- 11 Jul 2015 07:33
#14580836
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/antonio-moore/the-state-of-our-imperfec_1_b_7540060.html
On election night November 4th, 2008, when Barack Obama walked out to accept the presidency with his wife and young daughters by his side, his every step forward seemed to represent a leap of racial progress by the United States.
As he took the oath at the beginning of 2009, his inauguration represented the hope that a corner had been turned regarding race in America. Between the Cosby show being broadcast into homes across the country as the ideal version of the all American family, Jay-Z and Beyonce's ascension to the global image of the U.S. celebrity power couple, and Oprah's meteoric self-made rise signifying a lifting of the black economic position overall. There was a feeling a "Change We Can Believe In" was in the air. It appeared America was poised to advance past its racial history, into a bright new post-racial future.
President Obama was the visualization of this next post-racial stride, born of white and black parents, educated at Harvard, and representing a form of black leader that was more centered as a general election politician. His very presence was the archetype of an ideal for our country's next phase on race. A natural step past our historical ills, and a way to move beyond slavery, despite the fact black Americans still had not even received a formal apology for the institution's lasting effects.
As we enter the last leg of President Obama's second term, and he molds the final parts of his racial legacy with a recent announcement of plans to attack housing segregation. We can now begin to look back and question the actions he has made, evaluating the effects of his policy choices on closing the massive opportunity gap that exist between blacks and whites in America.
Many have criticized him regarding what they perceive as his administration's inaction on racial issues. As stated in the Washington Post piece, "Obama tried to outsource his racial legacy" by Paul Butler
The African Americans who danced in the streets of Harlem when Obama was first elected did not expect that the president would, in four or eight years, reverse centuries of entrenched subjugation. But they did assume he would make racial justice a significant part of his platform. They were sadly mistaken.
It is undeniable that his presence has represented a movement in America's political mindset. A country that only 50 years prior had held black Americans in the status of second class citizens, has now voted a black man into the highest office in the land.
President Obama won with the vote of a broad base of supporters across a vast array of ethnic and socioeconomic lines. Yet, it cannot be understated that the delivery of the African American vote with unparalleled turnout was a key to his election wins. His election was believed by many to be the mark of the achievement of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of equality. President Obama served as an indicator that we as a nation could finally look beyond color, and elect on more than appearance, and ethnic origin.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/antonio-moore/the-state-of-our-imperfec_1_b_7540060.htmlOn election night November 4th, 2008, when Barack Obama walked out to accept the presidency with his wife and young daughters by his side, his every step forward seemed to represent a leap of racial progress by the United States.
As he took the oath at the beginning of 2009, his inauguration represented the hope that a corner had been turned regarding race in America. Between the Cosby show being broadcast into homes across the country as the ideal version of the all American family, Jay-Z and Beyonce's ascension to the global image of the U.S. celebrity power couple, and Oprah's meteoric self-made rise signifying a lifting of the black economic position overall. There was a feeling a "Change We Can Believe In" was in the air. It appeared America was poised to advance past its racial history, into a bright new post-racial future.
President Obama was the visualization of this next post-racial stride, born of white and black parents, educated at Harvard, and representing a form of black leader that was more centered as a general election politician. His very presence was the archetype of an ideal for our country's next phase on race. A natural step past our historical ills, and a way to move beyond slavery, despite the fact black Americans still had not even received a formal apology for the institution's lasting effects.
As we enter the last leg of President Obama's second term, and he molds the final parts of his racial legacy with a recent announcement of plans to attack housing segregation. We can now begin to look back and question the actions he has made, evaluating the effects of his policy choices on closing the massive opportunity gap that exist between blacks and whites in America.
Many have criticized him regarding what they perceive as his administration's inaction on racial issues. As stated in the Washington Post piece, "Obama tried to outsource his racial legacy" by Paul Butler
The African Americans who danced in the streets of Harlem when Obama was first elected did not expect that the president would, in four or eight years, reverse centuries of entrenched subjugation. But they did assume he would make racial justice a significant part of his platform. They were sadly mistaken.
It is undeniable that his presence has represented a movement in America's political mindset. A country that only 50 years prior had held black Americans in the status of second class citizens, has now voted a black man into the highest office in the land.
President Obama won with the vote of a broad base of supporters across a vast array of ethnic and socioeconomic lines. Yet, it cannot be understated that the delivery of the African American vote with unparalleled turnout was a key to his election wins. His election was believed by many to be the mark of the achievement of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of equality. President Obama served as an indicator that we as a nation could finally look beyond color, and elect on more than appearance, and ethnic origin.
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