Racial Tensions during an Obama administration

[Freethinker]

I hope this doesn't come across as bigoted, but I have been thinking about this for some time, and I'm seriously concerned about it. I'd like to know what the forum thinks about this.

Listening and reading about African-American expectations for the Obama administration leads me to be a little bit afraid of what may arise. African-Americans are unrealistically expecting a kind of joyous rebirth and the end to all of their problems.

My experiences living in and around two major US cities with significant African-American populations has shown me that (at least in inner cities) poor, uneducated African-Americans believe that other African-Americans will take care of them before they will take care of any other ethnic group. Racism in a form that it is not usually discussed.

I believe after a year or two that African-Americans will be sorely disappointed in what has happened, regardless of his success in dealing with the issues at hand. Raising the hopes of someone and then disappointing them is a recipe for unrest, even if both the high hopes and disappointment are unfounded. An unfortunate combination of this unrest and a Rodney King-like incident could easily spark a violent outburst.

The administration would be put in a very precarious position in responding to such a situation. Condemn it and African-Americans would become more angry. Do anything short of condemning it, and whites would become angry. A recipe for ugly times.

[Ysidro]

I think you're assuming "African-Americans" are a monolithic group. Trust me, they're not.

While I expect there to be a slight rise in racial tension, I would assume that rise to remain within the fringes. With luck the only thing it will do is allow us to see who the bigots are.

[ravdin]

I think a lot of people of all colors will be disappointed in a year or two when their mortgages haven't disappeared, there's still a bear market on Wall Street, and we're still fighting in wars overseas. We have a lot of challenges that won't magically disappear on January 20, 2009.

I'm not trying to say that Obama's not up to the challenge (I hope that he will be)- but I am trying to stay optimistic while being careful of having unreasonable expectations.

[Freethinker]

I'm not trying to say that Obama's not up to the challenge (I hope that he will be)- but I am trying to stay optimistic while being careful of having unreasonable expectations.

Well, clearly that's the best way to deal with any kind of change. Even the best intentioned, most qualified leader can be overcome by events. The AA community would have seen McCain or Clinton as just another white politician, but they are really fired up that Obama is going to make everything good. When it doesn't happen, there will be some emotions expressed in some way.

[Mark6]

Well, clearly that's the best way to deal with any kind of change. Even the best intentioned, most qualified leader can be overcome by events. The AA community would have seen McCain or Clinton as just another white politician, but they are really fired up that Obama is going to make everything good. When it doesn't happen, there will be some emotions expressed in some way.
Seems to me that an awful lot of white Americans feel the same way about Obama. And will be just as disappointed.

[GreNME]

I hate to interrupt the "realism"-fest (put in quotes for a reason), but I think it's a bit silly to think that people are expecting improvements from Obama simply because he's black. I mean, yeah, cue the obligatory YouTube video of some shmoe implying that's exactly what he did, but I have to say that a lot of the characterizations put forth by the first post are grossly misinterpreting or misrepresenting blacks as a whole.

Don't get me wrong: it's exactly the way to go about things if the preferred outcome is to expect justification for thinking the election results chose wrongly.

[cwalner]

I think the majority of Obama supporters will be dissapointed if Obama is not able to follow through on his campaign of change, but not to the point of civil unrest.

However, there is a fringe element on both sides of the race issue that will try to spark civil unrest regardless of what Obama does.

On the black side there are those like Reverand Wright, who are too wrapped up in past injustices that they refuse to see the progress in race relations that has been made over the last 40 years. Having an African-American president will not clear thier perspective, but will simply make them angrier that the injustices that were common 40 years ago are still common, in thier minds, despite an African-American presidency and cause them to lose faith in the political process.

On the white side, there are, well, the racists who wish the injustices of 40 years ago were still commonplace. For them, the election of Obama itself proves how broken our political system (what value is a christian democracy that elects black muslim communist after all) and are probably already withdrawing even more than usual from mainstream politics.

The result is both extremes moving to more extreme positions. I agree with the OP that this may end up creating a spark to ignite further racial tensions amongst the mainstream and unfortunately move race relations backwards. As one who ended up voting for Obama, I sincerely HOPE this is not the case, but fear the possibility that it is.

[Delvo]

The big hopes & dreams aren't because he's black; they're because he's a liberal Democrat and the people with the big hopes & dreams are liberal Democrats. If it doesn't all come true, they won't change or turn away from him any more than they did when Clinton performed no miracles either.

[Nyarlathotep]

The big hopes & dreams aren't because he's black; they're because he's a liberal Democrat and the people with the big hopes & dreams are liberal Democrats. If it doesn't all come true, they won't change or turn away from him any more than they did when Clinton performed no miracles either.


Yes and no. For some people, what you ahve said is quite true. For some others, they really do expect big changes merely because he's black. Others were simply glad that he wasn't Bush but only expect moderate changes. Some didn't vote for him at all and will be pleasantly surprised when/if he doesn't screw the country up worse than it already is.

Differing groups will suffer varying levels of dissapointment (or happines) depending on their personal expectations from him.

[Nyarlathotep]

I am trying to stay optimistic while being careful of having unreasonable expectations.


Better to do like me and stay pessimistic, that way you are either proven right or pleasantly surprised.

[Radrook]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I didn't hear Obama make any specific promises to the African American community. Neither did he make one to the Latino American community nor any other specific community. So if these communities have expectations, they must be based on two factors.

Race--He's a man of color and should treat us better that than previous presidents.

Support--We supported him and he owes us.

Correct?

BTW

Maybe Kenyans expect certain benefits as well.

[Chaos]

Better to do like me and stay pessimistic, that way you are either proven right or pleasantly surprised.

Come on... in the worst case, you´ve upgraded from a politician who is a moron and a religious weirdo to merely a politician. That has got to count for something.

[Edges]

I agree with Ysidro-it is erroneous to make assumptions about African-Americans as a whole, just as it would be erroneous to make assumptions about *any* cultural/ethnic group as a whole.

Yes, people may be disappointed if things don't take a sudden upswing if they expected one. However, it is a big leap to say that because blacks are expecting one, significant civil unrest will follow in the wake of their disappointment.

Keep in mind that the opinions you are reading and hearing are coming from the most outspoken and those who feel the strongest about their opinion. That does not mean they speak for all African-Americans in the same way Rush Limbaugh does not speak for all conservative white people, no matter what he may claim.

[Freethinker]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I didn't hear Obama make any specific promises to the African American community. Neither did he make one to the Latino American community nor any other specific community. So if these communities have expectations, they must be based on two factors.


In inner-city African-American communities, the promise is implicit. The worst racists I've ever encountered are poor, uneducated, inner-city blacks, and they believe there are only two kinds of people in the world: Whites, who hate them and will never let them have anything, and blacks who might do their best to take care of them, but will certainly never help whites.

[PingOfPong]

I think you're assuming "African-Americans" are a monolithic group. Trust me, they're not.



Now hang on there. Obama got 96% of the black vote. Within the context of politics, that sounds pretty monolithic to me. However, the black vote is always around the 90's for a democrat candidate. They've voted for plenty of white democrats over the past few decades. That means the 2008 election isn't only about race but instead it's about the same old partisanship. Having the first president of African extraction is just a bonus for them.