In “Dreams From My Father,” by former president Barack Obama and first president of color, he talks about his families experience of  living features of America that are divisive and opposing. The former leader talks about his boyhood and life in America, as well as life experiences that molded who he is now. Obama’s maternal grandparents (on his mother’s side) were Whites who shown fundamental human kindness toward Black people, which their Texas community did not approve of. Despite the fact that they were not racists, they were unfamiliar with the idea of interracial marriage, especially after finding that their daughter was dating Obama’s father, a black man. Regardless of the fact that equality was not a widely held belief in America at the time, the Obama family was committed to it. Obama, the offspring of that interracial union, stands as a symbol of the Obama family’s overall capitulation, in that they not only opposed racism but also encouraged interracial marriages. To conclude, one image was of a patriotic citizen who accepted traditional American beliefs (racism), while the other was of a non-racist citizen. Obama effectively divided these two worlds by compelling his family to publicly condemn racism, despite the fact that they had never embraced either side and interacted in both.

The  section “…my father became a prop in someone else’s narrative. An attractive prop-the alien figure with the heart of gold, the mysterious stranger who saves the town and wins the girl-but a prop nonetheless.”Illustrates how Barack Obama’s father had evolved into a fascinating, though impenetrable character in his life. I appreciate how Obama refers to him as a “attractive prop,” calling him appealing because of how his family thinks about him, but a prop since he is in the background and doesn’t participate in his life. This piece, I believe, serves to illustrate Obama’s views for his father when he was younger.