Remember in 2009 when Barack Obama was sworn in? For me, from the night he made that now famous speech in Grant Park to claim victory to the day he was sworn into office, I was so proud. So proud that he was in office, and that he was Black, and that he looked like me.
It felt like he had opened the door and the world’s eyes to Blackness in a way that hadn’t been seen before. I believed then and deep inside now that when people’s eyes are opened to new possibilities, to new ways of seeing the world, hope enters and new horizons come into view. This time it felt like the collective psyche of America had been pierced and had come together in symphony, much like after the death of George Floyd.
When Barack took office, America’s eyes were opened to the idea that a Black man could drive the most powerful machine in the world, and not only do a satisfactory job, but an outstanding one. Until he took the oath, America claimed to believe in the idea that a Black man could be President, but when he took office, America had to come to terms with it, and in many ways with its history of racial oppression.
In my opinion, President Obama’s terms in office were about two things primarily: making sound and thoughtful decisions and leaving the country better than he found it. Given the magnitude of the job, these are highly commendable principles and excellent reasons to show up every day.
But I still remember how the blame game bubbled up (as it frequently does in matters of race) after his second term; many Black people began to say, Barack was a “sell out” and ask what has he really done for Black people? After a while, some of the same people that praised his inauguration perceived him as not Black enough or not supporting Black causes.
These people could not have been more wrong.
I don’t think his presidency was about fixing the lives of all Black people as much as I think it was about representing Black excellence. The racism he faced was the same racism every Black man of power faced and still faces today. Remember the handcuffs we forced him to wear? How few were the times he was actually able to utter the word Black? How would you have responded in his shoes?
For me, his entire presidency gave people a clear reason to explore the white male-dominated roots of American racism. And his example against Donald Trump’s lunacy is the proof America needed to shift the way it talks about race. Somehow, amid all the turmoil of the last four years, the paradox that each of them presented has seeded the ground for a drastic shift in our racial politics.
And so, when the Vice President is the first Black and Indian to serve in the office, and the President is a man that worked for the first Black President, and President Obama is poised to be among the greatest advisors in American history, and it is now okay for the President to talk about race in terms of Black and White, and there is a growing understanding of the complexities of race in America, we are uniquely positioned to drive change in a way not seen before in this country.
Remember your Baldwin. “And here we are, at the center of the arc, trapped in the gaudiest, most valuable water wheel the world has ever seen. Everything now, we must assume is on our hands; we have no right to assume otherwise. If we— and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create the consciousness of the others— do not falter in our duty now, we may be able to, handful that we are, end the racial nightmare and achieve our country and change the history of the world.”
After the protests of the Summer of 2020, the inauguration of new leadership in 2021, and with a blossoming understanding of how we might solve the challenges presented by social and racial injustice, I am hopeful that we can resist the temptation to blame some one person for all that’s wrong and that we can lean into the areas in which we differ, seeking both justice and excellence, as we work to build a stronger infrastructure for our children and our future.