The President Has Never Said the Word Black
The president in question is undoubtedly our nation’s first black president, Barack Obama. Morgan Parker criticizes the fact that Obama never really owned up to his blackness, despite having the opportunity to represent, to stand up for, and to give a voice to the black community of America. He dodges the word, and plays it off, as if it isn’t an important part of his identity
Perhaps, the words unspoken can hold more meaning than what the actual words can convey.
In this poem, Morgan Parker lets us make our own interpretations by not being explicit with language. She never tells us who this poem is about, but leaves clues for us to figure out. She leaves blank spaces in the poem where the word “black” should have been, to emphasize how truly empty and generalized the statement is without the recognition of the subject’s skin color, which in turn, represents their identity, their history, their culture, and their place in the American society. And just like the people that Obama spoke of; bland, generalized, vague statements, washed of their identity by his choice of words, he too, has washed away that part of himself.
To be honest, I knew who the poem was talking about and I understood that it was infuriating that he never really represented the black community to the extent he could have, but I never realized that the author of the poem did the same to him to point this out. I didn’t really notice that it left his race out of it, doing the same thing to him that he did while in office. Thank you for pointing that out.
At first, I had no idea that the poem was indeed mentioning President Obama (maybe because I’m a little slow), but after a while, I focused on the usage of wording and what was NOT being said. Just like you pointed out in your response, the absence of both the word black and Obama’s name describes perfectly his attitude towards black issues and the poet’s attitude towards Obama as a whole.