Yes, We Can!
A Lesson for a Viable Future
from U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama
"Yes, we can!" Supporters of Barack Obama shouted this slogan on the day of the presidential election in the USA. They envisioned a world where every individual is respected, unafraid of being discriminated against due to their skin color, gender, or religious beliefs. Obama's victory marks a significant event in the progress of the history of humankind. What is progress in history? Some may argue that it is the development of technology, accumulation of wealth, expansion of liberty, or spreading of democracy. I would like to add to the list the promulgation of egalitarianism. Among the many forms of discrimination, racial discrimination has been most devastating History shows a full range of tragedies stemming from discrimination. It has been condemned harshly but also very difficult to eradicate. Obama's victory is a manifesto that a crucial victory has been marked in a war over discrimination.
As known, Obama was born to racially mixed parents and raised in multi-cultural environments. His father was a Kenyan who married a Caucasian woman. Since his mother remarried an Indonesian man, he spent his childhood years on the streets of Jakarta. After four years in Indonesia, he was taken to a Caucasian grandmother who took care of him during his teens in Hawaii. The apparent multi-cultural background pushed him into an identity crisis for some period of time, but after a time of suffering he persevered and overcame the crisis. He was able to project to the people a new vision which espouses inclusiveness instead of exclusiveness, rooted on the bonds and commonality instead of separation or individualism. The vision must have been thrilled the American people who got weary of bitter partisanship and endless clashes in the government and general population.
What do we get from this historic event? I would like to reflect on the value of multi-culturality. Obama clearly shows that multi-culturality can be both a curse and a blessing. It is a curse for people with such background to suffer without exception from a deeper identity crisis. Some of them succumb to the curse and maltreatment in society. Many of them manage to live a normal life after an agonizing period. Among this latter group, a significant number of people turn demonstrated that multi-cultruism is not a handicap but an asset. Psychological studies show that they tend to embrace multiple perspectives and a flexible mind. Consequently, they tend to think of creative solutions to the problems they face. In this era of globalization, intercultural contact is certain to increase. This increase will result in clashes and conflicts among cultures. No solution based on one culture will be accepted widely. Flexible and creative minds are desperately in need.
Multi-cultural minds do not have to be inherited from birth. It can be learned from others.. It is a value being eagerly sought in advanced societies. Multi-culturality as a value can be acquired in a pro-multi-cultural environment. We have to be keenly aware of the fact that Korean society has been against multi-culturality. We have to develop different politics and attitudes toward people with different backgrounds. The viability of the future of Korea may indeed hinge on whether we can implement this policy successfully or not. We should take Obama's case as a critical moment to reflect on our society. We have been boasting the heritage of one ethnicity throughout history.
It should be no longer; it is a made-up history and works against the spirit of new era. We can no longer afford to tell those with different heritages "you are lucky to be here." As Susan Hockfield, the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, beautifully put it, we need to learn to tell them "we are lucky for you to choose Korea." That is the lesson we must pull out from Obama’s victory. We need to leave the lyric “The dream of a goose” sung by Insuni behind in the past by developing hospitality to multi-culturalism. Otherwise, Korea has no viable future.