“Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes,” he said, “Shake it off. Stop complainin'. Stop grumblin'. Stop cryin'. We are going to press on. We have work to do.” (Smith). President Barack Obama’s statement made at the 2011 Congressional Black Caucus annual awards dinner accurately reflects his presidency as a whole. Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, undoubtedly resembles a movement toward progression in the African-American population’s quest for political inclusion. Although his presidency was most certainly beneficial in those regards, African-American’s grew suspect, as they did not see much transformation throughout his presidency. Obama took an approach to encourage people to keep fighting even though…show more content… In the 2008 campaign against John McCain, he not only tried to avoid the race issue but he also actively pursued strategies to deactivate the impact of racial conservatism (Tesler and Sears, 55). He knew that if he were to racialize the campaign, he would lose support among whites. Obama understood the racist outlook many whites had that suggested that they were running low on sympathy and were tired of hearing blacks claim the role of victim (Shelby). By mentioning race, he would have played right into this racist perception and would have lost support among whites. While this approach was necessary up to the election, it prevented him from having much impact on racial issues as he felt obligated to focus on the policies he proposed during his campaign. African-Americans did not see the socioeconomic improvements they had hoped for during his eight…show more content… By electing candidates that understand the disadvantages and the problems faced by povertous African-Americans, more aggressive strides can be made toward achieving a true post-racial society (Cohen, 202). While electing a black activist as president may seem unimaginable in the foreseeable future, taking into account the denial among whites that white supremacy and white privileges are no longer existent, I would argue that it is possible. Many whites lack knowledge of the racial disadvantages that exist in our society, simply because they are not relevant to them. Their white privilege makes them blind to it (seminar, 2/1). I believe that if a politically powerful figure that is respected by whites were to convey a public acknowledgement of the systematic disadvantages that are faced by minorities, many whites would sympathize after realizing the reality of these racial inequalities. This would open up a movement that could potentially ignite affirmative action into our society and bridge the gap between low- and middle-income
