ERIC EJ864840: The Obama Presidency and the Question of Social Justice: A Critical Analysis of the Meaningful Milestone

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The Obama Presidency and the Question of Social Justice: A Critical Analysis
of the Meaningful Milestone

Lawrence J. Hanks, Professor, Department of Political Science, Indiana University.

On January 20, 2009, essentially 200 years after the enactment of the embargo against the slave
trade, 40 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Hussein Obama became
the 44'*^ President of the United States of America. Using the one drop rule for racial designation
which has prevailed in the USA for most of its history, America had elected its first black
President. Using the new standard created by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000, America now had
its first commonly acknowledged bi-racial President. All can agree that Obama is not “wholly
white,” — he is a “man of color” and therein lays the milestone; someone other than a white male
was President of the United States of America. Analysts on the right were quick to declare that
the US had overcome the challenge of race and the term “post-racial” abounded — from their
perspective, race as a barrier to social justice had clearly been overcome. While acknowledging
the achievement and progress of the major milestone, analyst on the left adamantly rejected the
term “post racial” and argued that race still mattered with respect to one’s life chances of
success.*

The ultimate purpose of this paper is to analyze the validity of these competing claims. In order
to contextualize this debate, a brief explication and analysis of the historical quest for African
American equity will be provided. A crucial part of this analysis will include analysis of the
internalist (conservative) and externalist (liberal) perspectives which became especially
distinctive after the post WWII civil rights movement, i.e., the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.
in 1968 and the demise of segregation as mandated by Alexander v Holmes County Board of
Education in 1969. Finally, before dealing with its ultimate purpose, this work will offer a brief
analysis of the Obama campaign and his presidency as it relates to the goal of social justice.

^ See the following for discussion on the legitimacy or delegitimacy of the term “post racial.” Ward Connerly,
“Obama is No “Post-Racial” Candidate,” www.acri.org/ward 06 13 08/html ; Ernest Harris, “We Are Not Post
Racial Just Year, January 20, 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com/earnest-harris/we-are-not-post-racial-
iu b 158978. html?vie ...; Leonard Pitts, “Post Racial America isn’t here yet, ’’CNN. com.

www.cnn.com/2009/politics/06/01/pittts.blackamerican/index.html ;Christopher J. Metzler, Diverse Education, June
19, 2008, http://diverseeducation.wordpress.eom/2008/06/10/a-post-racial-america

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The Quest for African American Equity: The Pre-Slavery Era to the Age of Ohama

According to Hegel, the dialectic is a clash of opposites in which every idea is opposed by a
contrary idea. The dialectic is comprised of the first idea, the thesis, the opposing idea, and the
antithesis. Out of the struggle between the two ideas comes a third idea, the synthesis. This
process is a continuing one and is dynamic: as the synthesis becomes a thesis, which creates a
new antithesis which results into a new synthesis and so forth. Since the civil rights movement,
the competing thesis centered on the role of race and one’s life chances. Internalists emphasize
the progress while the externalists focus on the continuing challenges. Obama’s election was
indeed a prima facie boost for the internalists, thus, “The Age of Obama,” yet a close analysis
provides evidence for the externalists.

“The Age of Obama” is preceded by seven (7) distinctive era of American history. With respect
to the quest for equity, each of these periods, may be characterized as either neutral, facilitative,
or repressive. The periods are as follows: (1) The Pre-Slavery Era (1619-1641); (2) The Era of
Slavery (1642-1865); (3) The Era of Reconstruction (1865-1877); (4) The Nadir (1877-1909);
(5) The Era of the NAACP (1910 -1954); (6) The Post World War II Civil Rights Movement
(1955-1969); and (7) The Post Civil Rights Movement Era (1970-2008.)^ With respect to their
state sanctioned designations, the Pre-Slavery Era had no specific designations but slowly
deteriorated into slavery by colonial governments. Approximately 223 years of state sanctioned
slavery was followed by over 100 years of state sanctioned discrimination. The Post Civil Rights
Movement Era provided, for the first time in the history of the country, a state policy of being on
the record for providing equal protection of the law for all, including African American citizens.
Whether or not this policy was successfully implemented was debated vigorously between 1970
and Obama’s election in 2008. While his election clearly made the case the progress was
continuing, the extent of the progress remains a debatable question.

^ See Lawrence J. Hanks. The Struggle for Black Political Empowerment in Three Georgia Counties. The University
of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 1987. Chapter One.

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The Post WWII Civil Rights Movement and the Question of Social Justice for African
Americans

After black indentured servantship devolved into colonial slavery, it became clear that social
justice would be a struggle for African Americans. With the passage of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Farr Housing Law of 1968; state sanctioned
discrimination in the US was virtually dead. The ruling in Alexander v. Holmes County Board of
Education (1969) ending the racially designated school systems in the South actualized the
promise of the 1954 Brown Decision.

In order to fully appreciate the challenge of social justice for African Americans in the post civil
rights movement era, it is important to understand the changes which manifested themselves
during this era. First of all, physical, gross, and blatant discrimination (racism) was replaced with
abstract, subtle, and nuanced discrimination (racism) according to those on the left. Thus, social
justice, though closer to being actualized, was still denied. Secondly, while there were common
components of treatment for black strata during the pre-civil rights movement era, class
distinctions brought disparate treatment for blacks based on economic and social status even as
the practice of racial profiling continues to create a common bond. Thirdly, African Americans
separated into at least two nations with different challenges bonded by racial stereotyping and
racial profiling.

The Post Civil Rights Movement Era: New Day, New Challenges, New Racism

The Post WWII Civil Rights Movement removed the physical, gross, and blatant forms of
discrimination. African Americans now had access to places of public accommodations thanks to
The Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 removed blatant barriers to voting.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 provided for legal access to housing. Alexander v Holmes County
Board of Education (1969) ended the dual school systems of the South. While the physical,
gross, and blatant discrimination became illegal, liberals maintain that these forms of
discrimination were replaced with the abstract, subtle, and nuanced. While blatant racism
became socially and legally unacceptable, the presence and impact of white privilege and
institutional racism are fiercely debated.

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White privilege may be defined as those unearned benefits which accrue to whites who are born
into a culture that value “whiteness.” Institutional racism may be defined as those patterns and
practices which are ostensibly neutral yet have a disparate negative impact on the opportunities
for people of color."^ White privilege and institutional racism are not physical, gross, or blatant.
They are abstract. Thus, their legitimacy face challenges. If a phenomena or entity is abstract,
there is usually controversy regarding its very existence. If its existence can be established at
some level of agreement, then there is usually some level of disagreement regarding the meaning
of its existence. Thus, the concepts of institutional racism and white privilege face challenges.

The following are other challenges contributing to the controversy regarding the existence and
legitimacy of institutional racism, white privilege, and other concepts raised by the critical race
theorists:

(1) Human beings are reluctant to accept any analysis of virtually anything that

requires them to take ownership of anything which attributes to them a less than
positive judgment. Thus, the average white person is not in a psychological state
that would allow an awareness or acknowledgment of white privilege. The same
hold true for unoptimized persons of color who are being told that a particular
negative phenomena exist because they are part of the problem.

(2) The more intellect required to understand a concept, the less likely it is that any
particular individual will understand that concept.

(3) The more individual responsibility that a particular perspective requires of an

individual, the less likely it is that an individual will adopt the perspective.

(4) If a phenomena or entity is physically observable, the more likely it is that the can

be some common analysis of its meaning and existence. (Slavery, Jim Crow, and
state sanction segregation are examples.)

^ Peggy McIntosh, White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack” in Working Paper 189. White Privilege and
Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondence through Work in Women’s Studies.
Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, Wellesley, MA. 1988. (This essay is readily available by
googling it on the net.); Tim Wise. White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son. Soft Skull Press.
2007

^ Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. Racism Without Racist: Color Blind Racism and The Persistence of Racial Inequality
in the United States. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. New York. 2006.

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(5) If a concept is abstract, requires intellect to understand, requires admission of a
shortcoming, and if there is a sense that understanding and action on this concept
results in a loss, the less likely it is that an individual will accept the existence of
the concept.

Slavery contradicted the letter of the Constitution and the spirit of the Declaration of
Independence. If one counts colonial slavery, slavery existed either in the colonies or the
American nation for 223 years, 1642-1865. This period was followed by 105 years of unequal
protection under the law, 1865-1970. Thus, one can understand the joy and exultation which
came with finally achieving a real commitment to make philosophical principles and practices
consistent. Majority of Americans are especially proud that legal state sanction discrimination
has been overcome — there is usually great condemnation when gross discrimination is found in
the post civil rights era. Thus, the reluctance to entertain the idea that perhaps the road to racial
social justice is still not complete is understandable. Moreover, if it took 328 years to reach a
consensus that physical, gross, and blatant discrimination, in the form of unequal treatment
before the law, one is not optimistic when it comes to predicting when the nation will come to
accept and appreciate institutional racism and white privilege.

The Emergence of Two Black Nations^: Optimizers and Sub-Optimizers

From the time of slavery up until the Post WWII Civil Rights Movement, there were social and
class distinctions in the African American community. Nonetheless, these distinctions were
trumped by the virtual universal treatment of all African American as pariah. Regardless of
socio-economic status, virtually all African American were subject to a lack of equal protection
of the law — African Americans could not vote in the South; they lacked access to places of
public accommodation, and had little access to mainstream business and educational institutions.
Thus, a sense of unity was created despite the various distinctions within the African American
community. A crucial component of this unity was the sense of community created by all
African American social classes segregated residentially. Regardless of socio-economic status,
African Americans were forced to live in areas designated specifically for African Americans.

^ This term was coined by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. See “The Two Nations of Black America” in Christopher
Foreman’s, The Black Predicament. The Brooking Institute. Washington, DC. 1999. pp. 10-16.

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The success of the Post WWII civil rights movement would challenge this unity. In the post civil
rights era, those with the skills to make it in mainstream America started to do so. Those who
were not equipped could not. Moreover, as African Americans were allowed to leave the African
American ghettos for the white suburbs, the black underclass was now segregated from the black
optimizers. This separation is perhaps the etiology of the association of success with ‘acting
white” and “being white.” During the eras prior to the post civil rights era, being an intelligent,
well spoken academic achievers was lauded as being the best antidote against racism. Excellence
was the “blackest” thing that you could be and virtually all blacks agreed. It seems reasonable
that if an intimate has now distinguished themselves from a group, one reaction is to demean the
intimate who is now distinguished rather than to try to follow that person path. Thus, the possible
origins of “acting and being white.”

The Challenges of the Post King Era: Then Internal, External, Individual, Collective,
and Systemic

The post King Era found African Americans continuing to face challenges. The challenges may
be characterized as the following: internal and external challenges: (2) individual and collective
challenges; and (3) systemic challenges. The internal individual challenges include the
following:

(1) the victim mentality

(2) separatism

(3) anti-intellectualism

(4) drug usage

(5) gang and other criminal activity

(6) low level of money management literacy

(7) low self-esteem

(8) low level of educational attainment

(9) teenage pregnancy

(10) divorce

The internal collective challenges include the following:

(1) un-optimized use of economic power

(2) un-optimized use of political power

(3) un-optimized use of organizational power

(4) class conflict

(5) lack of group consciousness

(6) lack of wealth

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External systemic challenges include the following:

( 1 ) institutionalized racism

(2) unequal protection of the laws

(3) a conservative political system

(4) features of capitalism

(5) features of systemic “white privilege”

External individual challenges include the following:

(1) individual/personal racism

(2) white privilege manifested at the personal level

Through the aforementioned matrix of challenges, most African Americans have become
successful (the black middle class and working class); others have failed miserably (the black
underclass).

The Quest for Black Equity in the Post King Era: Optimizers, Suh-optimizers,
Internalists, and Externalists

The Post WWII Civil Rights Movement help to separate African American into at least two
groups: (1) optimizers, the group primed for success; and (2) the sub-optimizers, the group
lacking the necessary skills for success. While these differences are indeed pronounced, African
Americans are bound by the issue of racial profiling. Internalists, conservatives, focus on the
success and make the case that social justice, defined as equal opportunity and equal protection
of the law, has been achieved. Externalists, liberals, while acknowledging progress, focus on the
continued challenges and argues that social justice, while it may be closer to achievement, is yet
and elusive goal.

The following points make the essential internalist case for social justice:

1. Dejure and defacto discrimination are relics of the pre-civil rights era. When it
raises its ugly head, it is repudiated by the culture and the courts.

2. Not only do African Americans have equal access and equal opportunities to all
societies’ treasures, affirmative action programs actually give African Americans
preference to many opportunities.

3. While outstanding African Americans achieved under the most oppressive

conditions, i.e., state sanctioned discrimination, African American success is

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common in the post civil rights era. African Americans who have skills,
education, the proper attitudes, and proper behaviors have virtually no barriers to
their success. Given the success of Barack Obama, everything is now possible.

4. The primary barriers which prevent African American equity and excellence are
primarily personal attitudes and behaviors which are not conducive to success.
African Americans are largely responsible for, and have the power to change
these behaviors. With the proper attitudes and behaviors, there are no limits to
African American excellence.

5. While raw blatant racism is rare though yet existent, and the notion of
institutionalized racism may have marginal credence, neither of them are major
barriers to the success of the African American collective. The path to African
American equity lies on the road of African American self-determination.
Blaming others for the self-inflicted wounds of the African American collective is
disingenuous at best and pathetic at its worse. ^

The following points make the essential externalist case for the absence of social justice

1. The reports of the death of blatant racism are greatly exaggerated. While blatant
“racially designated signs or doors, public utterances of racial epithets, and a
segregated public sphere are largely relics of the past. Evidence of blatant
unadulterated racism continues to occur far too frequent to support the idea that
we live a “post-racial” country. While legal redress is readily available and
convictions are more likely than they were before the civil rights movement,
convictions are not always certain. Unequal protection of the law is still an all too
common problem.

2. White privilege and institutional racism continue to thwart the optimization of
others groups in general and the African American collective in particular. So
called “color blind” polices have a positive impact on the white collective. They
allow white supremacy and white social capital networks to thrive unabated.

® Gwen Ifill. The Break Through: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. Doubleday. New York. 2009.

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3. Despite the touting of color-blindness as a cherished core conservative value,
color consciousness, as manifested in the practice of racial profiling, is a core
tenet of the war on crime in general and the war of terror in particular. Color can
be considered or is should not based on the desired ends of the conservatives.

4. The conservative American political system, though race neutral like the color
blind legislation passed during the Nadir, thwarts efforts that would empower
lower socio-economic people in general and African Americans in particular.

5. Capitalism is virtually the only economic system acknowledged as legitimate the
worldwide marketplace of ideas. Yet, there are color blind features of capitalism
which thwart the collective upward mobility of the African American collective.

6. Barack Obama ran virtually flawless campaign and clearly emerged as the best
candidate in the minds of most objective people. And while one can understand
how ideologically considerations would cause one to vote for John McCain, it is
equally difficult to understand how, in the face of the virtual collapse of American
capitalism and a candidate who states that he knows little about economics, 43%
of white voters would still support John McCain. While it is indeed true that given
the history of white voting in the USA, 43% is considerable progress, yet, it is
also sobering to know that had it been left exclusively to whites, McCain would
be President of the United States with Sara Palin as his Vice-President.^

The nature of argumentative political discourse, especially around the issue of race, precludes the
giving of any ground to the opposition. An objective observer can acknowledge that both sides
make valid points. The internalist analysts focus on the progress and success and virtually ignore
the challenges faced by the optimizers. While much of their prescriptive advice would serve the

^ Prominent externalist writings include the following: the following works by Derrick Bell: Faces at the Bottom
of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. Basic Books. New York. 1993; Silent Covenants: Brown v Board of
Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes of Racial Reform. Oxford University Press. New York. 2005; Gospel
Choirs: Psalms of Survival in an Alien Uand. Basic Books. New York. 1997; Afrolantica Legacies. Third World
Press. 1997; And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice. Basic Books. New York. 1989. The
following titles by Michael Eric Dyson:Is Cosby Right?: Or Has the Middle Class Lost Its Mind? Basic Civitas
Books. New York. 2006 and Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster. Basic
Civitas Books. New York. 2007. Other writings include Cornell West. Race Matters. Beacon Press. 2001. Glen
Loury. The Anatomy of Racism. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. 2003. and the following books on “critical
race theory: ’Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. New York University
Press. New York 2001 and Kimberle Crenshaw, et. Al. The Key Writings That Eormed the Movement. The New
Press. 2001.

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sub-optimizers well, they offer little help for the optimizers; they are already following their
adviee, yet faee a different set of ehallenges. The externalist foeus on the challenges that
primarily affect the optimizers while lessening their attention on the sub-optimizers.

The cultural, historical, and sometimes academic tendency to see African Americans as a
monolith blurs this insight — there are at least two Black Americas with divisions within these
camps. Optimizers are challenged primarily, though not exclusively by external issues at the
professional and public level. Though successful, they are challenged with institutional biases
and subtle and nuanced slights commonly called “micro-aggressions.” Sub-optimizers are
challenged primarily, though not exclusively, by internal issues at the individual level. Personal
behavior, perspectives, and attitudes impede them from competing successfully in the market
place.

Clarence Thomas and the End of Non-Descriptive Blackness

The internal-external debate has raged since the end of the King era. While there have always
been diverse ideologies and strategies regarding African American equity and social justice, the
pervasive and oppressive nature of state sanctioned discrimination muted the distinctions. Being
black was synonymous with being “progressive and liberal.” Thus, it was redundant to use the
term “black liberal. Yet, this need manifested itself with the retirement of Thurgood Marshall,
the first African American on the Supreme Court.

The NAACP insisted that George H.W. Bush replace Marshall with a “black.” When President
Bush responded to the letter of their request rather than the spirit of their request, the ideological
camps, which had always existed, became crystal clear. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas, a
black but a conservative. It was now clear that African Americans come from diverse points on
continuum of political ideology. Since that time, ideological labels, which coded or implicitly
stated, are part of political discourse regarding African Americans. The next milestone in the

Q

public discourse regarding social justice and equity would be the ascendancy of Barack Obama.

g

Steve A. Holmes, “NAACP Battle Over Thomas.” The New York Times. August 9, 1991. www.newyorktimes .

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The Ascendancy of Barack Hussein Obama

Barack Obama became a household name when he was slated to give a keynote address at the
Demoeratie National Convention in Boston, July 27, 2004. At the time, Obama was merely a
state Senator from Illinois. His speeeh immediately transformed him into a possible presidential
eandidate; his speeeh was that powerful. At the next eonvention, Obama would be the nominee
of the Demoeratie Party. His rise to politieal feasibility was unpreeedented in Ameriean history.
The faet that he was an Afriean Ameriean makes his rise even more remarkable.

The Obama eampaign for the nomination was well funded and well exeeuted. He took advantage
of modern high-teeh innovations in ways never dreamed by other eampaigns. Overeoming the
Clinton Machine, charges of “not being black enough,” charges of being “too black,” charges of
being Muslim, and doubts regarding whether white Amerieans were ready for a blaek President,
he emerged as the unlikely vietor. While new ehallenges emerged in the presidential eampaign,
the Obama team would reap of historie vietory. While the majority of white Amerieans were not
ready for this well polished black candidate, 43% of the white majority laid the foundation for
the 95% blaek support and majority support from other groups of eolor to provide the balance of
power to take Obama to a 53% popular vote vietory. Communieations from around the world
and aeross the politieal speetrum hailed a new day.^

The Obama vietory was largely a result of the eonvergenee of numerous faetors whieh ereated a
“perfect storm.” Many of the religious Christian persuasion are convinced that his campaign and
presidency is “anointed,” chosen and proteeted by God to earry out a very speeifie mission.
Obama, a youthful, healthy 47 year old, elearly exeeuted all that was within his eontrol: he ran a
virtually flawless eampaign, taking advantage of his organizational skills to mobilize his support
and raised unprecedented amounts of money via the internet; he stuek with his message of
“change: and artfully articulated this message; his anti-war stanee served him well; he was
articulate and intelligent as evideneed by his eleetion to edit the Harvard Law Review; he was
fortheoming regarding his youthful moral indiseretion and he was otherwise virtually morally
flawless; his family exemplified ideal Ameriean values; he had the resouree to outspend MeCain
by at least 4:1; and his ehoiee of a running mate was prudent and pragmatie.

® Gwen Ifill. The Break Through: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. Doubleday. New York. 2009.

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The Obama campaign benefitted appreciably from factors which were clearly beyond his control,
many of them virtually laid as his feat by McCain. McCain, a 72 year old senior who had won
two bouts with cancer, had a difficult time mobilizing his base and deciding on a campaign
focus. While recognized as a military hero, his adamant support for the war in Iraq was not well
received by the American public. By the end of the campaign, his stump speeches were riddled
with misstatements and one could understand his graduating fifth from the bottom of his class at
the U.S. Naval Academy.

His 90% support of George W. Bush’s policies, his assertions that economics was not his strong
suit, and that the fundamental of our economic system were sound provided potent fodder for the
Obama arsenal. Moreover, his choice of Sara Palin brought his judgment into question with
crucial independent voters. Yet, the polls showed McCain and Obama statistically tied in mid-
October. While ideology and Republican loyalty explains some of the phenomena, the contrast
between the two candidates was far too great to explain it all. It took the virtual collapse of
American capitalism to give Obama the decisive thrust for the victory.

The Obama Victory: The Meaning of the Historic Milestone

While it is inarguable that the election of Obama was indeed a historic milestone which speaks to
racial healing in the American polity, it is also clear that race mattered in the election and
continues to manifest itself in the Obama presidency. The following are clear examples of the
role of race in the presidential campaign and the Obama presidency: (1) the continued
competitiveness of John McCain even as his campaign devolved; and (2) the de-racialized
modus operandi of the Obama campaign and his administration.

The strengths of Obama and the weaknesses of McCain had been explicated earlier. Imagine for
a moment that the profiles were switched. Would Obama have been competitive? Few objective
analysts would conclude “yes.” Save for the sharp downturn in the economy, McCain may have
pulled out a victory despite the foibles of his campaign. Perhaps a clearer lesson from the
election is not the declining significance of race but the enduring a compelling significance of
economic well being. In other words, economic well being trumped race. Race mattered but

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For a clear straight forward analysis of the Obama campaign, see Chuck Todd’s and Sheldon Gawiser’s, How

Obama Won: A State-by-State Guide To the Historic 2008 Presidential Election. Random House. New York.
2009 .

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economic well being mattered more. While Obama’s election was the fulfillment of “a” dream, it
was not the fulfillments to King’s vision of social justice, the beloved community, where the
content of character and excellence trumps socio-economic advantage and white privilege.

African Americans, who came of age before the civil rights movement, when the notion of a
black president was comedic and lunacy, were often counseled that they would have to be twice
as good as their white counterparts in order to be considered equal. The result of the 2008
election seems to suggest that the pre-civil rights advice is still valid even in the modern “Age of
Obama.” While Obama’s election makes it clear that unprecedented opportunities are available
to persons of color who are optimizers, being competent or equal is not enough. In order to
prevail, candidates of color may need to be excellent while whites may be mediocre or simply
qualified. While it is more often than not overcome, race, while it matters less, still matters.

While analysts want to usher in the term “post-racial,” race and rumors of race permeated the
nomination and the presidential campaigns. Sensing the discomfort with which a goodly number
of whites approach discussions of race, the Obama campaign made a calculated decision to
deracialize his campaign. While his Philadelphia speech on race, “Towards a More Perfect
Union,” was well received, it was done of out necessity; a mediocre performance would have
ended his quest for the nomination. Moreover, as president. President Obama deals strategically
with race — he has to affect a “down low” blackness as he seeks to help blacks in his generic
quest to help everyone.**

During the campaign, his Father’s Day addresses castigating black men were criticized by many
in the black community as “Sister Souljah” moments, ostentatious performances to show voters
that you are not in the pocket of a particular group. In the case of not supporting a US delegation
to the United Nations Conference on Racism in April 2009, he took the conservative approach.
In the case of honoring the Confederate Soldier on Memorial Day, he sought to diffuse
controversy and appease all groups by honoring black soldiers also. Obama will have to continue
to walk the racial tightrope — ^his feasibility is predicated on his ability to be the President for all,

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The term “down low” is a popular term used to describe men who have sex with other men yet deny being gay.
They are gay yet choose not to aeknowledge their “gayness” for fear of not be able to maintain the benefits of being
in the sexual mainstream. “Down low blackness” is not acknowledging or emphasizing ones blackness in order to

reap the support of mainstream white culture.

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“President Obama Bows Out of U.N. Raeism Conference, Angers Blacks, April 18, 2009
www.nowpublic.com/world/president-bows-out-of-UN-Racism-Conference-Angers-Blacks

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yet, if his black constituency starts to view him as largely symbolic, he is in political trouble. The
black community understood the challenge facing Obama and gave him the benefit of any
doubts. In point of fact, little critical analysis of the Obama campaign was tolerated. Sustaining
this loyalty, by successful tight roping will be a challenge.

After the successful election of African Americans in predominantly white constituencies (Doug
Wilder, Governor, VA, David Dinkins, mayor of New York City, and Norman Rice, John
Daniels, and Michael White to the mayoralty of Seattle, New Haven CT, and Cleveland, OH
respectively), Ron Walters argued there had emerged a new era for black politics, yet the payoffs
were uncertain for black voters. Unlike the upfront and vocal commitment to black social
justice expressed by black elected officials from the predominantly black districts, promises of
black social justice by the deracialized black politicians were either deracialized (universalized)
or depriotized. Thus, Walters conclude that. . .black politicians could end up treating black voters
the same way as white politicians do. In that sense, black would have gained a symbolic Pyrrhic
victory. Rather than ushering in an era where race does not matter, is the Obama election a
symbolic Pyrrhic victory?

Given the role of race in the elections of 2008, it seems clear that the term “post-racial” is
blatantly premature as a description for the state of race relations in the USA. Although President
Obama refuses to deal with race frontally, given the fragility of his 43% white support, it is
politically prudent that he maintains his strategy. Supporters of color are patient and understand
that perhaps more can be done in the name of social justice and racial equity under the rubric of
helping those who are challenged economically, regardless of race. Describing the Obama
election as a “Pyrrhic Victory” and a “post-racial” accomplishment describe two extremes — race
still matters and the Obama victory is than more symbolism. While the dialectic of social justice
continues to yield greater margins of social justice on its continuum between slavery and defacto
equal protection under the law, King’s beloved community has yet to be achieved.

Ron Walters, “A New Era for Blaek Polities, but Uncertain Payoffs for Black Voters. ’’The Atlanta Journal
Constitution. Sunday, November 12, 1989, pages H-1 and H-2.

Mark Silk, “Debate on Electoral Strategy Has a Long History,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Sunday,
November 19, 1989. Page C-1.

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Reference List

See the following for diseussion on the legitimaey or delegitimaey of the term “post racial.”
Ward Connerly, “Obama is No “Post-Racial” Candidate,” www.acri.org/ward 06 13 08/html ;
Ernest Harris, “We Are Not Post Racial Just Year, January 20, 2009,
www.huffingtonpost.com/earnest-harris/we-are-not-post-racial-iu b 15897 8 .html?vie . .. ;

Leonard Pitts, “Post Racial America isn’t here yet,”CNN.com.

www.cnn.com/2009/politics/06/01/pittts.blackamerican/index.html ;Christopher J. Metzler,
Diverse Education, June 19, 2008, http : //diver seeducation . wordpre ss .com/2008/06/ 1 0/a-post-
racial-america

See Lawrence J. Hanks. The Struggle for Black Political Empowerment in Three Georgia
Counties. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 1987. Chapter One.

Peggy McIntosh, White Privilege; Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack” in Working Paper 189.
White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondence
Through Work in Women’s Studies. Wellesley College Center for Research on Women,
Wellesley, MA. 1988. (This essay is readily available by googling it on the net.); Tim Wise.

White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son. Soft Skull Press. 2007.

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. Racism Without Racist: Color Blind Racism and The Persistence of
Racial Inequality in the United States. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. New York.
2006.

This term was coined by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. See “The Two Nations of Black America” in
Christopher Eoreman’s, The Black Predicament. The Brooking Institute. Washington, DC.
1999. pp. 10-16.

Prominent internalist writings include the following: the following works by Shelby Steele. The
Content of Our Character: A Vision of Race in America. Harper Perennial. New York. 1991;
A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America. Harper Perennial.
New York. 1999; White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of
the Civil Rights Movement. Harper Perennial. New York. 2007; A Bound Man: Why We Are
Excited About Ohama and Why He Can’t Win. The Free Press. New York. 2007. The
following works by John McWhorter: Losing the Race: Self-Sahotage in Black America.
Harper Perennial. New York. 2001; Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in Black America.
Gothman Press. New York. 2005; and Authentically Black. Gothman. New York. 2004. Other
popular internalist works include Jaun Williams. Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End
Movements, and the Culture of Failure Undermining Black America — ^And What We Can
Do About It. Three Rivers Press. 2007 and Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint. Come on People:
On the Path from Victims to Victors. Thomas Nelson. New York. 2007.

Prominent externalist writings include the following: the following works by Derrick Bell:

Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. Basic Books. New York. 1993;
Silent Covenants: Brown v Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes of Racial
Reform. Oxford University Press. New York. 2005; Gospel Choirs: Psalms of Survival in an
Alien Land. Basic Books. New York. 1997; Afrolantica Legacies. Third World Press. 1997;

And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice. Basic Books. New York. 1989.
The following titles by Michael Eric Dyson:Is Cosby Right?: Or Has the Middle Class Lost
Its Mind? Basic Civitas Books. New York. 2006 and Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane
Katrina and the Color of Disaster. Basic Civitas Books. New York. 2007. Other writings

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Forum on Public Policy

include Cornell West. Race Matters. Beaeon Press. 2001. Glen Loury. The Anatomy of
Racism. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. 2003. and the following books on “critical race
theory: ’Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. New York
University Press. New York 2001 and Kimberle Crenshaw, et. Al. The Key Writings That
Formed the Movement. The New Press. 2001.

Steve A. Holmes, “NAACP Battle Over Thomas.” The New York Times. August 9, 1991.
www.newyorktimes .

Gwen Ifill. The Break Through: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. Doubleday. New
York. 2009.

For a clear straight forward analysis of the Obama campaign, see Chuck Todd’s and Sheldon
Gawiser’s, How Obama Won: A State -by-State Guide To the Historic 2008 Presidential
Election. Random House. New York. 2009.

The term “down low” is popular term used to describe men who have sex with other men yet
deny being gay. They are gay yet choose not to acknowledge their “gayness” for fear of not be
able to maintain the benefits of being in the sexual mainstream. “Down low blackness” is not
aeknowledging or emphasizing ones blaekness in order to reap the support of mainstream white
eulture.

“President Obama Bows Out of U.N. Racism Conference, Angers Blacks, April 18, 2009@
www.nowpublic.com/world/president-bows-out-of-UN-Racism-Conference-Angers-Blacks

Ron Walters, “A New Era for Black Politics, but Uncertain Payoffs for Black Voters. ’’The
Atlanta Journal Constitution. Sunday, November 12, 1989, pages H-1 and H-2.

Mark Silk, “Debate on Electoral Strategy Has a Long History,” The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution. Sunday, November 19, 1989. Page C-1.

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