Daniel Groner, Huffington Post
- Since President-elect Barack Obama won the election last month, there’s been some speculation about what this means for the American black community. Put differently, the issue has turned into a question about how much the President-elect’s blackness actually matters.
There’s no denying that President-elect Obama’s culture and heritage have impacted who he is today. For many Americans, this is a positive reflection of the man’s values. He wishes to honor his family and his community. Yet, he takes over an America that at least partially perceives hard work and education as elements of “acting white.”
Several professors and thinkers participated last night in a panel to discuss this topic. The Smith Family Foundation sponsored the event that led a dialogue between conservatives and liberals on the subject of whether President-elect Obama will ignite the kind of change he promised during the campaign. What both sides seemed to agree on, however, was that in order to get elected, Mr. Obama was forced to downplay “black issues” like housing, gang violence and AIDS and instead to portray a more unified America.
