Will Obama have to be better because he’s black?
Posted by John Malloy on 01/25/2009
Just days before he was sworn in, President Obama was giving his daughters a tour of the Lincoln Memorial when one of them pointed to a copy of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address carved into the wall.
Obama’s 7-year-old daughter, Sasha, told her father that Lincoln’s speech was really long. Would he have to give a speech as long? Obama’s answer was completed by his older daughter, 10-year-old Malia.
“I said, ‘Actually, that one is pretty short. Mine may even be a little longer,’ ” Obama told CNN recently. “At which point, Malia turns to me and says, ‘First African-American president, better be good.’ ”
The story is light-hearted, but it touches on a delicate question: Will people hold Obama to a different standard because he is the first African-American president?
Americans appear split by race on that answer. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, 53 percent of blacks say the American public will hold Obama to a higher standard than past presidents because he is black. Most whites — 61 percent — say Obama’s race will not matter in how he will be judged.
The question divided several people who were racial pioneers themselves.
Alexander Jefferson was one of the first blacks allowed to become a fighter pilot. He was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black pilots who escorted bombers in World War II.
“We had to be twice as good to be average,” he said.
Obama won’t face the same pressures he did because his presidential predecessor was so inept, Jefferson says.
“No, the world is ready for him,” he said. “The [George W.] Bush debacle was so depressing.”
Jefferson was shot down by ground fire on his 19th mission and spent a year in German prison camps. He wrote about his POW experiences in “Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW.”
Jefferson says he dealt with the pressures of being a racial pioneer by drawing on the strength of black leaders who opened doors for him.
“I sit on the backs of everyone who came before me,” said Jefferson, who attended Obama’s inauguration with other Tuskegee Airmen.
Jefferson says he would have emotionally imploded if he’d thought too much about the pressures of representing all blacks and dealing with the racism he encountered when he returned home to a segregated America after the war.
“I did what I had to do so I didn’t go stark-raving mad,” he said. “There wasn’t all this self-analysis and back and forth. I was too damn busy with a wife, a child and a mortgage.”
Michele Andrea Bowen couldn’t avoid a bout of constant self-analysis. She was one of the first African-American students admitted to a doctorate program in history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“I know Obama is going to be held to a different standard,” said Bowen, author of “Up at the College” and books such as “Holy Ghost Corner,” which celebrate black faith and culture.
Bowen says she faced relentless scrutiny, and so will Obama.
“You know that it was hard for you to get in it, and you know they’re watching you,” Bowen said. “And you know that they’re judging you by a critical standard that’s sometimes not fair.”
Bowen says a white classmate, her partner in dissertation, once confided to her that he received the same grades as she did, even though he knew his work was inferior.
“It toughened me up,” Bowen said. “It can give you headaches and stomachaches. I learned you have to be thankful that God blessed you with that opportunity. At some point, you stop worrying, and you trust God.”
‘Would Bush have been president if he were black?’
Perhaps Obama will avoid those stomachaches because of the massive good will his election has generated. But that could change quickly if Obama makes a controversial decision or a mistake, says Andrew Rojecki, co-author of “The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America.”
Rojecki says people who say Obama isn’t going to be held to a different standard because of his skin color didn’t pay attention to his campaign.
He says Obama had to deal with challenges that other candidates didn’t have to face. Obama’s run for office was almost ended by his association with his minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose incendiary sermons shocked many.
But Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s relationship with the Rev. John Hagee, who was accused of anti-Semitism, never threatened to end his campaign, Rojecki says.
“Obama was held responsible for what his minister said, and McCain was associated with Hagee, but somehow that didn’t stick,” Rojecki said.
Even people who regard themselves as the most progressive, open-minded supporters may subconsciously hold Obama to a different standard, Rojecki says…
www.cnn.com
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“Would Bush have been President if he were black?” Maybe not, but if you ask this question you also have to ask “Would Obama have been President if he were white?” and the answer to this question is “probably not”. Even many prominent blacks have stated their opinion that Obama would not have won the Democratic nomination if he were not black. When you look at the overwhelming lopsided African American vote for Obama it’s pretty obvious that without the lopsided African American vote he would not have defeated Hillary Clinton and probably wouldn’t have defeated McCain. Everybody, not just blacks, like to think their not given a fair chance, but that doesn’t make it so..
No, being black isn’t the ruler to measure Obama; keeping his campaign promises will be. Breaking your campaign promises determines whether you measure up or not, politically.
The question should not be “must” Obama be better because he is black –
rather, he “will” be better because he is black.
I’m getting lost here with all this “first african american president”…isn’t he 1/2 white?? why is the entire world focused on his black 1/2?? i don’t get it…
I think Obama has to be better simply because we are in trouble as a nation, and we need better. His race has nothing to do with it.
I am white, voted for Obama and I would not hold him any more or less accountable than I would any other person; however unfortunately I don’t think public opinion agrees with me.
Without a doubt, the most absurd piece of journalism I’ve read in my life. Are there no ambulances to chase? Unbelievable piece of fodder. I wish I could have the last 3 minutes of my life back.
Apparently not. He is not qualified to be pres. but here we are. Could the bar have been set any lower?
I do hold Obama to a different standard. That standard includes a buffer for the unknown. I expect Obama to end the useless catering to greedy beauracrats, uphold common sense, maintain reasonable transparency, look toward moving a new cultural influence through his effective leadership. These expectations focus on opposing the failed fundamental ideals grounded within my rich,middle-class white family. They didn’t work when I was a child and they’re not working today. Racist, arrogant and self-serving ideals need to die with my ancestors. Obama’s enemies assume his followers believe he has all the answers. Nay, they fail to see the new movement is warring against a culture whose ills are bent on self-destruction. So intrinsic is this illness, many fail to recognize it.
It depends. If you’re a racist, then yes. He’ll have a different standard to which he will have to hold himself. If you’re a supporter because he’s the best man for the job, regardless of his race, then no. And for those who think he’s not qualified, what’s your criteria for someone being qualified to be president? If Barack Obama isn’t qualified, then no one is.
No, he does not have to be better because he’s black. He has to be better because he is an American and do what is right for the country and follow the ideals on which this country was founded and the rewards he has reaped from maintaining those ideals. As of yet, he hasn’t done anything right. He, Pelosi and Reid are running hellbent to the left to make this more of a Marxist State – his heroes are Saul Alinsky, William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Michelle et al. The Republicants in Congress can’t get out of the way fast enough. If they wanted to show any semblance of conservatism, they could vote no on every one of the bail out bills and those nominations that justify a no vote; they would still pass because of the dem majority; but at least they could show some resistance. The Republicants in Congress have to get over the notion that the dems care anything that hints at free market, limited government or anything conservative. The dems couldn’t care less, and will continue to steam along as long as the Republicants continue to compromise their conservative (if they even know what those are) principles; the dems never will. Look at all the executive orders that have been issued to date with nary a peep from the Republicants. BHO and the dems are running full tilt to the left with no resistance at all from the Republicants in Congress. The Republicants will always be cast as obstructionists even as they facilitate the juggernaut dems’ efforts.