# How did the Obama Adminstration affect the "racial divide?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 7, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703 "2017-09-07T02:24:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/21 "2017-09-07T18:18:56Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think it’s possible the cop treated him differently based on his race (i.e. arresting him after establishing that he lived there, simply because he was being “disorderly”). We’ll never know for sure, since we’re not psychic. But that there was a 911 call doesn’t mean that the cop had zero conscious or unconscious racial bias. I think it’s possible that some cops react differently to being yelled at by a black man vs being yelled at by a white man. This post about sums it up. White cops are racist until proven innocent and it’s impossible to prove them innocent. Any situation between a white person and black person must be viewed through the lens of racism. That is the biggest change between the beginning of Obama’s presidency and today. We are hyper-racialized today to the point where a year of the monkey t-shirt brings offense because it happens to coincide with black history month. Of course, Obama is not to blame for that, but certainly his handling of events like the Gates controversy didn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/22 "2017-09-07T18:29:17Z")
> [@treis](#): > > This post about sums it up. White cops are racist until proven innocent and it’s impossible to prove them innocent. I didn’t say this and I don’t believe this. I guess you don’t believe there can be nuanced discussion on these issues. That’s a shame. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/23 "2017-09-07T18:32:21Z")
> [@treis](#): > > No, Obama was simply flat out wrong. Gates was 100% not targeted because he was black. He was investigated because someone called 911 reporting someone breaking into his home. 100%, hunh? The chance that the 911 caller was influenced by Gates’ skin color is … Zero! The chance that the cop’s egregious response was influenced by skin color is … Zero!! _ **Your uncanny ability to know the unknowable is truly awe-inspiring!** _ Can you open a thread, please, to give us some stock tips? What about Riemann’s Hypothesis? Is there balm in Gilead? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/24 "2017-09-07T18:44:12Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Comments such as “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon” made him seem biased and partial, as if it mattered more to him than if Trayvon wouldn’t have resembled a son of his. Can you please explain how you get from that sentence to your conclusion? This is one of those things that I’ve heard or read from time to time that I can’t quite understand. For some reason that statement seems to provoke a kind of visceral negative response and I would appreciate if someone could explain why. To me, it is a very neutral statement - so I must be missing something. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/25 "2017-09-07T18:58:27Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Any situation between a white person and black person must be viewed through the lens of racism. That’s an exaggeration, but it’s still probably a more realistic approach than pretending that any situation between a white person and a black person must be presumed to be entirely free of racism unless an obvious and explicit form of racism appears in it. What the Obama presidency taught us is how persistent and pervasive white racism still is in America. It’s just that nowadays a lot of white people think that what they do or say shouldn’t count as racist if they claim they’re **not** racist. (Witness, for example, the seller of the infamous “Don’t Re-Nig in 2012” bumper sticker and the author of the “ape in heels” remark about Michelle Obama, both of whom stoutly denied that they had used a racist expression.) ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/26 "2017-09-07T19:06:51Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > 100%, hunh? The chance that the 911 caller was influenced by Gates’ skin color is … Zero! The chance that the cop’s egregious response was influenced by skin color is … Zero!! > > _ **Your uncanny ability to know the unknowable is truly awe-inspiring!** _ Can you open a thread, please, to give us some stock tips? What about Riemann’s Hypothesis? Is there balm in Gilead? Check the sarcasm: > [@](#): > > The woman who alerted police to the suspected break-in that led to the arrest of noted black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates never mentioned race in her 911 call. > > Caller Lucia Whalen, 40, saw only the backs of two men she thought were breaking into Gates’ house in Cambridge, Mass., said her lawyer, Wendy Murphy. > > Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas confirmed that race is not mentioned on the 911 tape and said “it was very clear that she wasn’t sure” what the men’s race was. It’s 100% certain that race did not influence her because she could not identify the race of the suspect. > **[911 call that led to arrest of Harvard University prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr....](https://www.nydailynews.com/2009/07/27/911-call-that-led-to-arrest-of-harvard-university-prof-henry-louis-gates-jr-never-mentioned-race/)** > > The woman who alerted police to the suspected break-in that led to the arrest of noted black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates never mentioned race in her 911 call. Caller Lucia Whalen, 40, saw o… ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/27 "2017-09-07T19:09:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > What was wrong with it was that it was a political mistake. Trying to talk openly and honestly about these things sometimes is politically harmful. It took Obama a little while to figure this out, IMO, and then he became more polished and careful rather than trying to have a frank dialogue. Barack Obama’s comments need to be evaluated in the larger context of history. Sure, Obama’s response to a reporter’s question could have been parsed more carefully so as not to arouse suspicions among whites that he’s a kinder, gentler Louis Farrakhan. But the idea that his remarks on Gates’ arrest or Trayvon Martin reversed racial progress in this country is utterly absurd. It might have been politically risky in terms of courting the white vote to come out and comment, but to remain silent would have rendered him a fraud in the eyes who were looking to someone to provide a moral compass and some leadership. Obama’s remarks were controversial only to people who are uncomfortable talking about the legacy and impact of white racism. And on that note, I’ll point out the obvious and say sorry, but just voting for a black guy for president doesn’t wave the magic wand that makes racism disappear; racism is as much a social and economic problem within society itself as it is a political problem. In fact, the politics in dealing with racism is ahead of society in this regard. We have laws against racial discrimination, but a lot of people who have power and influence in society still don’t accept non-whites as their equals and many others are still unsure as to the extent they feel comfortable living and working among non-whites. In the long run, in the grander scheme of things, the greater good is served by having the black president possess the courage to confront issues of race head on. Obama didn’t say cops are racist; he’s simply pointing out that the equal protection clause of the constitution has been inconsistently applied. And he’s absolutely right. But a lot of people believe that having a black man (actually a biracial man) as president absolves us of our collective sins. That’s naive and counter-productive thinking because it favors a filtered perceived reality over the reality based on historical facts and what happens every day even now. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/28 "2017-09-07T19:12:06Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Check the sarcasm: > > It’s 100% certain that race did not influence her because she could not identify the race of the suspect. > > [911 call that led to arrest of Harvard University prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. never mentioned race – New York Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/911-call-led-arrest-harvard-university-prof-henry-louis-gates-jr-mentioned-race-article-1.394427) And it’s 100% certain that race didn’t influence the way the officer responded to Gates? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/29 "2017-09-07T19:23:43Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > But the idea that his remarks on Gates’ arrest or Trayvon Martin reversed racial progress in this country is utterly absurd. It might have been politically risky in terms of courting the white vote to come out and comment, but to remain silent would have rendered him a fraud in the eyes who were looking to someone to provide a moral compass and some leadership. But those remarks – what, you think rushing in to declare that the police acted stupidly is providing a moral compass? You think that making quick mention of how his hypothetical son would have looked like Trayvon somehow converts an otherwise inadequate statement into one that now gains a moral compass? I just don’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/30 "2017-09-07T20:03:33Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > And it’s 100% certain that race didn’t influence the way the officer responded to Gates? Again, nicely illustrating the change. Racist until proven innocent. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/31 "2017-09-07T20:05:08Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Can you please explain how you get from that sentence to your conclusion? This is one of those things that I’ve heard or read from time to time that I can’t quite understand. For some reason that statement seems to provoke a kind of visceral negative response and I would appreciate if someone could explain why. To me, it is a very neutral statement - so I must be missing something. Quite to the contrary, it was anything but neutral. The comment was implying that Obama felt more of a personal connection, or that there were more personal implications involved in the case, because Trayvon Martin shared the same race as his. I’m not sure how it can be interpreted any other way. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/32 "2017-09-07T20:08:57Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Again, nicely illustrating the change. Racist until proven innocent. What? Why do you keep answering straw men? This has nothing to do with anything I said. If you don’t want to engage my actual words, then that’s a shame, and I’ll stop putting effort into trying to honestly engage with you. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/33 "2017-09-08T02:18:58Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > But those remarks – what, you think rushing in to declare that the police acted stupidly is providing a moral compass? You think that making quick mention of how his hypothetical son would have looked like Trayvon somehow converts an otherwise inadequate statement into one that now gains a moral compass? Yes, it’s showing a moral compass by talking about it and representing a black man’s perspective from the bully pulpit of the highest office of the land, even while knowing that your re-election before November 2012 and political legitimacy afterward still very much depend on impressing white people. People talk about being president for all people a lot but it’s probably a misunderstood concept. Historically speaking, most presidents haven’t been presidents for all people. Barack Obama is probably one president more than any other who has come the closest to fitting that description. And being a president for all people means helping an ethnic majority understand the perspectives of people who have been historically the subject of mistreatment. It has nothing to do with being PC, microaggressions, or safe spaces. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I just don’t see it. Ok. I don’t expect everyone to, and I don’t really care. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/34 "2017-09-08T08:33:08Z")
> [@treis](#): > > It’s 100% certain that race did not influence her because she could not identify the race of the suspect. What? That makes no sense. Just because the caller didn’t explicitly mention anything about the race of the “suspicious intruders”, and perhaps could not tell at all what race they were, absolutely does not make it “100% certain that race did not influence her”. For example, it’s perfectly possible that she was more nervous about the intruders because she thought they **might** be black, and would have been more reassured if she had seen two obviously white guys instead. That’s an example of race still influencing her reactions even if the racial identity of the persons she saw wasn’t clear to her. Racist views about black people most definitely do influence the behavior of many white people even in situations with people they think **might** be black, not just in situations with people they **know** are black. Of course, we can’t be sure that the caller **was** influenced by the issue of race, but it’s completely false to claim that “it’s 100% certain” that she was **not**. It isn’t certain at all. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/35 "2017-09-08T09:36:23Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > The Democrat party needs black people to vote as a bloc in order to win national elections. There are two ways to get people to vote as a bloc, either do a good job at addressing their concerns or make them scared of the other party. Since the first way is obviously out the remaining way is to stoke fear. So the accuse [McCain](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/11/john-lewis-warns-mccain-y_n_133903.html) of racism “Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, …, As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history… Senator McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all.” Then they accuse [Romney](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/08/vp-biden-says-republicans-are-going-to-put-yall-back-in-chains/) of racism “They’re going to put y’all back in chains.” > As long as it works they will keep doing it. Spectacularly projected. Let’s change a few key words… > [@](#): > > The Republican party needs white people to vote as a bloc in order to win national elections. There are two ways to get people to vote as a bloc, either do a good job at addressing their concerns or make them scared of the other party. Since the first way is obviously out the remaining way is to stoke fear. So they accuse Obama of being born in Kenya, of being Muslim, of letting in millions of illegal non-white immigrants to steal jobs and commit voter fraud. They accuse liberals of playing “identity politics” merely for opposing repeated Republican attempts to enshrine bigotry in law. And they can’t even bring themselves to unequivocally oppose the neo-Nazis in their midst, because they’ve spent too long relying on their votes. As long as it works they will keep doing it. When it comes to stirring up fear and hatred amongst their supporters, the Democrats are pikers compared to the vast ratfucking machinery of the right. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/36 "2017-09-08T16:34:43Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > What? That makes no sense. Just because the caller didn’t explicitly mention anything about the race of the “suspicious intruders”, and perhaps could not tell at all what race they were, absolutely does not make it “100% certain that race did not influence her”. DISPATCH: Were they white, black, or Hispanic? CALLER: Uhm, well they were two larger men. One looked kind of Hispanic but I’m not really sure. And the other one entered and I didn’t see what he looked like at all. > **[TRANSCRIPT: 911 Call And Police Radio Dispatches in the Arrest of Henry Louis...](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8185376&page=1)** > > The Cambridge Police Department released tapes of the 911 call made that led to the police arriving at Henry Louis Gates' house and arresting the Harvard University professor. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/37 "2017-09-08T16:51:33Z")
> [@treis](#): > > DISPATCH: Were they white, black, or Hispanic? > > CALLER: Uhm, well they were two larger men. One looked kind of Hispanic but I’m not really sure. And the other one entered and I didn’t see what he looked like at all. > > [TRANSCRIPT: 911 Call And Police Radio Dispatches in the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. - ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8185376&page=1) So how are you 100% certain that race had no influence on the way the officer treated Gates? Again, I’m not stating that it did. I’m just asking how you’re so certain that it did not. I’m not sure if race had anything to do with how the officer treated Gates, because I’m unable to read minds. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/38 "2017-09-08T18:30:33Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I don’t know how anyone can blame Pres Obama for causing racial tensions when right out of the gate he was accused of being an African terrorist masquerading as an American citizen. > > By our current president, mind you. Cosigning. Amen. QFT. > [@Velocity](#): > > Comments such as “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon” made him seem biased and partial, as if it mattered more to him than if Trayvon wouldn’t have resembled a son of his. You obviously missed the point that he was making, if _this_ is what you inferred. Trayvon was profiled as a thug because he was inarguably viewed through a racially bias lens. A black teenaged male wearing a hoodie on a dark, rainy night automatically “looks” up to no good to a large swath of the American public, including the dangerous idiot who shot him. Obama stated that Trayvon looked no differently than his own hypothetical son _to make the point that nothing about the kid’s appearance warranted stalking and then killing him_. He looked like millions of innocent teenaged boys across the country. If you disagree with this point, fine. But its laughable to portray his comments as implying he only cared about victims who looked like Trayvon. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/39 "2017-09-11T14:04:18Z")
> [@treis](#): > > DISPATCH: Were they white, black, or Hispanic? > > CALLER: Uhm, well they were two larger men. One looked kind of Hispanic but I’m not really sure. And the other one entered and I didn’t see what he looked like at all. > > [TRANSCRIPT: 911 Call And Police Radio Dispatches in the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. - ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8185376&page=1) **treis** , nothing you posted in any way contradicts anything I said. Just because you are not sure what race somebody is **does not make it certain that race is having no influence on the way you respond to that person**. If you see somebody on the street at night and can’t tell what race they are, and you feel a little more nervous because they might be black but would feel reassured if you knew they were white, **then race is influencing your reaction to that person**. Even though you don’t know what race they are. Racial bias doesn’t exist in some kind of cryogenic suspension requiring you to push the _“race successfully detected”_ button in order to activate it. I am kind of surprised this appears so hard for you to grasp. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703/40 "2017-09-11T14:44:53Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > **treis** , nothing you posted in any way contradicts anything I said. Just because you are not sure what race somebody is **does not make it certain that race is having no influence on the way you respond to that person**. > > If you see somebody on the street at night and can’t tell what race they are, and you feel a little more nervous because they might be black but would feel reassured if you knew they were white, **then race is influencing your reaction to that person**. Even though you don’t know what race they are. > > Racial bias doesn’t exist in some kind of cryogenic suspension requiring you to push the _“race successfully detected”_ button in order to activate it. > > I am kind of surprised this appears so hard for you to grasp. I’m feeling the same way. He said one looked kind of Hispanic and the other he didn’t see what he looked like at all. The obvious conclusion to draw here is that the person he didn’t see was Gates and the person he did see was his driver, who was Hispanic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-obama-adminstration-affect-the-racial-divide/795703.md?page=3)