The Last Black President

I remember being elated after the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Part of my joy came from knowing that the tenure of President George W. Bush was coming to an end. If you recall the times, you know the country was in deep trouble and falling fast. You’ll recall that the world financial system was near collapse because greedy bankers and speculators took Bush’s “ownership society” call to heart and packaged up the real estate industry into fraudulent securities that were found to be worthless, ruining financial institutions world-wide, causing the Great Recession. You’ll recall that this country was losing about 800,000 jobs a month and businesses could not get loans to operate. You’ll recall that our wars were out of control and accomplishing nothing. And you’ll recall that Bush’s fiscal policy created the biggest deficits on record, while the income of average Americans was headed south at a record pace. So, the end of the Bush Presidency was heartily welcomed by me and a good many others. But there was also something else that gave me and, I believe, many others a good feeling. This country had just elected its first black President. To be honest, I never believed that could happen in my lifetime. To see it- to have cast my vote to help make it happen was a very special thing.

I was talking with my sister on the phone after the election telling her how great I felt about this amazing event, when she asked the obvious question: Did you vote for Obama because he is black?  I believe I surprised her with my quick response: yes! She, of course registered a small protest, thinking that race should NEVER be a factor in who we vote for. I carefully explained that race wasn’t my only reason to vote for Obama, but it was most certainly one of the reasons I voted for him.  I would have voted for the Democrat no matter who it was, because the Republican policies of the last President were simply awful; and, the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket was a joke (seriously? Sarah Palin?) Nonetheless, the racial factor was important to me because in order to have change-you have to make change happen. The candidacy of Barack Obama gave us the chance to make a statement about America. To have the change that many believed could not happen in their lifetimes, was a great opportunity- and one we had to seize when the moment presented itself. So, yes- I voted for Obama (in part) because he is black.

There were a number of folks who believed the election of our first black President signaled an end to much of the racial divide in our country. They believed that having a black President was proof that racism had finally been defeated- after all, a black man had now achieved the highest station in the land. I personally never believed that. My fear was that having our first black President would spur renewed racial divisions. My fear was that those who had settled into the comfort of subtle, institutionalized, hidden racism could never abide a black man in the White House. Many of those fears have been born out in some of the most hate-filled and disgusting acts of disrespect any President has ever encountered. I’m convinced that much of the opposition President Obama encountered from the Republicans in Congress is rooted in racial animosity. I’m also convinced that much of the radical protest against the President on the streets and in our media is an outgrowth of fear and loathing based on deep-seated racial bias.     

On the very night that Barack Obama became President of the United States a group of Republican Congressional leaders gathered at a Steak House and decided that they would cause the failure of this new President. They plotted to say “no” to every initiative, to block any and every idea put forward and to literally stand in the way of every piece of legislation the President supported, even if it was their own

 idea. And they did just that! In the first two years of his Presidency, the President had a majority of his party in Congress so he was able to do a few good things for the country: The Lilly Ledbetter Act (helping women fight for equal pay) passed with no Republican votes; the financial stimulus bill and the auto industry loans ( that slowed the recession and saved the auto industry) passed with no Republican votes; The Affordable Health Care Act ( originally proposed by the Heritage Foundation and instituted by Romney in Massachusetts)  passed with no Republican votes. During Obama’s first term there were (a record) Senate 381 filibusters against his legislation. During the second two years of his first term the Republicans gained control of the House and set the record for the least number of Bills passed in the modern era, becoming the do-nothing champions of the world.

During the Health Care debate in the summer of 2009 Senator DeMint of South Carolina vowed “to break” Obama using this issue. This was clearly the language of old south slave owners who needed to get “uppity” slaves back in line. When the President addressed joint-session of Congress on Health Care another southern Representative shouted “you lie” at the President while he was speaking. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer confronted the President and shook her finger in his face (in front of the Press). Several ridiculous Republican Presidential candidates openly questioned the President’s birthplace- suggesting his Presidency was a black Kenyan plot to destroy the country. One candidate even openly challenged the Presidents Harvard Law School grades suggesting that he was promoted because of Affirmative Action- subtly suggesting that a black man can’t get through Harvard without some help. Over the course of his Presidency numerous Congressmen and women, along with several Senators have described the President as “lazy” or as a "gangster", and openly said his intention was to destroy the country. I can think of no other President (even the most reviled in history) who has been labeled with such indignities. His policy positions cannot justify the level of animus he has endured. The racial aspect is the only thing that explains it.

Outside of Washington DC the tone is even more offensive and overtly racist. The likes of Limbaugh, Hannity and the rest of the ultra-rightwing talkers have gone so far into racist and hateful talk that it is a national disgrace. They have no shame. We can never forget Limbaugh’s “Barack the Magic Negro” parody he played for months on his show. We can never forget the rhetoric immediately following the election urging people to stock up on ammo and guns to protect themselves from the threat of black hoards who will attack whites with impunity now that there was a black President. We can never forget the tea party rallies where white folks depicted the President on signs with a bone in his nose- or smugly eating a watermelon. Every day the internet is flooded with offensive and outright threatening language towards the President, saying in plain language we need to “kill this black devil”.  I could go on with many other examples but the point is that this President has had to absorb it all, and not speak back about this racism, because he knows that he cannot define himself or other people of color who will follow him only by race.

The opposition he has encountered in every institution of government, and in the murky and shallow minds of racists across the country has been a disservice to us all. The conspirators who met on the night of his first inauguration and vowed to defeat him have done nothing for us. They have only stood in the way of progress. This country could have better job growth, a better health care system, and a faster growing economy if they had been true to their oath of office instead of their oath to Grover Norquist and their oath to each other put Party before country. It was the Republican Senate Minority leader McConnell who said the #1 priority was to make Barack Obama a one-term President. I so wish his priority had been to be an honorable Senator.  

Now, I take heart in the fact that their plans failed. I take heart in the results of the last election when the American people gave a resounding endorsement of our first black President and rejected the ideas of a party that served us so poorly the last four years. His election in 2012 wasn’t a squeaker- it was a convincing win, along with major Democratic wins in the Senate and some wins in the House.  It seems the only folks who aren’t convinced are the same old congressional fools who miscalculated him and their own policies all along. They still haven’t been able to accept that the majority of voters rejected their party and its positions.

It is up to all of us now to insist that those obstructionists in Congress stop the personal attacks against this President and get back to the business of governing. We need to contact our Senators and Congress people and insist on a functional government- we must insist that the hatreds that caused this paralysis be stopped for good. Every one of us now has a major interest in seeing to it that our President succeeds. It is so important that we elected our first black president- but it is equally (if not) more important that he is not our last black President. His success will ensure that the Presidency will be open to all people of color in the future. His failure will send the wrong signal for generations to come, and it will have been put on him by the forces of racism that still live on in this country.

Barack Obama’s election can only be seen as breaking the barrier of race if it leads to other Presidents who have diverse racial backgrounds- then we can say we are nearing the defeat of racism. Real progress must be about progress for a people- not just a person. The triumph of Obama’s Presidency can only be fully realized if he is not our last black President.

Thanks for looking in.