sermons (which you can examine for yourself by watching the complete sermons. Many others have already explained more insightfully than I can how grossly misunderstood Reverend Wright’s message is, so I encourage you to search the Web). The amount of effort that has had to be put into explaining “the black church” and how Obama had to basically give the country a history lesson in his speech on the matter highlighted how deeply segregated this country still is. There is also a great unfairness toward Obama—he has been called out to explain himself and his associations in ways that Hillary Clinton and John McCain never would be.
But in this controversy over the Reverend Wright, the most hurtful disappointment is the disappointment I feel in myself for getting my hopes up. Malcolm X once asked the question “What do you call a black man with a Ph.D.?” and gave us the nation’s answer, “A nigger.” For all the excitement I felt that white people would actually vote for a black candidate for president, there still remained a lingering fear that this was too good to be true. Some opponents of Obama have taken this opportunity to try and transform him from the “post-racial candidate” into the “black candidate”, or in other words, they’ve tried to niggerize Obama. This niggerization that I speak of taps into a deep-seeded fear of mine, brought out in Malcolm X’s famous question, which is that no matter what I do, I can become a nigger, and that I too can be dehumanized. Whether I did nothing with my life or I became the Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States, I too could be devalued as Obama and the Reverend Wright have been.

Thus, I become more upset when I see the analysis of the Wright controversy and the racist politicking as if this were all about some political game or strategy. People should not simply be upset about the potential damage a racist attack strategy can do the Democratic chances for the presidency. Far more disturbing is the fact that this kind of strategy actually works to some degree, that it can have terribly debasing effects of people of color, and how this tarnishes our collective humanity as a nation.

Ultimately, I still believe that Obama will be the next president of the United States. I still have some hope. But it was not his speech on race that gives me the most confidence. I’ve found more reassurance in looking at The Wire. Some may see it as an incredibly depressing show that shows us the irredeemable nature of our society’s institutions. However, it is also a show that displays an incredible amount of care for human dignity. At its best, almost everyone in the series is shown with nuance, compassion, and appreciation for their complexity. The show may take us to the depths of despair, and often good people suffer terrible fates while the wicked prosper, but it also shows people fighting to preserve their human worth and for change. SPOILER ALERT: The moment when Bubbles the addict walks up the basement stairs as the finally-clean Reginald to have dinner with his family has more power in it for me than anything Obama has ever said. Bubble’s journey to recovery took us deep into a well of misery, but then showed us just how hard you have to fight for change. There is a brutal honesty to The Wire that Obama often softens for political expediency. It is the will and determination in the face of such terrible circumstances that I not only see in The Wire, but also in the history of the Civil Rights Movement and other grassroots struggles, that helps me to continue to believe, despite my fears, not simply in a candidacy, but in the basic decency of my fellow human beings.

Christien Tompkins is a Columbia College senior majoring in African-American studies. Freedom Dreams runs alternate Thursdays.
Opinion@columbiaspectator.com