Black president in popular culture (United States)
Encyclopedia
Before the election of Barack Obama
as President of the United States
in 2008, the idea of a black president was explored by various writers in novel
s (including science fiction
), movies and television
. Numerous actor
s, comedian
s and celebrities portrayed a black president. Comedic parodies
of a black president have been popular, used to explore the culture gap, and what US life would be like under a black president and for a black president.
who played a black president on the hit show 24
, said the portrayal “may have opened the eyes, the minds and the hearts of people because the character was so well liked." The show also raised the issue of whether television series "like political trial ballons, can ready the populace for change."
After Barack Obama's election, the television show the Cosby Show was cited for what has been termed the “Huxtable effect” for the influence of its "warmhearted" portrayal, "free of street conflicts and ghetto stereotypes - that broke ground for its depiction of an upwardly mobile black family." The show has even been cited by some observers as a factor in Obama's victory.
published The Man, a popular novel addressing the idea of a black president, named Douglas Dillman in the book. Recently a critic described it as a window into "Kennedy-era racial pathologies", despite the author's liberal attitude. It included the portrayal of attractive mulatto
women who could pass
for white, as does the hero Dillman's own light-skinned daughter. The Man -- which was made into a 1972 movie starring James Earl Jones
as Dillman -- noted factors against a black president's being elected in America, and Dillman's coming to power through an unlikely series of circumstances of succession.
Other novels featuring a first black president include Philip K. Dick
's The Crack in Space
(1966), T. Ernesto Bethancourt's young adult novel The Tomorrow Connection (1984) and T.D. Walters' self-published thriller The Race (2007).
frequently told jokes along racial lines, including one about an imaginary first black president. He stopped when he decided to reach a wider audience.
In 1983 at age 22, Eddie Murphy
(who was born the same year as Obama) enacted a parody of a black president in one of his stand-up routines, Eddie Murphy Delirious
, filmed in Washington, D.C.
.
The first movie portrayal of a black American president was probably that of Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1933
film Rufus Jones for President
. In this short musical comedy, the 7-year-old Davis is told by his mother, portrayed by Ethel Waters
, that anyone can become president, and later dreams of his own inauguration. Outside the dreams, the film reflects contemporary racist attitudes.
The 1941 musical movie Babes on Broadway
included Judy Garland
in black male drag
singing a song "Franklin Delano Jones", about the first black president of the United States.
"When Rod Serling adapted Irving Wallace
's "The Man" to the screen in 1972 -- it was a joint production of Paramount Pictures
and ABC Circle Films, originally intended to air on ABC
's made-for-television Movie of the Week series, but the network chose not to air it, prompting Paramount to release the film to theaters instead -- the political climate had changed sufficiently that he could promote Douglass Dilman from survivor to competitor—a genuine leader who, after standing up to his white rivals, vows to win the presidency through "legitimate" electoral means." With James Earl Jones
starring in 1972, the film version had a heroic black man as president, who ended the film in a position of moral authority.
In 1977 comedian Richard Pryor
portrayed the first black president of the United States in a skit on The Richard Pryor Show
, his short-lived foray on NBC
television.
The 1987 animated series Spiral Zone
is the first television show in history to show a serious depiction of an African-American president of the United States in the episode The "Imposter".
In the 1997 science fantasy film The Fifth Element
, Tom Lister, Jr.
portrayed President Lindberg, a character who was the World President, rather than simply a U.S. President.
A generation after The Man, the 1998 science fiction film Deep Impact
featured black actor Morgan Freeman
as president Tom Beck. Freeman portrayed his role with such commanding authority that it probably contributed to his coming in second in Moviefone's poll of "Best Movie Presidents". The question was whether a black man indeed had to be this superior to be elected. Critic Louis Bayard noticed that Dennis Haysbert seemed to adopt Freeman's cadences for his own role as president.
In the hit show 24
, a television precedent was set when Dennis Haysbert
portrayed the lead character David Palmer
, a successful terrorism-fighting president. Critic Charles Taylor described him as showing "the determination of magnetism, brains, resolve, compassion and willingness to make tough calls we dream of in a president." After the show portrayed the assassination of Palmer, his brother Wayne, played by D.B. Woodside, was also elected president. The Jerusalem Post speculated in June 2008 that television ratings "may have predicted Obama's primary victory over Hillary Clinton, as the most recent female television president
appears to have been less popular than the black leaders of 24."
In 2000, Chris Tucker
planned on writing, directing, producing and starring in a movie about the first black president of the United States.
Chris Rock
wrote, directed, and starred as presidential candidate Mays Gilliam in the 2003 comedy Head of State, described as "undernourished." The movie's tagline was "The only thing white is the house". Another critic described Rock as in way over his head, and found it "depressing to see Rock pander to the most reactionary elements of the black audience." He also was surprised at some of the settings. "Rock doesn't seem to know much about contemporary America; when his character travels to Memphis (a majority-black city with a black mayor) we see only white people."
In 2004, a sketch on Chappelle's Show
called "Black Bush" featured Dave Chappelle
as an African-American "interpretation" of then President George W. Bush
and his administration
. It was controversial due to its set-up segment (which had Chappelle mocking fellow comedian Dennis Miller
over the comedian's infamous "free pass" comment regarding not saying anything bad about George W. Bush
) and its overall theme that if Bush and his top aides were black, that the public would be more willing to be critical of the President and his decisions. The sketch also features cameo appearance
s by actor Jamie Foxx
, who appears as "Black Tony Blair
" and Mos Def
as "Black Head of the CIA
" holding "Yellowcake
from Africa (Anthony Berry's character warns the other not to "drop that shit", though it is clearly just yellow cake
).
In CBS's 2004 TV series Century City
s fictional timeline, Oprah Winfrey
is the US President.
Mike Judge
's 2006 Idiocracy
featured President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho as a former porn star and champion wrestler played by erstwhile NFL defensive end Terry Alan Crews. Critic Bayard thought it odd that the lead character seemed so little advanced from earlier 20th century caricatures. The "joke is essentially unchanged from the days of Rufus Jones: These are the last guys in the world -- or any world -- you'd want to vote for."
In ABC's 2008 series Life on Mars
(a remake of BBC
's series of the same name
), it is hinted that Malia Obama, the daughter of then-candidate Barack Obama
, is the President in 2035. This and the 2004 CBS series depicted an African-American president who was female.
NBC
's 2010 series "The Event
" features Blair Underwood
in a starring role as President Elias Martinez.
released a track entitled "The first black president", a conversation between President Blowfly and his assistant over hip hop music.
Rap artist Nas
was inspired by the Obama campaign to write a song entitled "Black President
", which includes quotations from Obama. The track samples
Tupac Shakur
with a lyric saying, "And although it seems heaven sent, we ain't ready to have a black president."
Rap artist Young Jeezy
, also inspired by the Obama campaign, wrote a song entitled "My President
", which also featured Nas, and featured the chorus "My President Is Black ..."
When he appeared in speaking roles on Snoop Dogg
's album No Limit Top Dogg
, actor Rudy Ray Moore
joked that he would run for president with two priorities- painting the White House
black and legalizing just about everything.
portrayed a black president in an ad marketing an Adidas
sneaker he designed, which was called the "Black President."
An unnamed black president played a major role in the 2000 first-person shooter
Nintendo 64
video game Perfect Dark
. The player must prevent his assassination and lead him to the escape pod on a futuristic rendition of Air Force One
.
said he is "not all that optimistic that Obama’s presidency will make a major difference in terms of onscreen diversity," saying "they would die before putting another show on about a black family and black pride."
Pastor T.D. Jakes noted the portrayal on television of "middle-class African-Americans who are articulate, intelligent and thoughtful." He hoped the new president would make a difference in encouraging those types of depictions. "The Obama effect might even go beyond bolstering the presence of blacks on television and actually bring about a tonal change in programming," according to Brok Akil. She wrote a script based on a book called Making Friends With Black People, a buddy comedy that focuses on the state of race relations in the U.S. She added that, "In our pitch to NBC, we referenced Obama." She also said, "We talked about how he has gotten us to the table to talk about race in a meaningful way and it’s time to continue the discussion. So our new president has already had an impact."
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in 2008, the idea of a black president was explored by various writers in novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s (including science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
), movies and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. Numerous actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
s and celebrities portrayed a black president. Comedic parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of a black president have been popular, used to explore the culture gap, and what US life would be like under a black president and for a black president.
Effect of media depictions
As writers and directors cast blacks as president in several memorable portrayals, depictions of fictional black presidents may have accustomed Americans to accept a black man as president. Actor Dennis HaysbertDennis Haysbert
Dennis Dexter Haysbert is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the Major League film trilogy, President David Palmer on the American television series 24, and Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the drama series The Unit, as well as his work...
who played a black president on the hit show 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
, said the portrayal “may have opened the eyes, the minds and the hearts of people because the character was so well liked." The show also raised the issue of whether television series "like political trial ballons, can ready the populace for change."
After Barack Obama's election, the television show the Cosby Show was cited for what has been termed the “Huxtable effect” for the influence of its "warmhearted" portrayal, "free of street conflicts and ghetto stereotypes - that broke ground for its depiction of an upwardly mobile black family." The show has even been cited by some observers as a factor in Obama's victory.
Novels
In 1964 Irving WallaceIrving Wallace
Irving Wallace was an American best-selling author and screenwriter. Wallace was known for his heavily researched novels, many with a sexual theme. One critic described him "as the most successful of all the many exponents of junk fiction perhaps because he took it all so seriously, not so say...
published The Man, a popular novel addressing the idea of a black president, named Douglas Dillman in the book. Recently a critic described it as a window into "Kennedy-era racial pathologies", despite the author's liberal attitude. It included the portrayal of attractive mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
women who could pass
Passing (racial identity)
Racial passing refers to a person classified as a member of one racial group attempting to be accepted as a member of a different racial group...
for white, as does the hero Dillman's own light-skinned daughter. The Man -- which was made into a 1972 movie starring James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
as Dillman -- noted factors against a black president's being elected in America, and Dillman's coming to power through an unlikely series of circumstances of succession.
Other novels featuring a first black president include Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
's The Crack in Space
The Crack in Space
The Crack in Space is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. In the United Kingdom, it has been published under an alternate title Cantata 140 .-Plot summary:...
(1966), T. Ernesto Bethancourt's young adult novel The Tomorrow Connection (1984) and T.D. Walters' self-published thriller The Race (2007).
Stand-up Comedy
After civil rights and voting rights legislation was passed in 1964 and 1965, the move of blacks into full political participation began. Portrayals of blacks as president began to appear in comedians' routines. In the early years of his career in the 1960s, comedian Bill CosbyBill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
frequently told jokes along racial lines, including one about an imaginary first black president. He stopped when he decided to reach a wider audience.
In 1983 at age 22, Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
(who was born the same year as Obama) enacted a parody of a black president in one of his stand-up routines, Eddie Murphy Delirious
Eddie Murphy Delirious
Delirious is a stand-up comedy television special starring Eddie Murphy. The 70-minute show, released in 1983, showcases his most racy material. The word "fuck" is used a total of 230 times, and "shit" is used 171 times. It was recorded on August 17, 1983 at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.....
, filmed in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
.
Movies and television
Writers and directors have featured a black man as president in several memorable portrayals. There have been film and television proposals based on the idea, as well.The first movie portrayal of a black American president was probably that of Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1933
1933 in film
-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
film Rufus Jones for President
Rufus Jones for President
Rufus Jones for President is a 1933 satirical musical-comedy short subject directed by Roy Mack, starring Ethel Waters and Sammy Davis, Jr. in his first onscreen appearance...
. In this short musical comedy, the 7-year-old Davis is told by his mother, portrayed by Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...
, that anyone can become president, and later dreams of his own inauguration. Outside the dreams, the film reflects contemporary racist attitudes.
The 1941 musical movie Babes on Broadway
Babes on Broadway
Babes on Broadway is a 1941 musical film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and directed by Busby Berkeley, with Vincente Minnelli directing Garland's big solo numbers. The film, which features Fay Bainter and Virginia Weidler, was the third in the "Backyard Musical" series about kids who put...
included Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
in black male drag
Drag (clothing)
Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
singing a song "Franklin Delano Jones", about the first black president of the United States.
"When Rod Serling adapted Irving Wallace
Irving Wallace
Irving Wallace was an American best-selling author and screenwriter. Wallace was known for his heavily researched novels, many with a sexual theme. One critic described him "as the most successful of all the many exponents of junk fiction perhaps because he took it all so seriously, not so say...
's "The Man" to the screen in 1972 -- it was a joint production of Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and ABC Circle Films, originally intended to air on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's made-for-television Movie of the Week series, but the network chose not to air it, prompting Paramount to release the film to theaters instead -- the political climate had changed sufficiently that he could promote Douglass Dilman from survivor to competitor—a genuine leader who, after standing up to his white rivals, vows to win the presidency through "legitimate" electoral means." With James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
starring in 1972, the film version had a heroic black man as president, who ended the film in a position of moral authority.
In 1977 comedian Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
portrayed the first black president of the United States in a skit on The Richard Pryor Show
The Richard Pryor Show
The Richard Pryor Show is an American comedy variety series starring Richard Pryor. It premiered on NBC on Tuesday, September 13, 1977 at 8 p.m. opposite ABC's popular television shows Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days....
, his short-lived foray on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television.
The 1987 animated series Spiral Zone
Spiral Zone
Spiral Zone was a 1987 American science-fiction animated series produced by Atlantic-Kushner-Locke. Based in part from a toy line made by Japanese company Bandai, the series focus on an international group of soldiers fighting to free the world from a scientist who controls much of the Earth's...
is the first television show in history to show a serious depiction of an African-American president of the United States in the episode The "Imposter".
In the 1997 science fantasy film The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element is a 1997 French science fiction film directed, co-written, and based on a story by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich...
, Tom Lister, Jr.
Tom Lister, Jr.
-World Wrestling Federation :Lister appeared in the 1989 wrestling movie No Holds Barred, which was financed by the World Wrestling Federation and starred Hulk Hogan. Lister's role was Zeus, a brutal monster heel....
portrayed President Lindberg, a character who was the World President, rather than simply a U.S. President.
A generation after The Man, the 1998 science fiction film Deep Impact
Deep Impact (film)
Deep Impact is a 1998 science-fiction disaster-drama film released by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks in the United States on May 8, 1998. The film was directed by Mimi Leder and stars Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood, Téa Leoni, and Morgan Freeman...
featured black actor Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
as president Tom Beck. Freeman portrayed his role with such commanding authority that it probably contributed to his coming in second in Moviefone's poll of "Best Movie Presidents". The question was whether a black man indeed had to be this superior to be elected. Critic Louis Bayard noticed that Dennis Haysbert seemed to adopt Freeman's cadences for his own role as president.
In the hit show 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
, a television precedent was set when Dennis Haysbert
Dennis Haysbert
Dennis Dexter Haysbert is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the Major League film trilogy, President David Palmer on the American television series 24, and Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the drama series The Unit, as well as his work...
portrayed the lead character David Palmer
David Palmer (24 character)
David Palmer, J.D. is a fictional President of the United States played by Dennis Haysbert as part of the television series 24. Palmer served as the show's second-most prominent protagonist, after Jack Bauer. Throughout the series, Palmer's ex-wife Sherry and brother Wayne are both key figures in...
, a successful terrorism-fighting president. Critic Charles Taylor described him as showing "the determination of magnetism, brains, resolve, compassion and willingness to make tough calls we dream of in a president." After the show portrayed the assassination of Palmer, his brother Wayne, played by D.B. Woodside, was also elected president. The Jerusalem Post speculated in June 2008 that television ratings "may have predicted Obama's primary victory over Hillary Clinton, as the most recent female television president
Commander in Chief (TV series)
Commander in Chief is an American drama television series that focused on the fictional administration and family of Mackenzie Allen , the first female President of the United States, who ascends to the role from the Vice Presidency after the death of the sitting President from a sudden cerebral...
appears to have been less popular than the black leaders of 24."
In 2000, Chris Tucker
Chris Tucker
Christopher "Chris" Tucker is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour film series.-Early life:...
planned on writing, directing, producing and starring in a movie about the first black president of the United States.
Chris Rock
Chris Rock
Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central...
wrote, directed, and starred as presidential candidate Mays Gilliam in the 2003 comedy Head of State, described as "undernourished." The movie's tagline was "The only thing white is the house". Another critic described Rock as in way over his head, and found it "depressing to see Rock pander to the most reactionary elements of the black audience." He also was surprised at some of the settings. "Rock doesn't seem to know much about contemporary America; when his character travels to Memphis (a majority-black city with a black mayor) we see only white people."
In 2004, a sketch on Chappelle's Show
Chappelle's Show
Chappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedian Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show as well as starring in various skits. Chappelle, Brennan and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22,...
called "Black Bush" featured Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
as an African-American "interpretation" of then President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and his administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
. It was controversial due to its set-up segment (which had Chappelle mocking fellow comedian Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator, and television and radio personality. He is known for his critical assessments laced with pop culture references...
over the comedian's infamous "free pass" comment regarding not saying anything bad about George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
) and its overall theme that if Bush and his top aides were black, that the public would be more willing to be critical of the President and his decisions. The sketch also features cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s by actor Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
, who appears as "Black Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
" and Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
as "Black Head of the CIA
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency serves as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which is part of the United States Intelligence Community. The Director reports to the Director of National Intelligence . The Director is assisted by the Deputy Director of the Central...
" holding "Yellowcake
Yellowcake
Yellowcake is a kind of uranium concentrate powder obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. Yellowcake concentrates are prepared by various extraction and refining methods, depending on the types of ores...
from Africa (Anthony Berry's character warns the other not to "drop that shit", though it is clearly just yellow cake
Cake
Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...
).
In CBS's 2004 TV series Century City
Century City (TV series)
Century City is an American science fiction-legal drama television series set in Los Angeles in the year 2030.-Synopsis:The show follows the legal team of Crane, Constable, McNeil & Montero...
s fictional timeline, Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
is the US President.
Mike Judge
Mike Judge
Michael Craig Judge is an American animator, film director, writer and voice actor, best known as the creator and star of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-head , King of the Hill , and The Goode Family .He also wrote, directed and in some instances produced the films Beavis and...
's 2006 Idiocracy
Idiocracy
Idiocracy is a 2006 American film, a satirical science fiction comedy, directed by Mike Judge and starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, and Terry Crews....
featured President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho as a former porn star and champion wrestler played by erstwhile NFL defensive end Terry Alan Crews. Critic Bayard thought it odd that the lead character seemed so little advanced from earlier 20th century caricatures. The "joke is essentially unchanged from the days of Rufus Jones: These are the last guys in the world -- or any world -- you'd want to vote for."
In ABC's 2008 series Life on Mars
Life on Mars (U.S. TV series)
Life on Mars was a science fiction crime drama television series which originally aired on ABC from October 9, 2008 to April 1, 2009. It is an adaptation of the BAFTA-winning original UK series of the same name produced by the BBC...
(a remake of BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's series of the same name
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
), it is hinted that Malia Obama, the daughter of then-candidate Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, is the President in 2035. This and the 2004 CBS series depicted an African-American president who was female.
NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's 2010 series "The Event
The Event (TV series)
The Event is an American television series containing elements of science fiction, action/adventure and political allegory. The show was created by Nick Wauters, and premiered on NBC on September 20, 2010...
" features Blair Underwood
Blair Underwood
Blair Underwood is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known as headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins from the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, a role he portrayed for seven years. He has gained critical acclaim throughout his career, receiving numerous Golden Globe Award...
in a starring role as President Elias Martinez.
Music
In 1983, R&B artist BlowflyBlowfly (artist)
Blowfly is the stage name and alternate persona of Clarence Reid , who was a songwriter for many hit R&B acts in the 1960s and 1970s. As Blowfly, he has recorded numerous albums, mostly of sex-based parodies of other songs, as well as original raps themed around sex...
released a track entitled "The first black president", a conversation between President Blowfly and his assistant over hip hop music.
Rap artist Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
was inspired by the Obama campaign to write a song entitled "Black President
Untitled Nas album
The untitled ninth studio album by American rapper Nas was released by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records on July 15, 2008 in the United States, with earlier dates in some other countries. Its original title—Nigger—was changed due to controversy surrounding the racial epithet...
", which includes quotations from Obama. The track samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
with a lyric saying, "And although it seems heaven sent, we ain't ready to have a black president."
Rap artist Young Jeezy
Young Jeezy
Jay Wayne Jenkins , better known by his stage name Young Jeezy, is an American rapper. He is the member of the hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America and a former member of BMF...
, also inspired by the Obama campaign, wrote a song entitled "My President
My President
"My President" is the fourth official single from rapper Young Jeezy's third studio album, The Recession. The song also features rapper Nas and is produced by Tha Bizness. This song was number 16 on Rolling Stones list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008. Jeezy and Nas recorded the song on the day...
", which also featured Nas, and featured the chorus "My President Is Black ..."
When he appeared in speaking roles on Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
's album No Limit Top Dogg
No Limit Top Dogg
* The Source - Included in The Source's "Top 10 Albums of the Year [1999]."* Rolling Stone - 3 out of 5 - Good - "Snoop's finest work since his debut album...full of seductive party jams that will keep heads bobbing through the summer. Snoop has returned to West Coast G-funk with the help of some...
, actor Rudy Ray Moore
Rudy Ray Moore
Rudy Ray Moore was an American comedian, musician, singer, film actor, and film producer. He was perhaps best known as Dolemite , the uniquely articulate pimp from the 1975 film Dolemite, and its sequel, The Human Tornado...
joked that he would run for president with two priorities- painting the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
black and legalizing just about everything.
Other media
In 2009, athlete Gilbert ArenasGilbert Arenas
Gilbert Jay Arenas, Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association . He plays as a point guard and shooting guard....
portrayed a black president in an ad marketing an Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
sneaker he designed, which was called the "Black President."
An unnamed black president played a major role in the 2000 first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
video game Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
. The player must prevent his assassination and lead him to the escape pod on a futuristic rendition of Air Force One
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft...
.
Effect of Obama's presidency on television
The Obama presidency has potential to affect television shows, but people have differing reactions to that. The comedian and actor Bill CosbyBill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
said he is "not all that optimistic that Obama’s presidency will make a major difference in terms of onscreen diversity," saying "they would die before putting another show on about a black family and black pride."
Pastor T.D. Jakes noted the portrayal on television of "middle-class African-Americans who are articulate, intelligent and thoughtful." He hoped the new president would make a difference in encouraging those types of depictions. "The Obama effect might even go beyond bolstering the presence of blacks on television and actually bring about a tonal change in programming," according to Brok Akil. She wrote a script based on a book called Making Friends With Black People, a buddy comedy that focuses on the state of race relations in the U.S. She added that, "In our pitch to NBC, we referenced Obama." She also said, "We talked about how he has gotten us to the table to talk about race in a meaningful way and it’s time to continue the discussion. So our new president has already had an impact."
See also
- List of presidents of the United States
- African American candidates for president of the United StatesAfrican American candidates for president of the United StatesMajor party African American candidates for President of the United States did not run in primaries until nearly the third quarter of the 20th century, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act opened up political participation to blacks in the South...
- African-American heritage of United States presidentsAfrican-American heritage of United States presidentsThe African American heritage of United States presidents is a disputed topic relating primarily to five or six presidents of the 19th and early 20th century who were commonly considered part of white society, but may have descended from Africans....