Does anybody else find it interesting that the first black president and probably the first woman president, have very

[wnylib]

64. My perceptions of the names Kamala and Barack

are different, and I don't know how many people would share them.

The sound of Kamala is similar to the sound of Pamela, so it does not sound so unusual to me.

The sound of Barack is similar to the Hebrew, Baruch. I am not Jewish, but came across the Baruch name a few times in books and films that had Jewish characters in them. I knew that Arabic and Hebrew are both Semitic languages with cognate words and names, so the name Barack did not sound so unusual to me. A lot of people in Africa are Muslim. Since Barack Obama's Kenyan father was Muslim, it was not strange to me that he would have an Arabic name.

What seems significant to me about their names and ethnic/racial/cultural heritages is that, despite racial prejudices in the US and names that are not common sounding to most Americans, most people (except MAGA types) can relate to the common human traits of character and personality in both of them that make them good leaders.

Both of them rose to political leadership at a time when obstacles to their identities looked formidable. 2008 was only 7 years after 9/11 and the US was at war in two Islamic nations in the name of fighting terrorism, which a lot of Americans equated with being Muslim. Along comes a Black candidate with an Arabic first name whose father was Muslim. And he WINS.

Ever since Obama's two terms, the political right became more extreme and more openly vocal in their racism. Trump became their lashback candidate and president. Racism and misogyny are core "values" among Trump's followers and promoters in a major US political party. Along comes a leader who is Black, South Asian, FEMALE, with an Asian first name. She is popular and taking the lead. May we also say in November, "and she WiNS."