What an Obama Presidency May Portend

Now that the coronation of Barack Obama is reaching full speed and the political honeymoon is preparing to launch, it may be helpful to gather around the crystal ball and try to figure what may happen during his tour of duty. To begin with, let’s not assume the fact of Obama’s skin color will remain insignificant. Although Mr. Obama won the election with a cross-section of white and Hispanic support, there are still large quarters of the majority uncomfortable with a black man in charge (after all, Obama’s 6% margin of victory falls remarkably short of decisive). What we may have to prepare ourselves for:

Assassination attempts
There have already been foiled plots on Mr. Obama’s life, the most recent shortly before the election. According to an Associated Press report, since the November 4 election, law enforcement officials have seen more potentially threatening writings, Internet postings and other activity directed at Obama than has been seen with any past president-elect. That he is a target because he is black has always been a source of anxiety for African Americans since the primaries, and will most certainly be for his entire presidency.

A precipitous rise in hate crimes
Although federal law officials announced recently that hate crimes overall had dipped 1% last year, expect to see a spike in the number of cases for 2009. An unsettling example was cited in the above-mentioned Associated Press report regarding a Web site that got more than 2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 members on Election Day. There was also a reported spike in gun sales after the election.

Messianic and resistant attitudes
The fact that we have finally elected a black man as president seems so surreal and it will take time for that to wear off. In the meantime, there will be those on both sides of the racial divide who will expect Barack Obama to take the lead in reversing decades-old negative trends in the black community (for example the high-school drop-out rate or black male incarceration) and those (mostly the opposition) who will resist such efforts. These attitudes will persist because many people expect a president to endorse policies designed to help not hinder people while others expect a person to pull themselves up by their own “bootstraps”. Understand: black America will become better by the mere presence of a black man occupying the White House; young blacks will look to this event as a catalyst to improving their lives.

Ghettoization of the presidency
This began long before Mr. Obama was elected; comedians, pundits, radio talk-show hosts and common people (not to mention some politicians) used snide, condescending stereotypes to imagine the White House as a haven for black antics, minstrelsy and uncouth behavior (hence people will cite favorites as watermelon, pool hall etc.).