Week 9 - Miguel Flores A02

Half of my young adulthood was spent on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. I remember the buzz that a “local boy” is running for the President of the United States. In the eyes of the locals, Obama was someone that represented the people of Hawaii, the one that understood the struggle of a tourism economy with high poverty and homelessness rate in the nation. Obama’s candidacy as a President not only magnified the suburban city where he grew up in, but it called for an in-depth discovery of Hawaii’s multicultural history. Everyone knew that Hawaii made it when a person like Obama, who had a privileged educational background, run for the most powerful position in the world. It was clever on Obama’s part to take advantage of his cultural and ethnic connections to reach out to people. As an Asian American and a Hawaii local myself, seeing Obama on television brought a sense of pride and excitement not only for me but for the people of Hawaii. Singers like Bruno Mars and actors like Keanu Reeves and Jason Momoa - all had humble beginnings in Hawaii. There is a sense of being part of one big Ohana (family) when you know that one of your braddahs (pidgin for local brothers) made it. 

There is a sense of pride and excitement when you know someone from your own cultural connections makes it into the real world. I felt that made it too, when Obama, who shares the same neighborhood and cultural associations as me, became the most powerful person of the free world. - Miguel Flores

Obama’s campaign and his “selling point” was carefully focused on his rooted multicultural backgrounds. He used different parts of his life to bridge a connection between people; whether that is spending his childhood in Hawaii, studying law in Chicago, and having an Indonesian and African American ancestry - it was all to his advantage, and he was able to transcend everyone to start a unifying movement that brought everyone together. Jonathan Okumura, have an explicit argument in outlining Obama’s unique circumstances. Obama not only connected people, but he tried to appeal to Asian American values as well, the model minority. Obama’s political journey also emphasize Hawaii as the model of multiculturalism in the United States. Obama used all his cards to reach out to his audiences - though it was obviously a political move, everyone enjoyed Obama’s multicultural spectacle and for one moment in the history of the United States people felt that they made it because a person like Obama became the president. It is interesting how people have this mentality that if one of their own made it they cheer on, but if one of their own committed something wrong people will do anything to bring that person down. Why do people have this mentality? Instead of helping one of their own, they disassociate and distance themselves from that person. 

Reference:

Okamura, J. Y. (2011). Barack Obama as the post-racial candidate for a post-racial America:
Perspectives from Asian America and Hawai‘i. Patterns of Prejudice. 

Flores, M.P. (2015). Instagram @miguel_paulo