I
have no doubt that Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 because a
significant part of the population wanted to be proud to have an
American president who was black (or at least half black). At countless
times in my life I have seen blackness trump the female gender issues as
was the case in the 2008 Democratic primary.
What
I don't understand is how that same group of pro-black-pride-people
elected the president in 2012. The only explanation I can find in my
mind is that their ignorance of the Obama first four years as president
was far greater than their pride in pro-black race relations.
I don't personally know anyone who has expressed such pride in having an American black president. Most of the people I know take it for granted that a black person can do anything a nonblack can do and that prejudice against blacks is not a political barrier. We have had an abundance of black elected officials in many urban areas for decades.
The real problem of having a black president, particularly Barack Obama, is that he is such a poor example of a human being. It will be difficult to look back historically on his eight years in office with pride. He has been arrogant, mean spirited, dishonest and most of all he has shown little political skill and a great deal of 19th century ideological ardor.
His 19th century ideas have been wholly inappropriate for the 21st century. I see no way we can look back on this administration with pride other than the fact that he was elected in the first place.
I don't personally know anyone who has expressed such pride in having an American black president. Most of the people I know take it for granted that a black person can do anything a nonblack can do and that prejudice against blacks is not a political barrier. We have had an abundance of black elected officials in many urban areas for decades.
The real problem of having a black president, particularly Barack Obama, is that he is such a poor example of a human being. It will be difficult to look back historically on his eight years in office with pride. He has been arrogant, mean spirited, dishonest and most of all he has shown little political skill and a great deal of 19th century ideological ardor.
His 19th century ideas have been wholly inappropriate for the 21st century. I see no way we can look back on this administration with pride other than the fact that he was elected in the first place.