Ann Dunham, Anthropologist - Barack Obama’s Mother
At our Christmas get-together I asked my brother and my sister-in-law: “So, what do you know about Obama’s mother?” – “His father was Black and came from Kenya, and she was white and died of cancer,” was their answer, more or less. “Why do you ask?”
“Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro, was an anthropologist and wrote an 800-page long dissertation. Moreover, she was one of the earliest campaigners for micro-credits for women.” They hadn’t heard any of this before I told them, only again and again the sad story of her fight against American medical insurance providers before her…
Hillary and the Wise Women of New Hampshire
A little less than a year ago I wrote my first column on Hillary and Barack and the false alternatives “Change” (Barack) vs. “Experience” (Hillary). Hillary most definitely represents both; I am less certain about Obama.
Obama is celebrated—especially among whites—as one whose own family background, as well as his views, can transcend the racial divide: his mother is a Caucasian American, his father an African from Kenya.
But how is Hillary supposed to transcend the gender-divide? She does try, insofar as she mentions it as little as possible, thereby disappointing many women. But in no…
