Obama's Influence On Anti-American Cover

President Barack Obama was inaugurated in office on January 29, 2009. This signaled a change in the status quo of America’s presidents. Obama was the first black president of the United States. Because of the change in status quo, Obama was scrutinized by some for not fitting the strict image of the president of the United States. The New Yorker released a cover claiming to be a satire of the prejudice views some had of Obama and his wife Michelle. Obama and his wife are shown in the oval office in an anti-American version. Obama is shown wearing Islamic clothing and Michele is shown in a militant uniform with and an AK strapped on her back. In the corner of the cover there is an American flag burning in the fireplace. Above the fireplace, there is a picture of Osama bin Laden proudly hanging. The Obama’s are shown fist-bumping with devious smiles on their face, as if they have just gotten away with a diabolical plan. The president of the United States is

The cover does a good job of taking a jab at some Americans’ views of the Obamas. The origin of these beliefs can be based on many possibilities: The Obama’s skin color, terror policy, or social beliefs that make the Obama’s seem unfit to hold office and un-American. While the New Yorker Cover seems to critique the absurd beliefs some Americans might hold against Obama, choosing to dress Obama as an Islamic character to show him as un-American reveals America’s notion of who is American. What does one’s dress reveal about their ability to be looked as American? By looking at Obama’s Islamic dress in the New Yorker, one can see that it complicates established American appearance by deviating from this established appearance. This is important because through dress, one can be labeled as un-American, forcing them to conform to standards of dress defined as