The
majority of the African American community celebrated the election of
Barack Obama as U.S. president in November 2008. After centuries of
white male presidents, the election of a Black man as president was a
significant development that gave rise among African Americans to a
hope for change and more inclusion in government and the economy.
There was the hope that “Black faces in high places” would lead
to a generally better life for the nation’s 41.8 million African
Americans.
Despite this collective hope, a far different reality
exists today. The
National Urban League’s 35th
Annual State of Black America Report noted the following:
Americans have half the access to health care as white Americans;
Urban League’s Equity Index places African American living
standards, in general, at 71.8 percent of whites, declining from
72.1 percent in 2010.
American unemployment is 15 percent, compared to 8 percent for
whites.
median income of white households in the United States equals
$54,680; for African American households, the median income is
$33,500.
These
figures were mirrored by the economic and social data for Latinos,
with the Latino Equity Index equaling 75.5 percent
of whites, a 12 percent rate of unemployment, and a median income of
$40,000.
Clearly,
the election of Barack Obama has not improved the lives of African
Americans. Why? Because racism is a feature of the
capitalist system that benefits from national oppression and other forms of bigotry that keep workers divided and allow for super-exploitation. And Obama is the chief executive of a state that serves the interests of the
capitalist class.
Like all U.S. presidents before him, Obama earned the support of the corporate establishment—a must for funding a viable electoral campaign—by demonstrating his commitment to their interests, not by confronting them. The election of a Black president was indeed a historic
milestone in the struggle against racism, but it made it all the more clear
that the racism is inherent in the system itself and not determined by the particular individuals occupying the seats of power.
The history of African Americans in the United
States is one of suffering extreme oppression in several stages,
including chattel slavery, Jim Crow, the violent repression unleashed on the
Civil Rights and Black Power movements, the post-Vietnam War
incarceration rates and the drug infiltration of communities. Oppression and the struggle against it form the bulk of the Black
experience in the United States. That oppression continues today.
The
experience of the Obama presidency shows that the only solution to
the national oppression Black people suffer in the United States is a
revolutionary transformation of society, and not the election of any particular person to the White
House.
