WNYC Guest Blogger: Afronerd

It's One Thing Not To Look Like The Other Presidents on US Currency But What About Mt. Rushmore?

It's a strange thing being the nation's first president of color. As much as I lament about Blackness being viewed as a peculiarity (as opposed to simply being a benign physical chracteristic), I still must concede to the unprecedented nature of this historical event. The African-American experience seems to be chock full of the spectacular and I wonder when will we stop celebrating Black Firsts. I suspect the hoopla may diminish if we are able to see another president of a different color (or dare I say a different gender) in the next few terms but Blackness still seems to elicit a great deal of dynamism. So the question remains-what about a new face on Mt. Rushmore?

I know it comes off as a silly supposition but with all this excitement, isn't worthy of consideration. Don't get me wrong, the caveat would be that Obama has at least a moderately successful presidency. But I'm wondering what the naysayers will exclaim, if such a proposition were to be considered seriously. And should it be considered within this young president's lifetime? Or is this something that would be implemeted posthumously? The more I ponder the idea, the more I'm reminded that Amazon must have a deal on the five season set of the Twilight Zone.