A. R. Harruna Attah
7 November 2008
column
He was once considered a rising star in the British political establishment.
The son of a Ghanaian father and British mother, Mr. Boateng rose in Labour Party ranks to become Secretary to the Treasury.
As eloquent and erudite as Barack Obama, there were tantalizing expectations that he could one day take residence at Number 10 Downing Street. Then all of a sudden, he was relocated to South Africa as High Commissioner. We have not heard of/from him since!
With President-Elect Obama having made history by being the first person with part African ancestry to become President of the US, the question we should now be asking is whether any European country can go that far in allowing a person with African ancestry to become prime minister or president?
Many European countries including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, have huge African immigrant populations, which should now feel emboldened to be assertive in the political arenas of their adopted countries. If they cannot aspire that high, their children or grand children can and should. Barack Obama said it: Yes, we can!
European racism and white supremacist behavior is more vile and insidious than that of the US, so a Barack Obama in Europe is a long way off. Let's not forget that European football stadiums still reverberate with racial abuse against people of African descent, who paradoxically are the mainstay of European football!.
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