Euphoric Over Obama And a Return to Merit; A Victory for Idealism

On Nov. 4, 2008 history was made: a black guy with a funny name, Barack Hussein Obama, was elected the 44th president of the United States (and by a landslide): 52 percent of the voters chose to hire him based on his qualifications and not his pigmentation.

Brandon L. Ward is president of the New York City Municipal Chapter of Blacks in Government, an employee advocacy group. He is a Mechanical Engineer with the Department of Transportation. He can be reached at brandonward@nycbig.com.

Indeed, this election is laden with so much significance it seems an impossible task to attempt any systemic unpacking. First, I must confess, I held the opinion — like many other blacks — that a significant number of white Americans would rather have a sharp stick in the eye than vote for a black man. Talk about a WOW factor — winning over whites — WOW!

Second, I wonder if history demanded that we pass through the pain and humiliation of the Bush era in order to merit the relief and euphoria granted by Barack Obama's election victory. Third, I feel great knowing that the political neophyte from Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin, was not given the proverbial white boys' pass to the vice presidency despite her lacking credentials for the job.

Won't End Racial Inequality

Certainly those of us who are sufficiently bold to face the reality of race in the workplace must confront the fact that the hiring of a black man as the CEO of the world's most powerful democracy does not mean the end of racial inequality in America.

In his classic work, "The Age of American Law," Grant Gilmore provides a profound insight into the pathology of race relations in the United States. He writes: "Law reflects, but in no sense determines, the moral worth of a society. The values of a reasonably just society will reflect themselves in a just law. The better the society, the less law there will be. In heaven, there will be no law and the lion will lie down with the lamb. The values of an unjust society will reflect themselves in an unjust law. The worse the society, the more law there will be. In hell, there will be nothing but law, and due process will be meticulously observed."

From this observer's chair, a campaign message based on hope was effective. (After all, those of us who advocate for change are idealistically hopeful and hopefully idealistic). Hence, I have adopted the acronym of hope to mean Historic, Openness, Progressivism and Enlightenment.

Concrete Ceiling Still Exists

If Hillary Clinton's vote totals in seeking the Democratic presidential nomination admittedly signified 18 million cracks in the ceiling for women, then one might conclude that Barack Obama's victory signifies the collapse of the concrete ceiling for blacks. Not quite.

After all, how does one accept the fact that in "liberal" New York City for example, 79 percent of the city's managerial workforce is white and 85 percent of all those earning annual salaries at and above $100,000 are white?

Frankly speaking, after 16 years of Republican leadership at City Hall, the Bloomberg administration has adopted the Seinfeld strategy: it's all about nothing when it comes down to addressing this vexing problem of diversity in the leadership of city agencies.

Even more disturbing is that against this backdrop, some agency heads would boldly recite the "we are committed to diversity" line like religious liturgy while faithfully clinging to these stats. Perhaps they are simply taking cues from the boss, Mayor Mike, who responded thusly to our 2004 report, "Lagging Behind" documenting this reality: "Has every agency done as good a job? No. Would I like to see it? Yes." In other words, to use a Jesse Jackson phrase, "Keep hope alive!"

Certainly, if actions speak loud, reactions speak even louder. For instance, considering all the trumped-up charges leveled against him by his opponents (palling around with terrorists, being a Muslim/socialist/un-American/not black enough), Mr. Obama has remained cool and remarkably focused.

Indeed, most of us are inclined to instinctively react like the Soup Nazi — ''No soup for you!'' — towards our enemies. However, this is not the response of our President-elect. Take for example his response to Joe the Turncoat Democratic Senator Lieberman, who campaigned aggressively for Mr. Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain. In what can be described as a Come to Jesus moment, Mr. Obama recommended that he retain his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

Checks on Bloomberg

If I might be so bold, it's no longer hard to predict What Would Mike Do (WWMD). After all, in response to the looming budget gap facing the city, Mayor Mike autonomously rescinded the $400 homeowners' rebate checks. As it turns out, his decision to eliminate the rebates requires City Council approval. Unfortunately, it's hard for me to expect transparency from a Mayor whose rationale for a third term resembles that of a gambler caught cheating who reluctantly admits his culpability: "I know I done robbed y'all but I am going to play fair from now on."

Arguably, Mr. Obama's victory provides strong evidence that significant segments of the electorate are no longer much concerned with the old liberal-conservative divide. Although liberalism fits him like a glove (based on his voting record in the Senate), Mr. Obama's campaign sought to transcend the general prognosis of Bill Clinton's "New Democrat" or George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism." Surprisingly, for me anyway, voters rejected the Republican's Southern Strategy and debunked the "Bradley effect" (the idea that white voters would tell pollsters they were supporting a black candidate only to vote the other way when the chips were down).

Thus far, Mr. Obama has sent out centrist and pragmatic signals by selecting Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary and Senator Clinton as Secretary of State, while offering more traditionally liberal signs by delegating the health-care overhaul to Tom Daschle, a former Senate Democratic leader.

In partisan political theory, the spoil of the campaign generally goes to the victor (i.e. Democratic hacks). However, in Obama's theory of "change we can believe in," it seems the spoils go to the best-qualified, and qualified means only one thing — qualified.

Smart Leadership for a Change

Writing in the New York Times, columnist Nicholas D. Kristof stated: "Barack Obama's election is a milestone in more than his pigmentation. The second most remarkable thing about his election is that American voters have just picked a president who is an open, out-of-the-closet, practicing intellectual. Maybe, just maybe, the result will be a step away from the anti-intellectualism that has long been a strain in American life. Smart and educated leadership is no panacea, but we've seen recently that the converse — a White House that scorns expertise and shrugs at nuance — doesn't get very far either."

I am doubtful that we will be bamboozled into believing that a blind man is "uniquely qualified" to direct traffic at a busy intersection simply because he can hear the traffic.

It is refreshing to know that qualification is again the merit system after the past eight years of anti-intellectual leadership impulses. Call me an idealist, but I am waiting for change I can believe in to occur in city government.