Race, Inequality, and Obama’s Legacy in the US
Race and Inequality in United States History
Throughout United States history, the issue of race has been a continuing theme of inequality, injustice, and often brutality. From the very beginning, the United States has grappled with race segregation and inequality. We must understand the mindset of the nation to explain it. During the nation’s formation, hierarchies played a decisive role, establishing economic links. These hierarchies are closely related to the colonial status American settlers held at the nation’s inception, when two main identities were formed: the white settler versus ‘the other’. In Belgium, as elsewhere, people have internalized other hierarchies. It’s largely a matter of how people think. Values are structured; for example, the value of order proved superior to racial equality when Nixon’s conservatism succeeded in the late 1960s.
Racial incidents in some US cities today remind us that many Americans still have internalized these racial hierarchies, possessing a sense of literal superiority and a tendency to judge people by individual characteristics. Nevertheless, in the US, race is not only a mindset but has become institutional racism, because conflicts involve the police. Relations with the police are relations with the authorized powers and the government. If the police act with violence, the government acts with violence. This has created new fissures between the people and the government, a fissure even President Obama acknowledged in his speeches condemning police violence.
Therefore, it is a matter of social structure and a confrontation of identities, always establishing social and economic norms.
Obama’s Promises: ‘Change We Can Believe In’?
Obama, No You Can’t: Barack Obama is the 44th and current President of the United States, and the first African American to hold the office. He began his presidential campaign in 2007 and won sufficient delegates in the Democratic Party primaries to receive the presidential nomination. He then defeated Republican nominee John McCain in the general election and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Moreover, he was re-elected in November 2012.
During his presidential campaign, Obama repeated his slogan ‘Change we can believe in’ and his famous chant ‘Yes, we can.’ This chant became one of Obama’s most representative phrases. Its success is thanks to the use of ‘we’ instead of ‘I,’ because Obama was asking people to join him and do things together. This helped people get involved.
This chant had an important impact years ago, but now, after eight years as president, we can analyze its truth. Obama had a long list of electoral promises. Two of the most important were to close Guantanamo Bay in Cuba (which still operates) and create a public option health plan for a new National Health Insurance Exchange (which was not possible). Other broken promises include ‘No tax increases for families making under $250,000’ (he signed into law an increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco), ‘Guarantee that employees get at least 7 paid sick days per year,’ and ‘Sign the Employee Free Choice Act.’ The number of Obama’s broken promises is considerable. This is why today, many people are changing the chant to ‘No, you can’t’ instead of ‘Yes, we can.’ However, Obama kept about half of his promises, including ‘Require children to have health insurance coverage,’ ‘Direct military leaders to end the war in Iraq,’ and ‘Launch an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA).’