President Barack Obama may be the most polarizing figure in American politics today. If he’s not taking shots from the right he’s taking them from the left. If it’s not the Tea Party criticizing him then it’s the Congressional Black Caucus. Obama has taken more body blows than when De La Hoya was knocked out by a body punch from Bernard Hopkins.
He takes them, absorbs them, but one has to wonder if he has enough stamina to get back up.
A recent Washington Post-ABC news poll found that Obama’s support within the black community has dipped as his strongly favorable views are down to just 58 percent. That number is skewed slightly as 86 percent of those polled still hold a favorable view of Mr. Obama, albeit not strongly.
Digging a little deeper into Obama’s poll numbers another Washington Post-ABC news poll states that only 37 percent of those polled believe that Mr. Obama will be re-elected. Juxtapose that poll next to this one: ABC News says that President Obama holds a 15-point lead over Republicans on who Americans trust on job creation.
So where exactly is the divide and how do we find it?
One poll says that the President won’t be re-elected and that black people have only a favorable instead of strongly favorable view on him and the next states that Americans trust him more than Republicans when it comes to jobs.
Then there is the minor matter of the color of President Obama’s skin. In recent weeks Hollywood actors Morgan Freeman and Samuel L. Jackson have come out in support of the President by stating that all actions put forth by Republicans and their Tea Party counterparts are dripping with racism. Jackson was quoted as saying that the disapproval of Obama from the right “boils down pretty much to race.”
Is it really race and if so how do we define racism against this President? Have his policies specifically benefited one race over another? Have people come out and openly criticized him by injecting his race when speaking about his Presidency?
Take Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Recently she’s been fairly critical of President Obama’s failure to address the high unemployment rate within the black community. When Obama gave his speech to the Congressional Black Caucus a couple of weeks ago he told the CBC to “stop complaining and stop whining” and to march with him to pass his jobs bill.
In response to his speech Representative Waters said that she’s not complaining and she wants to support him.
“I don’t know who he was talking to because we’re certainly not complaining. We’re working. We support him, and we’re protecting that base because we want people to be enthusiastic about him when that election rolls around,” said Waters.
Did Rep. Waters’ comments contribute to a political divide or a much larger racial separation between those who perceive his race to be a problem and those who just disagree with his political ideology?
In speaking with a few voters of President Obama, some seem to think that there is no divide but race has played a major factor as to why he’s criticized.
“I think that he has faced unfair criticism due to his race. There have been some overt issues, but I believe that the struggles and criticism he has taken from mass media, as well as the struggles with Congress are directly correlated to his race,” said Jon Howard, a Howard graduate from Alabama.
In regards to how he’s viewed within the black community Howard said that he’s not judged too harshly by black folks but, certain critics like Tavis Smiley and Cornel West may be a little limited in their range of thought when it comes to Obama’s relationship with Wall Street.
“West and Smiley, whom I have very high regards for, have been against President Obama in many ways since before his election. In this scenario I believe them to be short sighted,” said Howard. “For President Obama to solely focus on the underprivileged when the country as a whole is in jeopardy would be foolish; thus Smiley and West’s criticism goes without merit in my opinion.”
Obama’s tone has recently changed from that of a President ready to work out the nation’s problems on the political couches of Democrats and Republicans, to a man who’s been beaten into a corner so much so that he’s forced to fight back.
No more bipartisanship as President Obama is finally on the offensive. He recently unveiled a jobs plan that he entitled the “American Jobs Act” that some economists predict will create up to 1 million jobs.
His plan may have little chance of passage due to lack of votes but that hasn’t stopped his tough language. When House Republican leader Eric Cantor said that he would not put the President’s bill up for a vote, Obama struck back by saying that he does not believe in rebuilding America’s infrastructure.
If only the President could stay in campaign mode then maybe, just maybe, his base wouldn’t be so angry. But that’s for another article.
That tough talk is something that resonates with voters as stated by Anthony Albury, a burgeoning author.
“My critique of him would be that he needs to stand up for what is right and stop allowing fear of the opposition to dictate what he will do. I feel that in some ways he’s become reactionary rather than proactive,” stated Anthony.
He also believes that Obama has been unfairly criticized due to his race, but unlike Howard he thinks that there is a deep divide within the black community regarding this President.
Waters may become the poster child, or woman, for criticizing the President. She most certainly isn’t the first African-American to disapprove of Obama and won’t be the last, but she may be the most vocal and most famous politician to do so. The difference between Waters and the “rest” is that she’s doing it out of concern and love and not because of a strict political difference or a personal matter.
She has stated before that she still supports him and only wants to see him succeed, but she needs for him to help her help him.
Count Rep. Waters within that 58 percent of black folks who have lost their strongly favorable rating of President Obama.
What I found is that most Obama voters want to see strength from the President and not weakness. The criticism toward him is not necessarily shrouded by race but it’s a call for him to show some muscle. It would be so much easier for black people to vote for him again if his relationship with the black community, and the CBC, wasn’t so cold at times. During his 2008 run for president his campaign’s reported budget for African-American media was only $2 million.
I believe that there is a deepening divide within the black community regarding President Obama because some have lost all enthusiasm toward him. Instead of voting for a Republican, many will just stay home and not vote at all which is something that misrepresents democracy.
Donald Tillman is a local educator with strong union ties. He, like so many others, longs for the President to show more strength but at the same time feels that he’s done a fair job given what he was faced with.
“Yes, given the situations, and circumstances that face the president, I feel he is doing a fair job. I wish that he be more forceful and deliberate,” said Tillman.
Most Americans want a President to show strength in times of peril and not weakness. With the American economic system in danger of collapsing again and the African-American community facing the highest unemployment rate in 30 years his failure to show focused compassion toward this demographic has only widened that divide.
What’s most troubling for President Obama is the lack interest in voting for him again. If he can’t bridge that divide then America’s first black President may soon find himself back in Chicago, four years sooner than he planned.
