Why Do Democratic Barack-Haters Keep Calling Him 'Barry'?

Libby Copeland's use of the name "Barry" when referring to Obama, as well as the use of that name by virulent anti-Obama Democrats, got me thinking:   Why do Barack-haters keep calling him 'Barry' in such a derisive way?  It seems to be a phenomenon mainly among his so-called "liberal" detractors.  What's behind it?

We read that his family and friends, including his wife, call him "Barry" at home.  We also know that he was called "Barry" growing up, and that at some point he began using his formal name:  Barack. 

Why did he make that change?  One reason may have been that he preferred a more adult, dignified name.  I was called "Ricky" growing up, and decided at around age 12 or 13 that I preferred to be called "Richard."  My family still calls me "Rick," as do a few old New York friends, and I often wish I'd stuck with that.

But it's more than that with Obama.  "Barack" is, of course, an African name, Arabic in origin, and it means "blessing."  (That's why he's been able to joke with Jewish supporters that he's "Baruch" Obama:  same Semitic language roots.)   It is a name with great dignity, one that grounds Obama in one of his ancestral lands.

It's also the name of his late father.

So why do these Obama-haters call him Barry?  They probably tell themselves it's to mock him for the "pretension" of changing his name, or that it's to illustrate that he's a phony who calls himself one thing in public and another in private.  But here's what they're really doing:

They're belittling him.  They're taking away his dignity as an African American, and severing his link with his father and his father's land.  They're also robbing him of a right that African Americans fought for in this country:  the right to choose his own name.  They're infantilizing him, and making it appear as if his pride in his origins is pretentious ... dare I say, uppity?

Do they think what they're doing is racist?  I'm sure they don't.  Is it?  If not, it's certainly in the parking space right next to racism.  They may not realize it.  If so, somebody ought to tell them.  Because they really should stop.

Comments

[mjs]

George W. Bush referred to the Democratic Party as the "Democrat Party." Rush, Coulter, Attila the Hun: they all followed suit. It is a tactic employed by schoolyard bullies, and has there ever been a larger schoolyard than the current American empire? When one doesn't have facts to support a position or have any intention of treating the rest of the world (or your political adversaries) as being worthy of respect, one goes into the nursery room and throws shit against the wall (and then blames you and tells you to clean it up).

This playing games with an opponent's name is the equivalent of Internet trolls who do not argue the substance of a post but instead launch invective-laden assaults on whomever they see as the "other." The GOP has become one Giant Troll, fed by billionaires, armed by the Military Industrial Complex et al. Lacking legitimate arguments, they will always, always, always attack the messengers and belittle opponents because they cannot defend "mine, mine, mine" while subjugating the environment, the middle class and the poor to their will and dominance, not just here in the United States but all over the planet. Is this not clear?

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p.s. it's a little weird to drop in here, where I believe that interesting ideas are offered but to such silence. I hope I'm not intruding...

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[RJ Eskow]

No, you're not intruding! We get pretty good traffic here on some days, but nobody ever seems to leave a comment.

It's like an old filling station on a 'blue highway' after they've built the Interstate. We can hear the traffic roaring by, but nobody ever comes in to fill 'er up no more ...

[lally]

I thought it was more about, at least consciously, trying to tag him with the "elitist yuppy" ("volvo driving, latte drinking," etc.) image. "Barry" being more WASPy and therefore, especially for an African-American man, more pretentious etc.

[MJS]

Too subtle. Anyone who gets the connection that a White & Black man who goes by the first name of Barack can be tarnished as "elite" by referring to him as "Barry" would be reaching out to an audience that, imho, wouldn't get the message. It's more of a controlling put-down, like Bully Bush and his habit of using nicknames. Or so I posit.

Once progressives can turn the "elite" characterization into an economic word, the game will be over, i.e. elite thinkers are nothing compared to elite billionaires.

Elite = monied, or so I will contend henceforth. Issue the frames!

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[Rosemarie Treece]

I have always thought the use of "Barry" was a ploy similar to calling Mr. Obama "boy." It is intended to strip away his personhood, or manhood, if you will.

[Rondo]

In a strange way calling him Barry against his will reminds me of the scene in Roots were the slave breaker refuses to call Kunta Kinte by his name and demands that he refer to himself as Toby.

[tony]

I guess BILLARY is a positive term......Give me a break.