On Monday 23 May, I was among several lucky people who had an opportunity to shake hands with US President Barack Obama, his wife and First Lady Michele and our Taoiseach Enda Kenny at College Green.
The event was electrifying and lifted the spirits of all who were there. But apart from inspiration, the occasion also offered people the opportunity to unwind and for a moment forget about our economic doom and gloom.
Arguably, the show at College Green was the best free public entertainment in Ireland since the birth of the late Celtic Tiger. It was a day full of pomp and pageantry, not only because of the Obamas but also due to the presence of many of Ireland’s best, both in the audience and on stage.
The event offered us the chance to reflect on the type of diversity we want in Ireland. We are at the crossroads on the issue of cross-cultural understanding and co-operation. And there can be no gain-saying that Barack Obama is the phenomenon that he is because of the diversity he lives. But could he have made such an impression if he wasn’t African-American?
It is surprising that some of the opportunities diversity could bring to Irish society are either not identified or are being deliberately ignored. Sometimes people just don’t see beyond colour and race. President Obama’s visit also highlighted that.
When Obama conluded his speech and reached out to greet the crowd before him, he lifted up a girl to the admiration of the tens of thousands present and more than a million watching at home. An Irishman beside me commented: “It’s cool, it is an Irish-looking kid!” Rather than assume he was being racist, I repeated his words to him. But he did not get the point.
Moments later, that same man who seemingly failed to see beyond colour stopped Michele Obama for some seconds. At first it was not clear what he said to her in the roar of the crowd, but later explained how he told Michelle how fascinating her and her husband were and how they were building bridges. “Yes, the world needs what we are doing,” he quoted the First Lady as saying.
Just as he was exiting the scene, I reached out to and asked him to explain what he meant by an “Irish-looking kid” earlier on. “She kind of has reddish hair… that was cool, ” he said, missing the point again.
“What if it wasn’t an Irish looking kid that President Obama lifted up?” I asked him. “What if it was a non-Irish child?” He quickly replied: “I was only joking. It was a joke!”
“I really hope it was a joke,” I told him as President Obama and the First Lady left College Green, having in many eyes united the world in Dublin.
Chinedu Onyejelem is editor of Metro Éireann.
