Obama and Taylor’s “Post-Racial Exuberance”

“We can’t possibly be racist, just look at our president!”

          Barack Obama, with a self-proclaimed “Muslim-sounding name” and mixed heritage began his first term as President in 2008 (read: post 9/11). This ushered in a new, optimistic attitude towards perceptions of racial progress in the United States.  Taylor cites a journalist who writes; "In the post-racial era personified by Obama… Americans start to make race-free judgments about who should lead them" (Taylor 184). He also discusses something he terms, “post racial exuberance.” In this case, exuberance and ignorance seem to go hand in hand.

Touting Obama is the post racial thinking in respect to Obama makes us blind to issues of mass-incarceration and profiling. This type of thinking also creates a space where we are not obligated, prompted or feel it is necessary to examine our own attitudes surrounding race. We do not challenge the stereotypes that permeate the media. We can agree that overt racism is bad, but avoiding race talk as a whole stagnates us as a society. Some view Obama as a signpost for a progressive, “post-racial” society, but this view is problematic. Obama as president encourages some to approach systemic issues with more colorblindness than ever.

                On the flipside of all this, I remember that last class we talked about the concentration of black athletes in professional sports, and the effect this could have on black youth considering their future options. If they see themselves represented in athletics and the music industry, for example, and not in politics it will affect how open different career paths seem. Barack Obama, while problematic if he is viewed as a landmark for a new “post-racist” era, can serve as an inspiration for the next generation of black youth in impoverished areas who want to be lawyers, politicians, and generally well-educated adults.