I’m in the middle of reading his book, A Promised Land and what’s most striking to me so far is Barack’s humility. He fully understands that by being the first black President, he overcame insurmountable odds, and while he was running held a utopian view of the changes he could make. Once he got in there, though, it became glaringly obvious how entrenched the good ole white boys network was and that he would have to make some compromises or he would never get anything done. By its very nature, the US President is intended to be a government administrator, head of the military and a diplomat, not an activist or law maker. I’m certain he had to meet many times with people who he disliked, who stabbed him in the back or who openly disliked him. The fact that he mainly operated from a space of grace under extreme pressure and scrutiny, with a wide spectrum of expectations, I believe he did the best he knew how.
No leader is perfect and I have a sense that he had no idea the sheer scope of the decisions he would face while in office. To expect anyone to be able to radically change an entrenched system in eight years is unrealistic. And tearing down those who do make it to a position of power and influence may be shooting ourselves in the foot.
Should he have to censor himself to appease white supremacy? No. Did he sometimes do it so he could stay in the game as a more compassionate and thoughtful leader than any I’ve seen in my lifetime? Yes. Because the alternative is Donald Trump and Obama knew this. We have a long way to go to realize true equity in this country, to make reparations to everyone who is still impacted by slavery and oppression. I would love to see that happen overnight, but realistically it may not even happen in our lifetime. We still have to keep working, lay the foundations. Those who are at the leading edge, risk more than you think to hold their presence, stating I have a right to be here against so many voices that tell them otherwise. Change has to happen at all levels, it begins with the individual hearts and minds and it cumulates with entire systems being shifted. I don’t say this lightly, because many black people don’t have the luxury of time. And that is the biggest tragedy of all…
