On the President's Desk: Race
The last topic in this month's series will be the issue of race. Racism, both deliberate and systemic has been a part of American history, beginning with the abhorrent practice of slavery, the post-bellum atrocities of the Reconstruction period, the history of lynchings and Jim Crow laws, and many other sad examples on the landscape of the nation's past. Some Presidents have been blatant racists, such as Andrew Johnson, who infamously said, "This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men."
Racism in the United States has been widespread since the colonial era. For decades, legally sanctioned privileges and rights were given to white Americans but denied to all other races. This included discrimination in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure. Prejudice wasn't exclusively applied to African-Americans. Non-Protestant immigrants from Europe, especially Irish people, Poles, and Italians, were often the target of exclusion and discrimination as well. Middle Eastern American groups have also faced continuous discrimination in the United States, and have East and South Asians.
Discriminatory institutions include slavery, segregation, Native American relocation and reservations, Native American boarding schools, and internment camps. Those these have been abolished for the most part, socioeconomic inequality has been statistically shown to be imbalanced based on race and ethnicity and racial stratification continues to occur in employment, housing, education, and lending. A United Nations
A 2010 submission to the United Nations by the U.S. Human Rights Network has concluded that "discrimination in the United States permeates all aspects of life and extends to all communities of color." While tolerance of racism has declined significantly over the past several decades, discriminatory viewpoints among a segment of the population remain. This year a YouGov/Economist poll found that 17% of Americans oppose interracial marriage
Many Americans believed that saw the candidacy of Barack Obama, and his election in 2008 as the first African-American president of the United States, was a sign that the nation had entered a new, post-racial era. But racist attitudes remained, even within Obama's own party. For example, Democratic Senate Majority Leader apologized on January 9, 2010, for a comment he had made when Obama was campaigning for president. Reid had remarked that Obama could win the Presidency because be beleved that the country would vote for a black presidential candidate if the candidate was "light-skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one", referring to Obama. When these comments were revealed by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in their book about the 2008 election entitled Game Change, Reid called Obama to apologize. Obama graciously accepted the apology.
In March 2008, a controversy arose concerning Obama's 20-year relationship to his former pastor Jeremiah Wright. ABC News played clips of racially and politically charged sermons by Rev. Wright, including his assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own terrorism and his assertion that "the government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." After experiencing a drop in the polls, Obama responded by condemning Wright's remarks, ending his relationship with the campaign and delivering a speech entitled "A More Perfect Union" at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the speech, Obama rejected some of Wright's comments, but refused to disown the man himself, noting his lifelong ministry to the poor and past service as a US Marine. The speech sought to place Wright's anger in a larger historical context
In late April, Rev. Wright spoke to the NAACP in Detroit, reiterating his earlier views on terrorism, HIV, and other issues. Obama held a press conference on April 29 in which he was personally critical of Wright as well as Wright's controversial remarks. Obama said he was "outraged" and "saddened" by Wright's comments, calling them "divisive and destructive." He said of Wright, "the man I saw yesterday was not the man I met 20 years ago." Obama stated, "Whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this."
Following Obama's election, although many pundits claimed the existence of a "postracial America", racial tensions soon became apparent. Many African-Americans complained about "racial venom" directed at Obama's presidency. In July 2009, prominent African-American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts home by a local police officer. Controversy soon followed after Obama stated that the police acted "stupidly" in handling the incident. Later, Obama invited Gates and the police officer to the White House in what became known as the "Beer Summit".
Other incidents during Obama's presidency concerned outrage in the African-American community with the law enforcement community. These included the acquittal of George Zimmerman following the shooting death of an African-American youth named Trayvon Martin. In a subsequent speech, Obama saId that "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago." The shooting of Michael Brown, an African-American man, in Ferguson, Missouri by a white Police Officer, sparked a wave of protests. These and other events led to the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement, which campaigns against violence and systemic racism toward black people.
Members of the law enforcement community criticized Obama's condemnation of racial bias after incidents in which police action led to the death of African-American men. Conversely, some racial justice activists criticized Obama's expressions of empathy for the police. A March 2016 Gallup poll, nearly one third of Americans said they worried "a great deal" about race relations, a higher figure than in any previous Gallup poll since 2001.
Many portrayed the election of President Donald Trump as a racist backlash against the election of Barack Obama. In his recent book Right Here Right Now, author (and former Canadian Prime Minister) Stephen Harper rejects this theory, noting that many of those who voted for Trump were the same voters who had voted for Obama in the past two elections. Harper notes that Trump's victory is more properly attributable to voters in counties adversely affected by free trade and globalization leaving the Democratic party to vote for Trump, especially in industrialized states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania.
During the past decade, many examples remain in American society that suggest that high levels of racism and discrimination remain. A recent phenomenon has been the rise of the "alt-right" movement: a white nationalist coalition that seeks the expulsion of racial minorities from the United States. In August of 2017, these groups attended a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, intended to unify various white nationalist factions. During the rally, a white supremacist demonstrator drove his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing one person and injuring 19. On August 13, 2017, President Trump condemned violence "on many sides".
Attorney-General Jeff Sessions described the action as domestic terrorism. During the rally there had been other violence, including on the part of some counter-protesters charged at the white nationalists with swinging clubs and mace, throwing bottles, rocks, and paint. On August 14, President Trump expressly denounced the white supremacists. He condemned "the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups".
Since the mid-2010s, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have considered white supremacist violence to be the leading threat of domestic terrorism in the United States. After the president's initial response, many elected officials, both Republican and Democratic, condemned the violence and the actions of the white nationalists, neo-Nazis and alt-right activists. President Trump came under criticism from these politicians as well as many world leaders and many religious groups for not singling out the white supremacists in his criticism of the violence. Many in the media, including the New York Times leveled the accusation that President Trump had "buoyed the white nationalist movement on Tuesday as no president has done in generations".
Racism in the United States has been widespread since the colonial era. For decades, legally sanctioned privileges and rights were given to white Americans but denied to all other races. This included discrimination in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure. Prejudice wasn't exclusively applied to African-Americans. Non-Protestant immigrants from Europe, especially Irish people, Poles, and Italians, were often the target of exclusion and discrimination as well. Middle Eastern American groups have also faced continuous discrimination in the United States, and have East and South Asians.
Discriminatory institutions include slavery, segregation, Native American relocation and reservations, Native American boarding schools, and internment camps. Those these have been abolished for the most part, socioeconomic inequality has been statistically shown to be imbalanced based on race and ethnicity and racial stratification continues to occur in employment, housing, education, and lending. A United Nations
A 2010 submission to the United Nations by the U.S. Human Rights Network has concluded that "discrimination in the United States permeates all aspects of life and extends to all communities of color." While tolerance of racism has declined significantly over the past several decades, discriminatory viewpoints among a segment of the population remain. This year a YouGov/Economist poll found that 17% of Americans oppose interracial marriage
Many Americans believed that saw the candidacy of Barack Obama, and his election in 2008 as the first African-American president of the United States, was a sign that the nation had entered a new, post-racial era. But racist attitudes remained, even within Obama's own party. For example, Democratic Senate Majority Leader apologized on January 9, 2010, for a comment he had made when Obama was campaigning for president. Reid had remarked that Obama could win the Presidency because be beleved that the country would vote for a black presidential candidate if the candidate was "light-skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one", referring to Obama. When these comments were revealed by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in their book about the 2008 election entitled Game Change, Reid called Obama to apologize. Obama graciously accepted the apology.
In March 2008, a controversy arose concerning Obama's 20-year relationship to his former pastor Jeremiah Wright. ABC News played clips of racially and politically charged sermons by Rev. Wright, including his assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own terrorism and his assertion that "the government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." After experiencing a drop in the polls, Obama responded by condemning Wright's remarks, ending his relationship with the campaign and delivering a speech entitled "A More Perfect Union" at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the speech, Obama rejected some of Wright's comments, but refused to disown the man himself, noting his lifelong ministry to the poor and past service as a US Marine. The speech sought to place Wright's anger in a larger historical context
In late April, Rev. Wright spoke to the NAACP in Detroit, reiterating his earlier views on terrorism, HIV, and other issues. Obama held a press conference on April 29 in which he was personally critical of Wright as well as Wright's controversial remarks. Obama said he was "outraged" and "saddened" by Wright's comments, calling them "divisive and destructive." He said of Wright, "the man I saw yesterday was not the man I met 20 years ago." Obama stated, "Whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this."
Following Obama's election, although many pundits claimed the existence of a "postracial America", racial tensions soon became apparent. Many African-Americans complained about "racial venom" directed at Obama's presidency. In July 2009, prominent African-American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts home by a local police officer. Controversy soon followed after Obama stated that the police acted "stupidly" in handling the incident. Later, Obama invited Gates and the police officer to the White House in what became known as the "Beer Summit".
Other incidents during Obama's presidency concerned outrage in the African-American community with the law enforcement community. These included the acquittal of George Zimmerman following the shooting death of an African-American youth named Trayvon Martin. In a subsequent speech, Obama saId that "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago." The shooting of Michael Brown, an African-American man, in Ferguson, Missouri by a white Police Officer, sparked a wave of protests. These and other events led to the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement, which campaigns against violence and systemic racism toward black people.
Members of the law enforcement community criticized Obama's condemnation of racial bias after incidents in which police action led to the death of African-American men. Conversely, some racial justice activists criticized Obama's expressions of empathy for the police. A March 2016 Gallup poll, nearly one third of Americans said they worried "a great deal" about race relations, a higher figure than in any previous Gallup poll since 2001.
Many portrayed the election of President Donald Trump as a racist backlash against the election of Barack Obama. In his recent book Right Here Right Now, author (and former Canadian Prime Minister) Stephen Harper rejects this theory, noting that many of those who voted for Trump were the same voters who had voted for Obama in the past two elections. Harper notes that Trump's victory is more properly attributable to voters in counties adversely affected by free trade and globalization leaving the Democratic party to vote for Trump, especially in industrialized states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania.
During the past decade, many examples remain in American society that suggest that high levels of racism and discrimination remain. A recent phenomenon has been the rise of the "alt-right" movement: a white nationalist coalition that seeks the expulsion of racial minorities from the United States. In August of 2017, these groups attended a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, intended to unify various white nationalist factions. During the rally, a white supremacist demonstrator drove his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing one person and injuring 19. On August 13, 2017, President Trump condemned violence "on many sides".
Attorney-General Jeff Sessions described the action as domestic terrorism. During the rally there had been other violence, including on the part of some counter-protesters charged at the white nationalists with swinging clubs and mace, throwing bottles, rocks, and paint. On August 14, President Trump expressly denounced the white supremacists. He condemned "the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups".
Since the mid-2010s, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have considered white supremacist violence to be the leading threat of domestic terrorism in the United States. After the president's initial response, many elected officials, both Republican and Democratic, condemned the violence and the actions of the white nationalists, neo-Nazis and alt-right activists. President Trump came under criticism from these politicians as well as many world leaders and many religious groups for not singling out the white supremacists in his criticism of the violence. Many in the media, including the New York Times leveled the accusation that President Trump had "buoyed the white nationalist movement on Tuesday as no president has done in generations".