Recently, I saw a white guy on a post upset that Barack Obama did nothing and sat on his behind during 911 and that’s why he’s a Trump supporter. That, I expect.
However, there is something happening within our community that I struggle to understand.
I have heard Black people say that Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, or the Obama presidency was one of the worst things to happen to Black America since Jim Crow.
Think about the weight of that statement.
Jim Crow represented generations of legally enforced racial segregation,, violence, economic exclusion, and institutional discrimination. Whatever criticism someone may have of Barack Obama’s presidency, comparing an eight year presidential administration to Jim Crow requires us to seriously examine both our history and our expectations of political leadership.
And I believe we can criticize Obama.
We should.
No president should be above criticism.
But criticism and historical distortion are two different things.
My Perspective
I am a foster kid.
Three foster homes.
I know something about systems failing people. I know something about circumstances being placed upon a child that he did not create. When I think about the things that shaped my life, my struggles, my decisions, and eventually the man I became, I cannot seriously place Barack Obama anywhere near the top of the list of people responsible for the hardships I experienced.
Gangster rap (check out Ice Cube’s song if you are not familiar) didn’t put me in foster care. Tyler Perry didn’t put me in foster care. Barack Obama didn’t put me in foster care.
My life was shaped by family circumstances, parents who thought they were better off without their sons, poverty, environment, institutions, choices, opportunities, mentors, education, faith, community, and eventually my own decisions.
That distinction matters.
Because if we are going to have an intelligent conversation about the condition of Black America, then we have to examine the institutions and circumstances that actually shape Black lives.
Education. Housing. Employment. Family. Healthcare. Public safety. Wealth. Access to capital. Political representation. Community institutions. And yes, government policy.
That conversation is much harder than simply finding one Black man who occupied the White House and placing the condition of an entire people at his feet.
Obama Was President, not King
Barack Obama served in the United States Senate before becoming the 44th POTUS. That made him extraordinarily powerful. It did not make him ALL powerful.
The American presidency exists ( or did exists before “you know who”) inside a constitutional framework involving Congress, the courts, state governments, federal agencies, elections, interest groups, voters, businesses, advocacy organizations, and competing political parties. He worked within the confines of those rules, unlike the current administration.
Obama’s presidency existed during an intensely polarized and racist political period. None of that means his decisions should escape scrutiny.
Libya was dismal and a war crime in my opinion. Bailing out the banks for their fraud, harsh. Yet, I am not behind the veil of reason as to why those decisions were made. I only see from my role as a human being, military man, and believing in civility.
It does, however, mean our scrutiny should reflect how American government actually works.
If we believe an administration failed Black Americans on housing, criminal justice, education, economics, employment, policing, entrepreneurship, or wealth creation, then let’s identify the policy.
Let’s examine what was proposed, what Congress did, who supported it, who opposed and the outcome. Then let’s criticize intelligently.
“He Was the President for Gay People”
I have also heard Obama described as “the president for gay people.”
There is a legitimate historical reason people associate his administration with major advances in LGBT civil rights. His administration participated in significant policy changes involving Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the federal government’s defense of DOMA (introduced by Clinton but it clearly didn’t ban adultery… insert cough cough), federal protections and eventually support for marriage equality. Let’s remember, it was a Republican administration that allowed civil unions. Obama himself publicly announced his support for same sex marriage in 2012 on the back of what President Bush set forth prior.
But there is another lesson here that warrants more attention. Political change rarely happens because a community simply waits for a president to rescue it.
Communities organize. Organizations advocate. People vote. People raise money. People challenge laws. People bring lawsuits. People lobby legislators. People build coalitions.
People make their concerns politically impossible to ignore. Squeaky wheel gets the oil, right?
Later, President Obama described LGBT policy change as involving activism, political pressure, personal relationships, changing public attitudes, congressional action, and advocacy alongside presidential leadership.
That is an important distinction. The lesson isn’t that one community somehow received something that another community didn’t deserve. The lesson is organization. The more we tear each other down the less we accomplish.
Ask the Right Question
Instead of asking:
“What did Obama do for Black people?”, ask “What political infrastructure are we building to advance the issues we say matter to us?”
Dr. Boyce Watkins has criticisms of Obama and Dr. Boyce is also on to e frontlines of U.S. taking advantage of financial systems to grow U.S. as a people. He wants us to be responsible for our development and not out the blame on any one person or politician. He doesn’t care if you are Republican, Democratic, Independent, or other. He teaches we have to find community and do it ourselves. With that said, the questions boil down to what have we established as a collective:
Where are the sustained organizations?
Where are the policy agendas?
Where are the locally funded institutions?
Where are the coalitions?
Where is the consistent participation after Election Day?
Where are the organizations capable of walking into City Hall, Springfield, Congress, corporate boardrooms, philanthropic institutions, and the White House with clearly defined objectives and enough organized support to demand serious consideration? With all the rich athletes, so called representatives from the wealthy hip hop community, is this not possible?
Presidents respond to political pressure.
Congress responds to political pressure.
Mayors respond to political pressure.
Corporations respond to political pressure. Well, maybe not Target, they are simply trash with their latest ad.
Money is certainly part of that ecosystem, but so are votes, organization, litigation, public opinion, coalition building, advocacy, media attention, and sustained civic participation.
That is how American politics works. It ain’t perfect but voting matters. If it didn’t, the administration in office wouldn’t be working so hard to cheat this next election cycle in November, or in 2028.
The Presidency Was Never Going to Save Us
Stop waiting for Superman. Barack Obama’s election was historically significant. But symbolism and policy are not the same thing.
Having a Black family living in the White House could never, by itself, repair centuries of inequality or resolve every challenge facing Black communities. I am from Terror Town, it used to be called South Shore area in Chicago. The violence was celebrated that gave it that name. I visit in tears often when I see what those who sold drugs and gang wars did to our community. If you think Barack has done more damage to our communities than that, you are simply delusional. Expecting one Black president to accomplish that may actually reveal something about our expectations.
Black politicians are criticized more by their own than other races. Mayor Johnson maybe a one term Mayor because of the Venezuelan crisis he inherited. Maybe if he had let the people put the referendum on the ballot things would be different for him. The good he’s done will not matter. We will let white politicians stay in office for years and get no changes. But let a Black one come in and if they don’t meet expectations our community wants them gone.
We should absolutely examine Obama’s record. (Again, Libya & Banks).
Where policies worked, acknowledge it; where they failed, say so. Where opportunities were missed, identify them. Where promises weren’t fulfilled, document them.
But we should apply the same intellectual discipline to every president. And more-so, we should apply this same discipline to our parenting, educational systems, etc.
Barack Obama was President of the United States. He was never the president of Black America. Yes, we know that Trump has done all things policy to hitlerize himself as the King of White America but 20 percent of Blacks voted in support of him because, “oh, he talks like I like it.” Ugh!!!!!
The larger lesson of his presidency is not whether one Black man did enough for us. Perhaps the more important question is:
What are we prepared to organize, finance, build, advocate for, and how do we hold our elected officials accountable? Let’s be real, he’s been out of office over 8 years. Shall we be like Trump and blame him for the current stay of America affairs???
That is a conversation about political power and that conversation is much bigger than Barack Obama.
What did Obama give me? My mantra is no excuses and he only elevated that for me. He gave me the audacity to hope, not to blame. I found love in the foster care system from every home. One gave me a chance to live, one gave a chance to pray, and the final taught me the essence of true love.
When I look in the mirror, or better yet, stand before YAHWEH, he will not be holding Barack accountable for my decisions, he will hold me accountable and responsible.
Love you, President Barack, flaws and all. Why, because I am no different, flaws and all.
