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The internet is abuzz with the gifts that Barack and Michelle Obama gave to Gordon and Sarah Brown. People are talking about how cheap they are (The Wizard of Oz DVD can go for as little as $2 online, for example). Many are also saying that these gifts were haphazard and thoughtless. Apparently Michelle's gift to Sarah's two sons was plastic models of the helicopter her husband flies. The Browns, on the other hand, look like they spent time (and money) on their gifts, including taking into consideration the personalities of the Presidential couple and their children. Here is a comprehensive list of their gifts, with some explanations.
I think part of the problem with this gift-giving faux pas (pl.) (LOL) is that the Obamas cannot fit into the mainstream, Western culture, which is still the culture of America and Britain. I used to have a good friend in university who was black (from Jamaica). Almost everything we planned together related to "black" things (I was accommodating, partly because I am genuinely interested in a wide variety of things), from plays to music and including the gifts she would give me. One gift I remember well was the biography of Langston Hughes. We had previously attended a lecture by the biographer, at her request. I was always more interested in giving her things related to her character, like ear-rings or scarves.
"Let's go and see that modern dance group" I would say. Or a classical choir group. In fact, I was a member of a choir, and she never attended our public performances (my singing in a Brahms Requiem concert was a big deal, which family members duly attended, mainly to keep me happy, I think! But friends? Well, they can give any excuse.) I eventually started going alone to campus "foreign" films - French, Japanese, even Brazilian (lots of blacks there).
So, the point of my story is that the point of reference for the Obamas is "blackness". I've experienced this with black friends and acquaintances. Not only is their point of reference "blackness", it often is associated with a deep-seated grievance against whites. As my anecdotal experience with my black friend might show, I don't think they are really curious about the rest of the world, which is mostly a white and Western world. Not only are they not curious, they are antagonistic towards it. Therefore, since they have not studied it, are not curious about it, and even harbor negative feelings towards it, when placed in the middle of this white world, they don't know how to react.
Like my black friend, the Obamas have no way of knowing how to interact, in a personal, friendly way, to their white counterparts. In public meetings and conferences, Obama can be trained or prodded to act in a certain way. In a genuine personal setting, it looks like he and his wife are at a loss.