Barack Obama Impact
Barack Obama, “The Nation’s First Black President”, exists undoubtedly as one of the faces of our country’s continuous movement toward post-racism, but the questions of his impact toward our aspiring post-racial society diminishes his legacy. A common misconception claiming he’s made little progressions toward racial equality throughout his presidency leads to a sense of hopelessness and irrationalism. Americans---minority Americans in particular, want post-racialism to be in effect immediately, therefore impatiently have overreacted through their inability to recognize that Obama’s presidency may not be the concluding factor, but it is a huge step in the right direction. “Since America’s racial disparities remain as deep-rooted after Barack
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Martin Luther King Jr., Obama’s inactiveness in pursuing this objective undermines the impact the he has inevitably had. In comparison to Dr. King, Obama most certainly did not take as strong of an activist approach, which disabled him from the ability to make such an immediate impact. Obama was not able to ignite immediate successes, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but his lack of success in immediate pursuit does not discredit his impact (Shelby, 96). While comparing President Obama and Dr. King seems to make sense, a lack of relevance occurs when you compare the racial tensions that were prevalent in their societies. King virtually had an advantage in becoming the powerful political figure that he is, considering the explicitly racist society in which he prevailed. On the other hand, explicit racism was much less relevant during Obama’s Presidency. Instead, Obama dealt with implicit forms of racism, which can be understood as conscious or unconscious negative racial biases that whites have toward minorities (Piston). Confronting implicit racism is a much more complicated task. In dealing with explicit racism, you can acknowledge someone as a racist when they act on or impose their racial prejudices, whereas you cannot acknowledge the implicitly racist as being a racist because they either do not intend to be racist or they are able to use their implicit racism to mask their prejudice. This plays a big part in explaining why Obama was not able to implement any substantial progressions toward racial equality in twenty-first century American society, which he is often criticized for failing to do. While some would argue that Obama had little impact on the push toward post-racism by emphasizing the fact that he made no remarkable achievements, his presidency in itself, being the first black president, is remarkable enough to be considered a huge step forward in the right
Martin Luther King Jr., Obama’s inactiveness in pursuing this objective undermines the impact the he has inevitably had. In comparison to Dr. King, Obama most certainly did not take as strong of an activist approach, which disabled him from the ability to make such an immediate impact. Obama was not able to ignite immediate successes, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but his lack of success in immediate pursuit does not discredit his impact (Shelby, 96). While comparing President Obama and Dr. King seems to make sense, a lack of relevance occurs when you compare the racial tensions that were prevalent in their societies. King virtually had an advantage in becoming the powerful political figure that he is, considering the explicitly racist society in which he prevailed. On the other hand, explicit racism was much less relevant during Obama’s Presidency. Instead, Obama dealt with implicit forms of racism, which can be understood as conscious or unconscious negative racial biases that whites have toward minorities (Piston). Confronting implicit racism is a much more complicated task. In dealing with explicit racism, you can acknowledge someone as a racist when they act on or impose their racial prejudices, whereas you cannot acknowledge the implicitly racist as being a racist because they either do not intend to be racist or they are able to use their implicit racism to mask their prejudice. This plays a big part in explaining why Obama was not able to implement any substantial progressions toward racial equality in twenty-first century American society, which he is often criticized for failing to do. While some would argue that Obama had little impact on the push toward post-racism by emphasizing the fact that he made no remarkable achievements, his presidency in itself, being the first black president, is remarkable enough to be considered a huge step forward in the right