DailySpotlight

Flickr, cc license, Barack Obama

Three days ago a friend of mine, an American citizen, ask me a original request; she wanted to know what I and other French people think about Obama's election. Actually she is teacher in a school for young children, and she would like to share with her pupils various points of view from around the world about the presidential election. Why? Because she would like to demonstrate to them how important is to know what foreign people think about the United State of America and its new president. She told me, she was very surprised to notice how different was the way French were considering the USA during the last presidential elections, in 2004. This revelation change the way she considered her country, her government and mainly her president.

I appreciate her open mindedness, so I wrote the following long text (click on the link below) to answer her request. Sorry, for the moment the text is in French, but I will translate it soon. Stay tuned ;-)

Hello Jill, Ça fait un bail!!! J'espère que tout va bien de ton côté. En tout cas moi ici à Lille je suis overbooked! Lol! Mais j'adore ça, donc j'assume.

Pour en revenir à ta requête, je tiens d'abord à te dire que l'analyse de ta copine Héloïse fait un peu "café du commerce", sans vouloir être désobligeant à son égard, je trouve ce genre de propos très irritants... Obama n'a pas remporté les élections grâce au soutien de George Clooney ou de Will.I.am. Ni parce ce que "ça fait cool de voter pour un noir". Les temps sont durs (deux guerres qui s'enlisent, une grave crise financière et économique, des expropriations en cascade, une hausse record du chômage et de l'endettement des ménages, des défis environnementaux sans précédent, un système de santé inefficace et injuste, un leadership en berne, etc.) et c'est une insulte à la personne d'Obama et aux électeurs qui lui ont accordé leur vote, que d'affirmer qu'il a été élu non pas sur son programme ou sa personnalité, mais juste parce que c'est le candidat des stars. D'ailleurs les républicains ont utilisé ce genre d'arguments contre lui ("The One"), avec les résultats que l'on connaît... Ce genre de discours est souvent formulé par des personne qui n'ont jamais pris le temps d'écouter le moindre discours d'Obama et qui n'ont pas vraiment suivi la campagne...

You already know the man, and you already know about his struggles , I just want to say that it’s a pity he died so soon and mainly in such a violent way, because he was a real symbol of hope for several million people who used to be treated inhumanly for centuries. MLK was inspiring, not only for black people but also for those who really wanted to live in a fairer society, more peaceful, more respectful of human rights and more positive. When this hope bringer disappeared, the only lit fire which was sufficiently convincing and charismatic to make them believe in a better future, it was a disaster that nothing or no one could fix or recover. A drama which still has tragic consequences today. Since MLK, none US leader has managed to give America so much hope and confidence in a better future. No one, until today…