Subtle (And Not So Subtle) Changes In Black Americans Since Obama Elected

[DMark]

I teach at a college and have notice some distinct changes with black students since Obama has been elected.

In a speech class today, where students could talk about any subject they wished to talk about, I have 5 black students and three of them mentioned Obama in their speeches.
One mentioned how, since Obama was elected, he now feels, "I can do anything I set my mind to do!"
Another prefaced her speech with the fact that "since Obama was elected, I realized I was holding myself back" and went on to talk about her plans for the future.
The other student only mentioned Obama in passing and said, "since the last election, I think we can accomplish anything if we set our minds to it" and went on to talk about environmental issues.

As a teacher for many years, I find this interesting. Not that these students would have been shy, or any less positive in the past - but there seems to be a significant change in attitude; almost as if many feel, for the first time, that opportunity might really be color blind after all. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but quite a coincidence in those speeches today.

I just thought I would share this interesting turn of events, from a small speech class in Las Vegas today.

Was wondering if anyone has noticed this change in attitude anywhere else?

[Auntbeast]

I live in an area that has about 5 black people in the entire county, so no, I have not noticed it.

However, I certainly hope so.

I was quite young when I realized that when people said to me "You can be anything you want to be" that they were lying through their teeth. Certainly, women and minorities have come a long way, but until we are the rule, rather than the exception, we should either stop lying to children, or change the way things are. I even had no doubt that a black person would be elected long before a woman.

I look at my daughter and I hope the world gets better for her. She is far too bright and strong to have to look at the world and say "damn this vagina!"

[Broomstick]

Good question, and one I've been pondering.

As it happens, the city in which I live is something like 80-85% black, and I am white, which gives me a different perspective than someone living in a city where those proportions are reversed.

I'd say the changes are subtle. There seems to be less hostility towards those who aren't black, and fewer accusations that someone outside the black community is holding black people back. No one has the illusion that racial prejudice is gone - certainly we have seen some very ugly instances of it since Obama's election - but more hope that black people can succeed despite such bigotry rather than being doomed by it. Definitely, there is increased pride in that one of their own has "made it" (along with an angry sub-group who insist Obama is, for lack of a better term, not black enough - please, don't get me started). The Obamas are very much role models in many ways, being highly educated and successful without surrendering their identities as people of African descent, mixed descent, a child of immigrants, and with roots in the US going back generations. I'd say there seems to be an increased element of hope for improvement in the future.

But like I said, it's somewhat subtle, not a huge sweeping change. The very real problems of this city did not go away with Obama's election. Some people are very angry that they did not, magically, go away. Some of those people are very, very bitter. It's a small group, but present. So the changes haven't been all positive.

[Elendil's Heir]

I live in a city with a slight black majority; I'm white. I can't say I've seen any particular change.

[Elendil's Heir]

A relevant article that may be of interest: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/06/02...ers/index.html

[Markxxx]

I've not noticed anything except the media is pushing black couples and black people in their ads.

Without getting into a great debate, Obama doesn't represent the typical African American, in lifestyle nor in historical background.

African American is idiomatic. It doesn't mean you're simply from Africa. The same way anti-Semetic, means "Anti-Jewish." Arabs also are Semetic. But one does not say a person who hates Arabs is an "Anti-Semite."

Obama's father was from Africa. His roots don't go back to slavery. Ask someone who has a father from Nigeria or Uganda or Tanzania. I have, they say they are from AFRICA. They don't self identify as African American. Obama's roots go back to African but they didn't go the route of slavery which has historically been at issue for the black community

Obama is also half white, something everyone conveniently forgets, when it's to their point of view. Obama was also raised for part of his life in a third world country. These things may have ultimately made him a better person and maybe a better president, but they are no where near what a typical African American would experience growing up in urban America, where a majority of blacks grow up today.

Contrast this to black politicans like his replacement Roland Burris or Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

This is a debate we always see in the African American community. Take OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson, both who were accused by the African American community of being "too white." Until they went to trial and the African American communites tended to rally around them.

I predict Obama will remain the first black president till a man or woman who's mother and father are both black become elected. Then he will retroactively be named the first "mixed race" president.

[NinetyWt]

The area I live in is about 70% black, 30% white. I have noticed a general relaxation in black folks I interact with here - as if some tensions have eased. Also, more people seem confident enough to expect to be treated politely. It's like the chip on their shoulder is gone. As others have said, it's quite subtle.

[Captain Carrot]

Originally Posted by Markxxx

Obama is also half white, something everyone conveniently forgets, when it's to their point of view.

Actually, I see it mentioned quite a lot, especially by you. And I think most black people in this country have some white ancestry.

[Argent Towers]

I was at my mom's house the other day and a black guy knocked on her door. It was a door to door salesman selling some bullshit magazine subscriptions. He was speaking in a practically unintelligible mumbling voice. As soon as we opened the door he said, "My name is Antoine, I can never be President because I'm too dark, but I just want to be able to help other young black youth stay off the street etc etc blah blah, I was in jail for selling crack cocaine but Jesus turned my life around, etc etc, I want you to buy these magazines." My mom was like, "sorry, we're not buying anything from you." He immediately laid this racial guilt-trip on us, saying stuff like "I know what you people must think when you see a black person like me walking around in your neighborhood," and then he pointed at me and he said "I never got to have the kind of opportunities that you and your son had, I never got to go to college, etc" (how the fuck did he know that I went to college?)

I said, "it's not because you're black, it's because nobody likes you door-to-door people. Nobody ever buys anything from you guys. All you do is annoy people. You need to find some other kind of job because nobody likes you guys."

We offered him a bottle of water (which he declined) but told him to be on his way, and that we weren't buying any of his bullshit.

When he was gone my mom said, "these guys used to say, 'I can never be president because I'm black. Now that we have a black president, they've updated it to 'I can never be president because I'm too DARK?'"

That's one change in at least one black American that I witnessed first-hand.

[ebbtide3721]

Oh my God, all of us under one roof.What a miracle! Next you'll be looking for the antichrist responsible.

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally Posted by NinetyWt

The area I live in is about 70% black, 30% white. I have noticed a general relaxation in black folks I interact with here - as if some tensions have eased. Also, more people seem confident enough to expect to be treated politely. It's like the chip on their shoulder is gone. As others have said, it's quite subtle.

I've noticed this as well. I was even planning to write "the chip on their shoulder is gone."

I've also noticed that when black children are misbehaving in the library, their parents are much quicker to disclipline them now.

[bengangmo]

Originally Posted by Auntbeast

I was quite young when I realized that when people said to me "You can be anything you want to be" that they were lying through their teeth. Certainly, women and minorities have come a long way, but until we are the rule, rather than the exception, we should either stop lying to children, or change the way things are. I even had no doubt that a black person would be elected long before a woman.

I look at my daughter and I hope the world gets better for her. She is far too bright and strong to have to look at the world and say "damn this vagina!"

(bolding mine)

I may be a bit over senstive here, but I really hope I am parsing "the rule" wrongly - to me this means the majority which would just show prejudice in the opposite direction

Also, although you might find this a little inflammatory, there is, and always will be small disadvantages against women. This is due to the natural requirements of pregnancy / childbirth. Its not fair, but the simple fact of the matter is that this does take a lady away from her career. Its not prejudice or misogynism but a simple quirk of nature.

And is it so unreasonable that ladies who take time out from the workforce will suffer a little for it?

[Broomstick]

Originally Posted by Markxxx

Without getting into a great debate, Obama doesn't represent the typical African American, in lifestyle nor in historical background.

So? FDR wasn't a typical white American, either, yet was quite popular and got elected four times.

And his wife - and let's face it, she's as much in the spotlight as he is - IS a "typical African American" in background. Her current lifestyle isn't typical for for either black or white women but she came from a very typical background in her younger years. It's not just that there's a black man in the White House, we have a black First Lady as well which has had an impact on black women from their fashions to how they feel about their own color of skin. (Michele Obama is also very tall, and not afraid to wear high heels - this has had some effect on tall women of any color as well). For many people I talk to around here it's not just that we have a black President, we have a black First Family that represents America on the world stage. I've occasionally heard it expressed that "Now I feel like I'm really an American." At least to some people, it makes a huge difference that the faces in the White House look like them.

African American is idiomatic. It doesn't mean you're simply from Africa. The same way anti-Semetic, means "Anti-Jewish." Arabs also are Semetic. But one does not say a person who hates Arabs is an "Anti-Semite."

Obama's father was from Africa. His roots don't go back to slavery. Ask someone who has a father from Nigeria or Uganda or Tanzania. I have, they say they are from AFRICA. They don't self identify as African American. Obama's roots go back to African but they didn't go the route of slavery which has historically been at issue for the black community

Yet before Barack Obama was an international celebrity with a face recognized everywhere, when he walked down the streets of Chicago people would look at him and assume he was "African-American" in the "historical sense" and he would be treated as such. The Jewish parallel would be someone who isn't Jewish being mistaken for Jewish based on appearances and treated as Jewish. To say that either of those two examples somehow remain ignorant of the problems of African-Americans or Jews, or immune to the prejudice against them, is ridiculous.

Obama is also half white, something everyone conveniently forgets, when it's to their point of view.

Really? Who forgets that? Seriously, who doesn't know he has a white mother? I mean, it's been all over the media since he became a candidate in the primary. What people forget is that he has a sister who is half white, half Asian.

Obama was also raised for part of his life in a third world country. These things may have ultimately made him a better person and maybe a better president, but they are no where near what a typical African American would experience growing up in urban America, where a majority of blacks grow up today.

Most white Americans don't spend part of their life in a third world country, either. How is this relevant? John McCain was born in Panama, arguably a third world country but no one has mentioned that that makes him different than a typical white American.

Contrast this to black politicans like his replacement Roland Burris or Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

So, effing what? I don't know about this Franklin woman, but Roland Burris is... well, he would be laughable if not for the more-than-mere-rumors about scandal surrounding his appointment - and by the way, Burris was appointed to replace Obama's seat in Congress by a white governor who stands a good chance of going to jail. Obama, on the other hand, was elected to office.

This is a debate we always see in the African American community. Take OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson, both who were accused by the African American community of being "too white." Until they went to trial and the African American communites tended to rally around them.

Some, but not all of those communities. And while some blacks still regard Obama as "too white" the majority that I've encountered seem happy to see a dark face in the White House and cheer him on as one of their own.

I predict Obama will remain the first black president till a man or woman who's mother and father are both black become elected. Then he will retroactively be named the first "mixed race" president.

Bullshit. Culturally in the US having a white mother and a black father means you're black - while that may change at some point in the future that is what it means now and even if it does change in the future there will always be the notation in the history books that he was, at the time, considered the first black president. Your statement also ignores the fact that the majority of "black" people in the US are, in fact, various shades of brown and clearly have some European ancestry along with African and in many other places would be considered mixed race. Yet, in the US they are black.

[Tom Tildrum]

Originally Posted by Argent Towers

I was at my mom's house the other day and a black guy knocked on her door. It was a door to door salesman selling some bullshit magazine subscriptions. He was speaking in a practically unintelligible mumbling voice. As soon as we opened the door he said, "My name is Antoine, I can never be President because I'm too dark, but I just want to be able to help other young black youth stay off the street etc etc blah blah, I was in jail for selling crack cocaine but Jesus turned my life around, etc etc, I want you to buy these magazines."

You sure you didn't just fall asleep watching Office Space?

[bengangmo]

My wife is now halfway through Obama's autobio - from what she tells me he had a challenging upbringing. While it may not be "typical" in that parts of it were spent outside of America, other parts were very challenging and do reflect the sort of experiences that "everyman" faced - from step parents through to challenges at school, racial bias and much more.

Apparently Michelle is also his first love - which is really sweet

[Purd Werfect]

This is interesting. I was just reading a thread on another board in a thread dissecting Free Republic posts. From Freep:

Agreed. Savannah is the favorite weekend getaway place for my wife and me. We haven't been there since the election, but I am wondering if the attitude of the black population there is similar to that of those of the black community here. There is now an air of hostility, even in my small, quiet southern town.

Mayhaps people who aren't black are also noticing subtle changes in their own attitudes and perspectives.

[Little Nemo]

I doubt many black people are thinking that racism is dead and there's no more problems associated with being black in this country. But at least now they know that while obstacles may be large they can be overcome and anything is possible.

[Lama Pacos]

"Black people used to be loud and uppity, but now they're all right!"



Not everyone in this thread, but quite a few.

[Little Nemo]

Not everyone in this thread, but quite a few.

I'm not seeing that. More like black people have gotten less bitter and more hopeful since Obama's election.

I can't say I blame them for either the bitterness or the hope. It's amazing to think that there are black people living today who can remember a time when they would have been killed for trying to vote for a President. We can look ahead and think that maybe in another fifty years we really will be a post-racial society.

[control-z]

Back when I was in elementary and middle school, I sensed an overall passive resistance of learning among the black students. It wasn't "cool" to get good grades. Hopefully that will change now. That's change I can believe in.

[AHunter3]

Originally Posted by Auntbeast

I even had no doubt that a black person would be elected long before a woman.

I look at my daughter and I hope the world gets better for her. She is far too bright and strong to have to look at the world and say "damn this vagina!"

If asked, I, too, would have predicted a black person elected before a woman. I think sexism (and patriarchy) is older and more deeply rooted. But when it finally happened, in '08, it was a damn close call that could have gone either way. Obama did not clobber Clinton in the primaries, he beat her by a rather skinny margin. She was an entirely serious contender; her candidacy cannot be dismissed as 'symbolic' like Shirley Chisholm's. If she had won the primary, she would have prevailed in the general election. And she would not have been a 'token woman' whose office was really being run by her politician husband, as was considered the case when George Wallace's wife was gov of Alabama. No one seriously believes Clinton would have sat back and let Bill pick up where he left off while she served as 'window dressing'.

[LouisB]

Originally Posted by Captain Carrot

<snip> And I think most black people in this country have some white ancestry.</snip>

On what do you base this opinion? I'm not saying you are wrong, but I've never heard this put forward before.

I'm descended from a long line of "po' white folk;" not necessarily white trash, but not landed gentry, either. I really and truly wish that it could be proven that there are a few black people in my genetic background----I would love to hear what most of my relatives would have to say about that little fact.

Anyway, since I've retired, I no longer come into daily contact with black people so I can't contribute as to any perceived changes in attitude brought about by Obama's election.

[Captain Carrot]

Originally Posted by LouisB

On what do you base this opinion? I'm not saying you are wrong, but I've never heard this put forward before.

I'm descended from a long line of "po' white folk;" not necessarily white trash, but not landed gentry, either. I really and truly wish that it could be proven that there are a few black people in my genetic background----I would love to hear what most of my relatives would have to say about that little fact.

I said most black people in the US have some white in them (because I've been around a bit, and I've seen very few people who are really dark), not that most white people have some black ancestry.

Originally Posted by AHunter3

Obama did not clobber Clinton in the primaries, he beat her by a rather skinny margin. She was an entirely serious contender; her candidacy cannot be dismissed as 'symbolic' like Shirley Chisholm's. If she had won the primary, she would have prevailed in the general election.

After a while, though, it was obvious that she had lost, she simply refused to admit it. Also, it's quite possible that she would have lost to McCain, though had she done that it would have been because of her shortcomings as a candidate, not her vagina.

[LouisB]

I said most black people in the US have some white in them (because I've been around a bit, and I've seen very few people who are really dark), not that most white people have some black ancestry.

I know what you said; I asked on what evidence you based your statement. I'm not sure that personal observation is exactly the proof I was asking for.

[Blackberry]

Originally Posted by LouisB

On what do you base this opinion? I'm not saying you are wrong, but I've never heard this put forward before.

I'm descended from a long line of "po' white folk;" not necessarily white trash, but not landed gentry, either. I really and truly wish that it could be proven that there are a few black people in my genetic background----I would love to hear what most of my relatives would have to say about that little fact.

I thought it was common knowledge that most black Americans have some white ancestry. But the reverse is not as true, because it was always the case (and still is, maybe to a slightly lesser extent) that ANY black ancestry means you're black.

[Zoe]

One source of the white ancestry of many blacks were the Irish slaves that were brought to the United States to breed with the black men. There are several sources for information on this. One of them is WikiopediaAnswers.com

According to a report that I heard on one of the televisions news sources -- probably MSNBC -- the fastest growing "racial" group in the United States is simply "Mixed." I think it's cool. As much as I enjoy diversity, I would give it up in a minute just to have these stupid barriers down.

[Frylock]

Originally Posted by LouisB

I know what you said; I asked on what evidence you based your statement. I'm not sure that personal observation is exactly the proof I was asking for.

How exactly was your observation about your own family supposed to relate to the claim you were asking about?

[bup]

Originally Posted by LouisB

I know what you said; I asked on what evidence you based your statement. I'm not sure that personal observation is exactly the proof I was asking for.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

• With the help of geneticists, the historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. put African-American ancestry in these terms:
  
• 58 percent of African Americans have at least 12.5 percent European ancestry (equivalent of one great-grandparent);
• 19.6 percent of African Americans have at least 25 percent European ancestry (equivalent of one grandparent);
• 1 percent of African Americans have at least 50 percent European ancestry (equivalent of one parent); and
• 5 percent of African Americans have at least 12.5 percent Native American ancestry (equivalent to one great-grandparent).

That wikipedia article, in turn, cites Henry Louis Gates' In Search of Our Roots.

[Auntbeast]

Originally Posted by bengangmo

(bolding mine)

I may be a bit over senstive here, but I really hope I am parsing "the rule" wrongly - to me this means the majority which would just show prejudice in the opposite direction

Also, although you might find this a little inflammatory, there is, and always will be small disadvantages against women. This is due to the natural requirements of pregnancy / childbirth. Its not fair, but the simple fact of the matter is that this does take a lady away from her career. Its not prejudice or misogynism but a simple quirk of nature.

And is it so unreasonable that ladies who take time out from the workforce will suffer a little for it?

To illustrate my meaning, remember the first woman astronaut? presidential candidate? CEO of a major company? Senator? Sally Ride was the first woman in space. I would venture most folks know her name. According to Wikipedia, there have been 63 female astronauts. Now, a woman going into space isn't headline news. It may be a news item, but not in the same sense that Sally Ride was.

I don't have a problem with women making choices regarding their professions and child bearing/rearing and those choices affecting it appropriately. I do have a problem with society saying "since you bear children and take on primary care responsibilities, we will not allow any one with a vagina to hold an important position."

I'll end with this:

Originally Posted by Haile Selassie I

That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil. –