Obama's election did not improve race relations

[Rob L 3,811]

Clarence Page

Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/page/ct-race-relations-america-obama-worse-perspec-page-20140923-column.html

Whatever happened to "Obamamania"? Recent polls suggest that race relations have gotten worse since President Barack Obama's 2008 election — or, at least, that more Americans think they have.

It didn't help anybody's feeling of sunny delight that the two latest polls were conducted in the wake of racial unrest in Ferguson, Mo., after the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer.

Either way, the polls add fuel to the conservative portrayal of Obama as more of a divider than a uniter, although when I listen to some of those conservative voices, I can't tell whether they're bragging or complaining.

For example, only 6 percent of voters in battleground election states this fall say race relations have improved under the first African-American president, according to a Politico poll. Almost half (46 percent) say they've gotten worse, and 48 percent say the dynamic has remained about the same.

One thing that we did share across racial lines is gloom, according to the poll, although more white voters, 49 percent, said relations are worse, compared with 38 percent of African-Americans.

Almost half — 47 percent — of both white and African-American voters said race relations were about the same.

Of Hispanic voters, 14 percent say relations have improved, 30 percent say they have worsened and 56 percent say they have stayed the same.

That's disappointing, but it also may be the sign of a new realism setting in after the euphoria of Obama's landmark election.

The good news may be that, compared with five years ago, a long-range national survey taken by the Pew Research Center and USA Today after Ferguson found that "overall perceptions of relations between blacks and whites are only modestly changed."

Although the number of black respondents who said blacks and whites get along "very well" or "pretty well" increased 7 percentage points between 2007 and 2009 to 76 percent, the share who held that positive view has since dropped 12 points to 64 percent.

Similarly, white respondents who thought blacks and whites got along well increased 3 percentage points from 2007 to 2009 to 80 percent, but fell 5 percentage points from 2009 to 2014.

Significant as those differences may be, they look modest compared with the dramatic differences between the races in their view of police.

Seventy percent of black respondents thought police did a poor job of treating racial and ethnic groups equally, compared with only 25 percent of whites.

That reminds me, unfortunately, of the dramatic racial gap that followed the not-guilty verdict in O.J. Simpson's double homicide trial.

The possibility of a positive answer to that question fueled much of the euphoria surrounding Obama's election. But the Ferguson riots and other racial eruptions during Obama's terms reveal the limits of what any single person, even one with Obama's eloquence, can do to heal this nation's historic racial divide.

He's learned that the hard way, as in the "beer-gate" fiasco. By saying the Cambridge police behaved "stupidly" in arresting a black Harvard professor for breaking into his own home, he opened up an O.J.-like divide that led to a "beer summit" photo-op at the White House to smooth ruffled feathers.

The president's My Brother's Keeper program, aimed mostly at connecting young black males to mentoring and support networks, is a worthwhile effort to join government help with conservative self-help values. But the urgency of such hot-button issues as crime and allegations of police misconduct continue to drive wedges between the races.

Democracy, wrote journalist Walter Lippmann in his 1922 book, "Public Opinion," "has never seriously faced the problem which arises because the pictures inside people's heads do not automatically correspond with the world outside."

We're still trying to face it.

A lot of voters may have had it in their heads that Obama's election would heal our racial divide and inaugurate a "post-racial" America. Instead, it has only revealed our racial divide to be deeper than many, perhaps even Obama, thought it was. That's the new reality.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I wouldnt have thought it was a realistic idea in the first place that one guy could solve the race issue.

He's just a man, not Jesus.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Hail Ming!

[UncleBeer 244]

Either way, the polls add fuel to the conservative portrayal of Obama as more of a divider than a uniter, although when I listen to some of those conservative voices, I can't tell whether they're bragging or complaining.

Pointing out that it was already known that the preznit was a racial "divider" during his campaign can hardly be called "bragging". All the signs were there; the media and "true believers" did their utmost to downplay these truths and drag O'bama across the finish line anyway.

O'bama sat in rev. Wright's "black power" church for 20 years, even dedicating his autobiographies to him, yet didn't hear one objectionable word all that time? Really? Or that the preznit rancorously drones on about "white man's greed" ? How about AG Holder letting the New Black Panthers walk after intimidating voters with billy clubs: was that impartial? Or O'bama inserting himself into both the Zimmerman and Ferguson cases before the facts were known, siccing Holder and the FBI on the cases; hardly meant to 'unite'.

It also doesn't help that every time there's criticism of the preznit, the media & liberals (I repeat myself...) immediately scream "racism". That's not racism; that's mere disagreement. Constantly and fatuously playing the race card has certainly not helped people come together and has only inured folks to these accusations, but that's all they know how to do.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Why do people think one person can change an entire country's perception about race?

[Andreja 3]

Obama made things worse. He hired racists like Eric Holder to selectively enforce laws only on whites.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Obama made things worse. He hired racists like Eric Holder to selectively enforce laws only on whites.

Oh, welcome to VJ Andreja.

[Andreja 3]

Oh, welcome to VJ Andreja.

Thanks Sue

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

The purpose of a president has never been to fix race issues.

[Rob L 3,811]

Pointing out that it was already known that the preznit was a racial "divider" during his campaign can hardly be called "bragging". All the signs were there; the media and "true believers" did their utmost to downplay these truths and drag O'bama across the finish line anyway.

O'bama sat in rev. Wright's "black power" church for 20 years, even dedicating his autobiographies to him, yet didn't hear one objectionable word all that time? Really? Or that the preznit rancorously drones on about "white man's greed" ? How about AG Holder letting the New Black Panthers walk after intimidating voters with billy clubs: was that impartial? Or O'bama inserting himself into both the Zimmerman and Ferguson cases before the facts were known, siccing Holder and the FBI on the cases; hardly meant to 'unite'.

It also doesn't help that every time there's criticism of the preznit, the media & liberals (I repeat myself...) immediately scream "racism". That's not racism; that's mere disagreement. Constantly and fatuously playing the race card has certainly not helped people come together and has only inured folks to these accusations, but that's all they know how to do.

Fair enough to point at leadership, Obama, media and the "liberal elite" aka the usual suspects... but do you blame them for this gap in perception. "Seventy percent of black respondents thought police did a poor job of treating racial and ethnic groups equally, compared with only 25 percent of whites".

[Andreja 3]

The purpose of a president has never been to fix race issues.

Obama's purpose is to destroy the country. He is working with the Muslims to form a world wide Caliphate.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Obama's purpose is to destroy the country. He is working with the Muslims to form a world wide Caliphate.

You really need to get with AJ and learn how to troll properly.

[Andreja 3]

You really need to get with AJ and learn how to troll properly.

I don't plan on being here that long Su

[UncleBeer 244]

"Seventy percent of black respondents thought police did a poor job of treating racial and ethnic groups equally, compared with only 25 percent of whites".

While there are righteous cases of police acting inappropriately, many if not most of the accusations spring from nothing more than "entitled victimhood".

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I don't plan on being here that long Su

. Maybe if you dialed back the hate, you'd learn something.

[decocker 7,198]

While there are righteous cases of police acting inappropriately, many if not most of the accusations spring from nothing more than "entitled victimhood".

funny that you use the example of a celebrity, from tmz, to show that 'many if not most' are nothing more than 'entitled victimhood'.