Obama once more

In an extended and occasionally eloquent meditation at the blog Slaves of Academe, the blogger Oso Raro, in a recent post called "Bloodsport," reflects on race and class in America in the context of Obama's candidacy and the current campaign. Oso Raro remarks, clearly with reference to Obama, that "self-transformation can be an awfully tricky thing in a white supremacist and anti-intellectual society." A propos of Maureen Dowd's statement that Obama will need to "rewind" himself to appeal to working-class voters, O.S. writes that re-winding is both unnecessary and impossible, since the layers of the self, once in place, cannot be peeled back (I'm paraphrasing).

I have not read Obama's autobiography and don't know the detailed version of his life story, but those of you who do know it (or are otherwise interested) may want to read "Bloodsport" and see whether you agree with Oso Raro (assuming you're up for navigating the occasionally circular currents of his prose).