Racism after Obama’s victory
article from The Week, November 5, 2008
Citizens of Chicago celebrate Obama's triumph. (AP Photo/Stacie Freudnberg)
One election won’t “solve the problem of race in America,” said Matthew Syed in the London Times online, because “bigotry and hatred” are no longer the main issue. The real problem is that, even after the gains of the civil rights movement, black Americans have yet to achieve “social and economic equality.” And that “slope remains as steep as ever.”
Barack Obama’s election won’t magically eliminate teen pregnancy or drug abuse, or raise high-school completion rates in the black community, said Henry Louis Gates Jr. in The Root, but don’t underestimate the significance of what has just happened. For generations, with all the racism heaped on black people in this country’s history, “no one could actually envision a Negro becoming president—’not in our lifetime,’ as our ancestors used to say.” But the ultimate color line has finally been crossed.
Obama’s victory “does not, nor should it, herald a post-racial future,” said Michael Eric Dyson in the Los Angeles Times. “But it may help usher in a post-racist future,” in which we can finally start deleting “oppression that rests on hate and fear, that exploits cultural and political vulnerability.”
About the Author: 
It may not have cured American racism, but I want 75% less excuses from us. You can be what you want so go out and make it happen. Circumstances will never be perfect…don’t cop out.
President Is The New Precedent ™! There are absolutely no excuses now. While America is not perfect by any means, the American Dream is alive. Get up, get out, and get something!
Maybe 1 less excuse, but not 75%…come on be serious! I’ll tell you what’s not excusable. There’s no excuse for so-called educated Negroes to think that just because one talented Black person became President, everything changed for the rest of us overnight. This is just tokenism at its finest. One man also had $100 billion at one point, Bill Gates, but guess what? We’re can’t all do what one man did.
Yes, I voted for him because I thought he was the best choice we had. I believe he will be a great diplomat and a great President and improve our image in the world. But don’t be confused by his skin color, he does not represent Black interests, especially since Black folks so easily gave him their vote without requesting anything in return. If there were any valid “excuses” on November 3, they are still valid on November 5.
I will say that when there is an initiative that the new administration pursues that is in the interest of the Black community, we all need to support it with the same vigor we did during the campaign.
Denmark, there will never be an administration that pursues the “black interest”. Nor should there be. They are supposed to pursue the American interest, which if done justly and honestly will invariably benefit us. Barack would be doing this country and himself a disservice if he were to pursue the black interest in that manner. It’s our job to pursue the black interest. Like Malcolm said, “we need a self-help philosophy”. You can’t wait on the government to save you or your community…that’s not its purpose in the first place.
Not to mention, excuses are never good.
The beauty of Barack’s election is the symbolism of it all. Will he automatically change every black person’s life? Absolutely not. However, it’s a symbol of progress any way you cut it. Anyone who can’t see that is living in an alternative universe.
The black rage sect is trying to downplay this symbolism because they understand that if they don’t update their philosophy they will soon be obsolete. They’re clinging to their played out ideals. I guess it’s human nature, but they’ll soon be as irrelevant as white folks in the KKK. If we want to make things better for our people we have to adapt our ideas and strategies to the current circumstances.
I AM AMOUNG THE MIDDLE AGED WHITE GUY THAT VOTED FOR OBAMA. WHEN I MARRIED MY WIFE I WAS AS REDNECK AS ONE CAN BE BEING RAISED IN TEXAS AND I HAD MUCH HATE BUILT UP IN ME BECAUSE THAT WAS WHAT I WAS TAUGHT FOR SO LONG. IT TOOK MY WIFE A NUMBER OF YEARS TO CHANGE MY POINT OF THOUGHT. ONE THING SHE KEPT POINTING OUT TO ME WAS NOT TO JUDGE A PERSON ON THERE SKIN COLOR BUT FOR THE PERSON WHOM THEY ARE. WHEN I STOPPED AND REALLY STARTED LOOKING AT LIFE IN THIS MANOR MY LIFE BEGAN TO CHANGE. I REALISED THAT THERE WERE MANY WHITE PEOPLE I WOULD NOT EVEN GIVE THE TIME OF DAY TO BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY HAD DONE ME. I STARTED TO LOOK AND DEVELOP SOME RELATIONSHIPS WITH A COUPLE OF BLACK GUYS THAT WORKED ALONG SIDE ME AT WORK AND FOUND THAT HER POINT WAS WELL DESERVED. THESE TWO GUY’S WERE GREAT PEOPLE AND WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR ME IF I EVER ASKED. IF I CAN CHANGE THEN EVERYONE CAN CHANGE IF THEY REALLY WANTED TO. THE TIME IS NOW FOR THE WHITE MAN TO CONFESS HIS SORROWS FOR THE WAY WE TREATED THE BLACK MAN AND IT IS TIME THE BLACK MAN FORGIVES US FOR THE WRONG DOING SO BOTH OF US CAN EXCEED IN LIFE TOGETHER. I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO HAVE A NEW OUT LOOK ON LIFE AND UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THIS ELECTION. THE PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER FROM ALL COLOR, ALL WALKS OF LIFE, BOTH MALE AND FEMALE TO ELECT THE FIRST BLACK MAN TO THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT NOT BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK BUT FOR WHAT HE HAS BECOME. HE HAS THE FOR THOUGHT TO MAKE A CHANGE THAT IS MUCH NEEDED IN THIS GOVERNMENT AND WITH THE BACKING OF THE PEOPLE IT Can be done and it is up to us to put the racism behind us from this day forward.
One other thing that I feel I must say: TODAY LIFE HAS BEGAN FROM THE SORROWS OF THE PAST, OUT OF THE ASHES, A POWERFUL MAN HAS RISEN TO THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT, TO LEAD ALL PEOPLE, OF ALL COLOR, FEMALE AND MALE TO THE LEVEL OF TOGETHERNESS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, TO RISE ABOVE THE RACISM OF AMERICA TO GAIN RESPECT AMOUNG MANY, THE MAN ONLY BASK IN HIS PRIDE FOR US THE PEOPLE NOT FOR HIS OWN GLORY, THIS MAN IS ALL POWERFUL IN HIS OWN RIGHT FOR HIS POWER COMES FROM EDUCATION, BOTH FROM SCHOOLS AND THE STREETSL, TODAY HIS LEADERSHIP HAS BEGAN AND TODAY ONLY HIS TRUE COLOR IS SEEN FOR ALL TO SEE, HIS TRUE COLOR IS HIS BELIEF IN US AS A NATION OF RED, WHITE, AND BLUE, IT IS NOW LEFT UP TO US AS AMERICANS TO STAND WITH EACH OTHER AS ONE RACE THIS RACE BEING THE HUMAN RACE.
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