Is America ready?

“Is America ready for a black President”? This is the underlying question, spoken and unspoken, on many people’s minds as the world watches with great interest the runup to the US Presidential elections.

The simple answer is “No”. To me this is a non-question, for people are never ready for change. When we think of instances in history of great leadership, we see that the role of the leader is to define the change and then to lead the people into it. Most people come kicking and screaming, denying, resisting and even sabotaging it. Great leaders don’t wait for the people to be ready. They seize the time and step forward to do the job, knowing that the big part of their job is to create the change despite, not because the people are ready.

South Africa was not ready for change – but Nelson Mandela defined it and led the people into it. India was not ready for change, but Gandhi defined it and led the people into it. And in the ‘60s, the USA was not ready for change, but Martin Luther King defined it and led the people into it. We see from all of these that it was not a simple task at all. It was never about just articulating the desired change and then assuming automatically the people would follow. There was much coaxing, negotiating, cajoling and compromising where necessary while holding fast to the core principles with the greatest of integrity, personal commitment and sacrifice. These leaders led by example, and took extreme steps to demonstrate their commitment to their vision – Mandela in prison for 29 years, Gandhi in his loincloth and his spinning loom, MLK at the forefront of marches, facing dogs, batons and bullets in the hands of those who held fast to the status quo.

In all cases of change, there are people who have reached a level of discomfort with the state of things, who know that something different needs to happen, who feel that it is time for something to change. At first this group of people tends to be fragmented and unfocused, knowing what they don’t want, but perhaps not yet clear on what they DO want. It is into this scattering of discomfort that a leader steps, providing the clarity of purpose that galvanises people towards a compelling future. This group of people starts out small relative to the entire population. This matters not. Margaret Mead, the anthropologist, once said “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world: indeed it is the only thing that ever has”. It is never necessary that everyone is on board – it is only the small group of committed people, led by a person of vision and integrity that is required.

Is America ready for a black President? Probably not. And it doesn’t matter. What really matters is – there are many people who are extremely dissatisfied with the way things are, and there is a man, who is articulating a compelling vision of the future, and happens to be black, who is ready to be the President.