Transformational Leadership Times 1.27: House Negro

This discussion begins by giving a description of the term house negro. Then a remark which uses the term "house negro" directed towards Barack Obama made by a Muslin terrorist is examined. "The missive from No. 2 terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri was posted on an Islamist Web site and called the United States' first African-American president a 'house negro' who appeared 'to be captive to the same criminal American mentality towards the world and towards the Muslims" (UPI News Track, 2008, para. 1). Suspected dynamics leading to the remark, internal to Al-Qaida, are reviewed. Other contemporary applications of the term "house negro" are discussed. Finally the racial significance of the remark is put in context with other demands pressing upon the Obama administration.

Malcom X used the phrase "house negro" to criticize African Americans who rejected his Black Nationalist philosophy. 'There were two kinds of slaves, the house negro and the field negro. The house negroes - they lived in the house with master, they dressed pretty good and ate good and they loved the master more than the master loved himself. (UPI International Intelligence, 2008, para. 8)

Defeat of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan is predicted by Al-Qaida and directed towards Barack Obama. The Al-Qaida prediction is carefully positioned in terms of race rhetoric. Al-Qaida uses the words of one African-American Muslim leader, Malcolm X, to establish a base of assault towards Obama. "The Daily Voice, a U.S. Web site that specializes in news for the African-American community, said Malcolm X used the term "house negro" in the 1960s as a derogatory term for a black man who kowtowed to whites" (UPI News Track, 2008, para. 4). Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Islamist terrorist leader, views Obama as a "house negro" because he appears to be continuing the same policy historically held by the U.S. towards the Muslim world.

Some sources assert the message is indicative of dissention within Al-Qaida ranks in terms of understanding the Obama approach to the war on terror (UPI News Track, 2008). There are Sunnis who are willing to engage in cooperative activities with U.S. forces. Apparently Obama's presidential victory rocks the world's view on race dynamics within the U.S. "because it demonstrates America's renewed commitment to multiculturalism, human rights, and international law" (UPI International Intelligence, 2008). This is according to Richard Clark former Clinton and Bush senior counter-terrorism official. On the home front, Al-Qaida's assault on Obama contributes to debunk a prevailing myth that Obama in some way enjoys positive connections to terrorists in the Muslim world.

The al-Zawahiri message also groups former Secretary of State, Colin Powell and current Secretary of State Condolezza Rice along with Obama into the class of house negro. This is not the first time an accusation has been made towards a U.S. leader who happens to be black. In 2002 two members of the New York City Council argued over a remark made by entertainer Harry Belafonte characterizing Colin Powell as a house negro. The debate also includes Condolezza Rice along with Powell in the characterization. This is based on the entertainer's observation that Powell would not extend any commitments to any principles that reach beyond the parameters of his boss, President Bush. The house negro concept is interpreted as the black face of white racism and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is described as falling into the same category as Powell, and Rice (Browne, 2002). Research suggests that the actions demonstrated by these black figures are representative of adaptive self-regulation (Sosik, Potosky, & Jung, 2002) and cluster away from a transformative leadership style and towards a management-by-exception model responding to immediate environmental anomalies.

While Obama ultimately presses for total withdrawal from Iraq, environmental conditions call for the continued presence of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The withdrawal or infusion of U.S. troops in these areas is dependant upon a combined function of social, political, governmental, economic, and global forces of influence. The situation is complex suggesting needed complex leadership skills in the Obama administration drawing from various leadership and trait theories (Strang, 2005). According to research in the field of transformational leadership, Obama has the opportunity to establish a positive affective environment within the new administrative team. The objective is to foster a culture of high motivation among administration members. This cultivates an environment ripe for visionary, effective goal setting, with administration members acting with a sense of direction, with determined persistence (Llies, Judge, & Wagner, 2006).

The Al-Qaida missive frames victory or defeat in terms of U.S. troop presence. The 2008 presidential election in the U.S., as viewed by al-Zawahiri, symbolizes victory literally in white and black terms. McCain is seen as a U.S. victor by the continuance of troops. Obama is symbolized as U.S. defeat culminating in the eventual withdrawal of troops. The message, seen by some, ultimately sustains a continued subtext that the white man wins and the black man loses. How has the al-Zawahiri message departed from the traditional conversation in race relations? In this respect the message miserably fails in accomplishing its ends. The Obama administration chooses to avoid responding to the aspersion, contextualizing it within a perspective of pressing economic domestic demands, including the need to increase the role of "government in individual and business affairs" in a time of economic downturn (Wren, 2004, p. 339).

This discussion shows that parts of the Muslim community have already stereotyped Obama on many levels. To the informed mind, the stereotyping suggests that some minds in the Muslim community operate under the same set of operating assumptions regarding race superiority and inferiority. The remark also suggests that some factions of the Muslim community have assimilated Eurocentric models of oppression which have fortified the historic system of racial discrimination that has plagued U.S. and many other countries in the world for centuries. This awareness requires the Obama administration to be internally strong, and demonstrate extreme agility in the area international relations and foreign policy.

References

Browne, J.Z. (2002). Council members clash over Belafonte's criticism of Powell. New Amsterdam News. Vol. 93, Issue 43, p,5 , 2/3p.

Llies, R., Judge, T., & Wagner, D. (2006). Making sense of motivational leadership: the trail from transformational leaders to motivated followers. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. Flint: 2006. Vol. 13, Iss. 1 pg. 1, 22 pgs.

Sosik, J.J., Potosky, & Jung, D.I. (2002). Adaptive self-regulation: meeting other's expectations of leadership and performance. The Journal of Social Psychology. Retrieved December 1, 2008 from General OneFile.

Strang, K.D. (2005), Examining effective and ineffective transformational project leadership. Team Performance Management. Bradford. Vol. 11, Iss. 3-4, pg. 68.

UPI International Intelligence. (2008, November, 19). Analysis: Al-Qaida Insults Obama. Retrieved December 1, 2008 from General OneFile.

UPI News Track. (2008, November, 19) Al-Qaida chimes in on Obama. Retrieved December 1, 2008 from General OneFile.

Wren, D.A. (2004). The history of management thought (5^th ed.). New York: John Wiley and Sons.