As our first African-American president, Mr. Obama has had an unprecedented position from which to address the sensitive and often troubled issue of race relations. There should have been nothing but hope that the work done by those honorable civil rights leaders of the 1960’s would be honored by additional moves in the direction of racial harmony during the Obama administration.
Tragically, this is an opportunity that has been missed — possibly deliberately. With the stoking of tensions by administration supported groups such as Black Lives Matter and similarly-minded individuals and groups supported by Mr. Obama’s administration, it can be argued that race relations have moved backwards during the past eight years.
A look into Mr. Obama’s thinking on this subject can be found in an interview which he gave on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
You know, my general theory is that, if I was clear in my own mind about who I was, comfortable in my own skin and had clarity about the way in which race continues to be this powerful factor in so many elements of our lives. But, that it is not the only factor in so many aspects of our lives, that we have, by no means overcome the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow and colonialism and racism, but that the progress we’ve made has been real and extraordinary — if I’m communicating my genuine belief that those who are not subject to racism can sometimes have blind spots or lack of appreciation of what it feels to be on the receiving end of that, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not open to learning and caring about equality and justice and that I can win them over because there is goodness in the majority of people.
Here’s his comments on what he views as a legacy of racism that continues in somewhat subtle ways.
It’s somebody not getting called back for an interview, although it’s never explicit. Or it’s, you know, who gets the TV acting job, the actress who doesn’t quite look the part, and what does that mean? And in that environment, where you’re not talking necessarily about cut and dried racist behavior, but rather about the complex ways in which society is working these issues through, you know — trying to reach folks in ways that they can hear, I think, is important.
There might be some high-minded thoughts expressed there. But the question then becomes one of why Mr. Obama’s apparently magnanimous words have not matched his actions, nor have resulted in a growth in racial harmony during his tenure, but just the opposite.
As with so many issues, this is just one more opportunity sadly missed by Mr. Obama, or one that has been perverted to accomplish some agenda. Either way, America loses.
You can stop at 2:15:
Source: Real Clear Politics
Sad Alinsky Fellow Traveler.
Soon to be gone!