Wednesday 12 November 2008

Ashok Kumar MP on the victory of Barack Obama

 
MP Ashok Kumar on the victory of Barack Obama

 

ASHOK KUMAR, Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, shares his perspective on the momentous events which have been taking place in the United States this week:

 

ONLY a few years ago the mere suggestion that a black man could rise to the most powerful position in world politics would have been dismissed by even some of the most astute political commentators. Even after Barack Obama made history by becoming the first black person to be nominated for President by a major US political party, many still doubted his country was ready to elect an African-American as their President.

 

On November 4 — a day that will forever live in history — the hopes and dreams of many, including myself, became a reality and Obama became the first ever black President of the United States of America. This brought back vivid memories of 17 years ago when I was fighting a similar battle — albeit on a very much smaller scale — at a by-election in the marginal, Conservative- held Parliamentary seat of Langbaurgh which later became Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

 

As someone who was born in India and raised in Derbyshire, many doubted I would be accepted in an area which is largely rural and industrial and, at the time, was 99.4 per cent white. My aim, and that of my party — much like Obama's — was to reach out to people irrespective of their background and, through hard work and determination, challenge any prejudices they might have.

I always saw myself as a Labour candidate who happened to be Asian rather than an Asian candidate. Similarly, Barack Obama ran his campaign as an American who happens to be black, not as a black candidate.

 

It is a great credit to the people of the North East and their progressive, fair-minded nature that race was not a major issue in any of the elections I've been involved in. With the recent US presidential election, many of the most informed commentators claimed that the so-called Bradley effect — a discrepancy between election outcomes and opinion polls when a black candidate is running against a white candidate — would have slashed Obama's lead. So I was delighted when his victory was similar to that predicted by the polls. Thanks to his wide appeal, the turn-out was phenomenal and the sight of people queuing round the block to vote was truly inspiring.

 

This now begs the question . . . will we ever have a black or Asian Prime Minister here in the UK? We now have 15 black and Asian MPs in Parliament, 13 of whom are Labour and two who are Tory. Despite this, there is still a long way to go in this country to increase the representation of ethnic-minorities at all levels of society. But I do firmly believe that racism is now confined to small, marginalised sections of society.

 

From my own experience, British people, and in particular those in the North East, are fair and decent. Just as Martin Luther King dreamed, they tend to judge people not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. If only he was still alive to see the culmination of his hard work and sacrifice . . . the election of a black president.

 

Unlike the US, the UK has never had segregation or a civil rights movement. But despite the differences between our two countries, Obama's success certainly fills me with confidence and hope that the same could happen here in the near future.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the British people are ready for a black or Asian Prime Minister if the right candidate emerges and I remain optimistic that if the conditions stay the same we may see one in the next decade or so.

I take great comfort from Obama's passionate speeches about the "audacity of hope" and for minorities it is hope and determination that has brought us to where we are today . . . both in the US and Britain. When people ask me if we can expect a black Prime Minister in the UK in the near future, I will respond, in the words of Obama himself: "Yes we can".




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