Satirizing Our "Post-Racial" Society
Obamistan! Land Without Racism: Your Guide to the New America
By damali ayo
Lawrence Hill Books, 2010,
208 pages, $14.95
"Racism is over!” was the only cry echoed on November 4, 2008, when the first black president was elected, in damali ayo’s new provocative satire.
ayo, author of the infamous book How to Rent a Negro, takes another stab at her specialty, satirical exploration of race relations in the United States, with her new title, Obamistan! Land Without Racism. A bright-yellow cover showcases a vibrant rainbow with an even more vibrant and colorful group of people happily jumping below it.
ayo begins her work on that fateful November 4, when America magically transforms into Obamistan, and its long, grueling battles against racism, terrorism, unemployment, and even drug dealers are all suddenly over. ayo offers an alphabetical guidebook to help readers understand the rules and nature of the “post-racial” life that many claim to live in the Obama era. She also provides advice on coping with the changes that Obamistan brings. ayo even provides pop quizzes so readers are sure to understand the rules of this new society. In ayo’s world, gentrifiers return “their” neighborhoods to their previous inhabitants; most people have access to and eat affordable healthful foods; New York nannies are no longer only people of color; and a celebrated national dish, “the Great Obamistani Jambalaya,” captures the essence and diversity of the real melting pot we now live in.
For someone who has personally dealt with racism on many levels, ayo’s endless solutions to situations that affect people of color—immigration, healthcare, gentrification, reparations, foreclosures, holidays, and even toilet paper—are too good to be true. In ayo’s delightfully humorous land, all types of people easily interact and get along. Unfortunately this utopian post-racial society can exist only for the few hours it takes to read the book. Terrifyingly, it will probably never exist. ayo’s work is a thought-provoking and clear political commentary on racism in the United States. She has a gift for calling out the disparities that are forgotten by many, ensuring that the reader will not see racism in the same light after reading this satire.
Despite her sharp illustrations of racism, ayo often ignores the interconnections between race and socioeconomic status. As an alumna of the same private school that Sasha and Malia Obama currently attend, and of the prestigious Brown University, ayo evidently comes from a more privileged lifestyle than do those she writes about in her satire. She asserts that this new society consists of people speaking “proper English” and the extinction of “gangsta rap.” She forgets that there are different vernaculars of English that have formed because of racism, and the lack of educational opportunities that come along with it, and that gangsta rap formed as a means of cultural expression. Moreover, ayo’s main flaw is one that any political commentator faces: Her fiery approach to racism and controversial issues like reparations will make a large audience impossible.
As I read this short book, surrounded by the diverse group of people that congregate on a subway car in Queens, I could only wonder what the people around me would think of this satire. Though her simple, straightforward writing style may appeal to a diverse audience, it seems that ayo’s primary audience is white, liberal Americans. Nevertheless, with her ironic twists that push people to really consider how race and racism affect Americans daily, damali ayo’s Obamistan! is a hilarious and ingenious way to get people to see how racism has forever damaged U.S. society. Underneath all the laughs, ayo shows us that the only way to ever end racism in the United States is to create a new America, with different systems and social structures, unlikely to be called Obamistan.
