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Former US President Barack Obama will deliver Nelson Mandela's annual conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
His invitation to speak drew many criticisms from South African civil society. Obama's record as president makes him unworthy of honor to speak at the end of the centenary of the birth of the anti-apartheid icon.
Activists, such as the Cage Africa Defense Group, say Obama is responsible for military expansion. operations on the mainland, the killing of hundreds of civilians using drones and the dismantling of Libya. The accusations leveled at Obama are not new.
The former president has long been accused of neglecting to fight poverty in the United States, to not make Wall Street and the economic elite responsible, and to extend the US imperial imprint throughout the world.
Al Jazeera was speaking to Cornel West, professor of practice of public philosophy at the Harvard Divinity School in the United States, on the debate on the invitation of Obama to take the Mandela's centenary speech and on the justification of criticism against the former president
Al Jazeera: There continues to be opposition to Obama's visit to deliver the conference from Mandela on Tuesday. What do you think of this criticism?
Cornel West: On the one hand, Nelson Mandela was one of the great revolutionary figures, but he himself ended up entering into neoliberal agreements with corporate elites at the same time. inside and outside the country.
We do not want to lose sight of his extraordinary vision and courage as a revolutionary leader in the context of a social movement, and then the degree to which he himself compromised by concluding neoliberal agreements with corporate elites.
Now Barack Obama – you have a neo-liberal black president of the world's most powerful empire; he has never been a revolutionary figure as was Nelson Mandela
. He was always a neo-liberal politician . He was a black face of the American empire and he [has] commits, in my opinion, war crimes with his drones in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.
So I think people have the right to protest because you do not want Obama to come and act as if he was somehow related to the revolutionary Mandela. Now, on the other hand, it is also true that you want to hear a variety of voices in these lectures
So, I do not think anyone who comes to give a lecture – give Nelson Mandela conference – must be revolutionary. I believe in a variety of different points of view.
I believe that he has the right to speak, but people must be honest about his politics, his crimes and his worldview as president of the empire. 19659004] I respect his right to speak, but he is held to account. People need to know the truth about what he's done in the same way that people need to know the truth about the bow of Mandela's own life. So I am really very supportive of those who protest.
Now the last thing you want to do is to pretend that Barack Obama was some sort of big progressive person. No, he was a neo-liberal counterfeit.
And we have seen the backlash now with the neo-fascists at the White House with Donald Trump. If you do not talk to the poor and the workers in a progressive way, then the right will take that emptiness.
And that's exactly what Trump did. I am happy to see that my brothers and sisters of all colors in South Africa are making their voices heard when the old black face of the American Empire comes to speak at the Nelson Mandela Conference [the] Al Jazeera: [19659007] You mention Trump. Is there really a difference between Obama and Trump on how we see the American empire and its ambitions unfold across the globe?
West: Of course, there is a big difference. Barack Obama was the bright, peaceful and neoliberal face of the American empire. Donald Trump is the neo-fascist white-born face of the American empire.
There are continuities between Obama and Trump in terms of foreign policy and friendliness on Wall Street, but there are some discontinuities … Obama has never been the explicit xenophobe that Trump has been since he took office.
And there is a difference between a neo-liberal and a neo-fascist. But there is a difference between a neo-liberal who has concerns about the show, a concern for style and a concern for the rule of law – even if the rule of law is very inclined against the poor.
But with the neo-fascists, it's just his brutal and brutal gangster, xenophobic and careless of the rule of law. That's what you get with Donald Trump.
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Al Jazeera: What Role Do You See Obama Play Now That He Is Outside The Office. And is it important for Africans according to you?
West: I think it will always be important in the symbolic sense; Not only to be the first black president but to convince people that a black face in a very high place does not mean that progressive politics will follow.
And of course Africa does not need to know this because you have a whole history of corruption African leaders who have exploited their own people, diverting money from the people, since the heroic struggle against colonialism.
But Obama will always have this symbolic meaning. But it's also a lesson and the lesson is that if you do not have the interests of people at the center – like the poor and the working class, not the business elites, not the blacks, whites or others – you will end up with imperial policies, corporate policies at home and abroad.
So people need to know this lesson, even with their smile and their radiance.
You know that I was recently in Senegal. said: "You know that Obama is considered betrayal in Africa and you must know it, and we agree with what you have been saying for eight years, and we know that you have been ransacked for eight years in America, but we are in agreement with you.
That's what I've been told at Senegal, again and again.And it's true, Obama did very little for Africa.He set up Africom, which is the US military presence there, and of course Libya was a massive criminal act – he led from behind but he is really part of it.
Al Jazeera: [19659007] You talk about Africom and the expansion of US military operations. Is it finally Obama's legacy on the African continent?
West: It's just
Al Jazeera: That says -If you Is perception that George W. Bush has done more for Africa than Obama? Or is it an unfair comparison?
West: Well, President GW Bush did not do much. He provided funds for AIDS and other diseases and he provided a business opportunity. But he still kept an American imperial presence in place. So it's not like GW Bush is setting the bar high. He put a low bar.
But Obama did not even do as well as Bush. So, in this sense, it's a deep disappointment and gratitude again, that no matter the color of a president or a leader, you have to measure a leader by his courage, his vision and the way he supports the workers. And there I think that Obama was a failure.
Al Jazeera: Finally, when Obama talks, what do you hope he says?
West: Well, I think there are three of them. major challenges in African leadership. First, you must fight poverty, which Obama refused to do. You must fight poverty. You must improve working conditions and the poor in Africa.
Second, you must fight corruption among leaders. There is too much hijacking, theft, lack of accountability, lack of accountability, use of taxpayers' money to poison in private pockets.
Third, accelerate women's leadership on the continent. There is too much patriarchy right now – when it's not just about leadership, but about society as a whole. You must unleash the genius, talent and potential of women. All three.
Poverty, corruption and ensuring that African women can reach the highest level. We must be honest about poverty and corruption among the leaders and the professional elite that is intensifying. I would also add homophobia and transphobia.
I therefore hope that Obama will talk about poverty and say that "I should have tackled the issue head on, but I have not done it. Martin Luther King Jr said we should hit poverty, I did not do it. I am accused. I was wrong.
This interview was edited for brevity and clarity
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