On the Foundations of Hope: Is Running a Deracialized Presidency a Good Idea?
“Barack Obama in Virginia - August 2nd” by Christopher Dilts is licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0
November 4, 2008 marked a monumental night for the Democratic Party as the United States elected the first Black man to the presidency. Walt Disney was right —“If you can dream it, you can do it.” As Obama campaigned throughout the states and as the race drew closer to an end, he garnered widespread support that won him a seat in the highest office of the land—President of the United States. The night of November 4 was unlike any other as crowds upon crowds assembled in the streets, at cafes and bars, and nearby markets to participate in perhaps the greatest undertaking in all of American history. From California to Maine, people stood in awe as the emblematic “Yes We Can” spread like wildfire through television stations and news outlets. This simple string of words, “Yes We Can,” took America by storm as they illustrated what would be the beginning of a post-racial era. This would be an America that is absent of racial discord where the Founders’ note, “E Pluribus Unum”, could still ring true. Or so we thought.
Obama remarked in his acceptance speech, “to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our might of arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope. For that is the true genius of America - that America can change.” The United States saw a new beacon of hope —a hope that rallied Republicans, Democrats, moderates, and independents behind a common purpose: American exceptionalism.
“You can’t reverse 400 years of slavery and codified discrimination in eight years”
But did this American exceptionalism apply to all? In contrast to Obama’s unifying messages of hope and a more tolerant America, civil unrest and racial discrimination still persisted. As Andra Gillespie points out, “You can’t reverse 400 years of slavery and codified discrimination in eight years.” It is clear that within Obama’s years of competing for a seat in the White House that he ran a deracialized candidacy. Such platforms soft-pedal issues of race in the hopes of attaining broader cross-over appeal. In turn, this grants minority candidates the ability to reach voters beyond their own racial and ethnic communities. In choosing to adopt such a platform, critics often maintain that candidates utilizing deracializing tactics make implicit bargains with their counterparts so as to obtain a seat in office. What concerns some voters, however, is whether or not employing deracialization will dissuade potential candidates from seeking minority interests.
The process of employing deracializing tactics, leaves minority voters behind. Gillespie contends that deracialization has a tendency to quell African-American turnout rates. When candidates of color implement deracialization, they often lack visibility in minority issues. Instead of voicing the difficulties faced by these subgroups, deracialized candidates adopt race-neutral tones and attitudes. They steer away from hard-line policy issues that may affect minority groups. Consequently, because Obama chose to espouse this cultural campaign strategy, he curtailed his prominence in addressing the Black political agenda.
To no surprise, Obama’s candidacy proved worrisome. Like many curious voters such as Andrew Jackson II, the question of whether or not Obama would successfully advance the Black agenda left many within the Black community pushing for a perhaps unattainable goal in such a short span of time. Jackson acknowledges, “We thought our dreams would be more visible under Obama. They’re not.”
Be that as it may, Obama nevertheless received record turnout rates and support amongst the Black population—a population known for low voter participation. As Gillepsie notes in her book, Whose Black Politics, political candidates who invoke African American racial identity in their campaigns either explicitly or implicitly expect increased political mobilization from a Black community that perceives increased group benefits from the results of a successful campaign. One must note, though, that the African American community is not a monolith and can vote outside of racial lines. These points illustrate the intersections between race and politics—how likely it is for minority voters to participate and how likely it is for them to vote for a viable competitor. As Gillespie explains, Black people began to vote as a bloc once Obama was perceived as a sound candidate. This newfound base luckily awarded him some credibility within the Black community despite employing race-neutral politics.
Race-neutral politics is significant for candidates of color because the candidates consider the needs of both the Black and white communities. Obama positioned himself as speaking to universality rather than race-specificity, so the Black community characterized him as “not Black enough.” This provoked his critics to classify him as an outsider to minority interests. This political gambit harms minorities particularly because their issues remain unattended, repudiating and invalidating their experiences. No matter one’s stance on the issue, it is plausible for African Americans to inquire about blackness, given it provides crucial information into their understanding of what defines Black identity. This is noteworthy because as time has progressed, race has become more prominent in American life and discourse.
Despite the praise that surrounded his presidency, Obama was met with approbation and criticism, much to the same breadth of any other candidate running for office. This criticism differed from that of other applicants as his race was the centerpiece of the discussion. This prompted critics within the African American community to question his racial authenticity. Compared to many Black politicians, Obama had few connections in traditionally Black communities. His early life afforded him the ability to attend Columbia and Harvard—predominately white institutions—and he was mainly raised in predominantly white neighborhoods all while coming from a mixed-race background. Nevertheless, he maintained an effort to form a relationship with the Black community as laid out in his book, Dreams From My Father. Working to strengthen these bonds, he received backlash from his own racial community and like politicians. But why is this significant? Shouldn’t Black leaders out of all others support this minority candidate in tackling unjustified racial claims? Not quite.
Numerous challenges besieged his presidency like the “tea party’s racially tinged attacks on the president’s policy agenda to the ‘birther’ movement’s more overtly racist fantasies” claiming Obama as a foreigner. They hindered his capacity to implement and actualize certain policy goals relating to the Black agenda. Racial tensions within the United States heightened with the outset of the Black Lives Matter Movement in response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Obama found himself in a predicament attempting to address long-standing racial injustices. In propelling My Brother’s Keeper, he attended to the worries many Black families faced and organized meetings to discuss how best to aid his boys. Although some view these measures as a step closer to racial parity, others perceived this as Obama downplaying the racial prejudices within the system as he proposed few policies to prevent the police from taking innocent Black lives. Supporters argue that time and time again, he’s fallen victim to the projection of false hopes into the American Black populous.
With his reluctance to approach Black politics in the same way Civil Rights leaders, John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X have done, he has fallen short of fulfilling a few Black demands. What many fail to notice is that he did make critical advancements within the Black community, and for many African-Americans, Obama was a meaningful figure. He has been a hero to those searching for their voices in a candidate eager to stand up to the system. Below are just a few of his accomplishments:
The poverty rate for African Americans fell faster in 2015 than in any year since 1999. While the poverty rate fell across all racial and ethnic groups this year, it fell 2.1 percentage points (p.p.) for African Americans, resulting in 700,000 fewer African Americans in poverty.
The African-American unemployment rate has seen a larger percentage-point decline in the recovery, falling much faster than the overall unemployment rate over the last year.
The high school graduation rate for African-American students is at its highest point in history. In the 2013-2014 academic year, 72.5 percent of African-American public high school students graduated within four years
Pell Grant funding for HBCU students increased significantly between 2007 and 2014, growing from $523 million to $824 million.
The incarceration rates for African-American men and women fell during each year of the Obama Administration and are at their lowest points in over two decades.
Although some arguments against Obama’s presidency are rightly warranted in their essence, we should not discredit the efforts made by his administration. In the simple realm of things, Obama being “The First” was a daunting task as he carried the weight of attempting to fulfill not only the demands of the American people but also the interests of the Black populace. Congruently, the American people should not have expected Obama to erase all racial divisions in his eight years in office nor completely advance the Black agenda. Some argue that Obama has set the stage for more minority candidates to run for higher office and fulfill the Black agenda, while others such as Andrew Jackson II, have argued that Obama never met the needs of the minority voters and that those following perhaps never will. But let’s not be so disheartened for it is within the year 2008 that we saw Obama laying the foundations for more minority public figures to step into the light and pursue the Black agenda. It is simply not a matter of whether or not he was successful in implementing and completing the Black agenda as there is no universal measure of success, but rather that it was he who revitalized Walt Disney’s quote: “If you can dream it, you can do it,” providing hope for the Black community in coming one step closer to equality. So to answer my question plainly, is running a deracialized presidency a good idea? To this I say—yes, for those willing to bask in an illusory utopia void of racial discrepancies or those who, like Obama, wish to advance the Black agenda, but purposely and in minute measures address racial matters every so often so as to avoid losing a part of his base—white voters.
By implementing deracializing tactics, Obama drew a wide base of supporters in both his 2008 and 2012 candidacy, and in his effortless ability to attract voters through his persuasive rhetoric and hopeful messages, he became the first Black president of the United States. His capacity to transcend the racial constraints of the system has proven to future candidates of color that they too can succeed in attaining higher office, reach their policy goals, and even become the leader of the free world. It is because of you, Obama, that a new wave of Black politicians have finally built the courage to run for office and take on the system, and for that I thank you. As you so eloquently put it, “We did not come to fear the future. We came to shape it” - Barack Obama, 2009.