Blacks are worried they may lose political, social clout
One of President Obama’s favorite quotes is from Martin Luther KingJr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towardjustice.”
As America celebrates its independence this month, the firstAfrican-American president stands as a testament to his faith in thatstatement and also to his own pragmatic political skills. In a nationwhere race has long been a divisive issue, Mr. Obama tapped a yearningfor change with racially neutral language that transcended distrust andhelped unite the country to elect its first black president.
At the same time, a growing number of African-American scholars are questioning the cost of that victory.
But there is some concern that in Obama’s efforts to transcend race andunite the country, the African-American community could inadvertentlylose political clout in determining crucial social-policy issues –from education to healthcare — vital to its well-being.
“What was the price of Obama’s election? In part, it was that we can nolonger talk about race explicitly around national policy issues, or atleast [Obama] can’t, without being accused of playing identitypolitics,” says Eddie Glaude, professor at the Center for AfricanAmerican Studies at Princeton University. “So the question is then: Howdo African-American communities engage issues in light of theirparticular experiences without being accused of pushing a racialagenda?”