Do you think America will ever have a Black President Again?

Who, exactly, are we lagging behind?

US first black senator - 1870 - Senator Hiram Revels

UK -Bernie Grant, Labour, 1987

Australia - Liberal MP Ken Wyatt, who was elected in 2010.

US - First Black President - Barak Obama, 2009-2017

UK FIRST Black Prime Minister - not yet

Australia - First Black Prime Minister - not yet

Italy's first black Minister, also a woman, (similar to a Congresswoman) is struggling against prejudice with a tolerance her critics do not share.

True that many nations do not have as large a population of non-whites as the US, but. why is that? Is it harder for non-whites to emigrate there?

There is a vast difference between 'racism exists in the U.S.' and 'the U.S. is racist.'


@Graylight

@Mamapolo2016 You know, the KKK came about as a backlash to Reconstruction, when Senator Revels and Governor Pinchback (of Louisiana) served. Not unlike Trump’s election as a backlash to Barack Obama.

@bijouxbroussard I do know about the first. I do not know about the second because I don't believe that's the reason. Democrats find that much easier to believe because otherwise they will be forced to acknowledge two things: 1) The candidates offered in an election had better improve. or we'll do it again and 2) we.did.not.want.hillary.clinton.

Why is it nobody will answer the question I've been asking, which is, 'if the US is so racist that white supremacists or just plain garden variety racists elected Donald Trump, how did President Obama get elected for two terms?'

You have never heard me say and will never hear me say all is rainbows and lollipops in the US. We have a lot of work to do. I am tired of hearing my country dismissed as a savage band of racists, most [b][i]especially[/i][/b] from nations that are doing WORSE than we are.

Their lack of progress does not excuse our slow progress. But it does turn them into the blacker pot calling the kettle black.

@Mamapolo2016 Look at how Obama was treated, and he wasn’t a jerk, he wasn’t constantly tweeting and attacking people, he wasn’t a braggart, and initially he tried to reach across the aisle. How much has Trump reversed that was working for people, simply because Obama’s name was on it. Nobody’s life is rainbows and lollipops, I get that. But people [b]are[/b] treated differently, and it’s basically just about waiting for that next ugly awkward moment, because you know it’s coming. The membership of the KKK quietly increased [b]exponentially[/b] during Obama’s administration. Trump made it okay for them to openly hate by claiming during last years’ march by white supremacists (where one of them [b]killed[/b] a young woman) that there are “fine people on both sides”. [b]Here[/b] is when he wants to pretend to be neutral.

@bijouxbroussard Beautifully said.

@Mamapolo2016 I can answer your question. I've been away from here a while. Let me make sure I understand your question. Are you asking If Barack Obama was elected for 2 terms why do people think America is filled with racists?

@sweetiepoo Yes.

@Mamapolo2016 I know you disagree, but I still say Trump in particular has been a kind of backlash. After all, as you pointed out, there were blacks in positions of power during Reconstruction. And yet, that’s also when the Klan came into power, as well as “the lynching times” and Jim Crow laws that legally segregated people by race. Then, as now, a segment of the population wanted to turn the clock back. MAWA.

@bijouxbroussard I don't even really question that - probably some, yes...kneejerk is a common reaction, on both sides. President Obama was elected for his second term in 2016. Do you truly believe there was enough backlash for President Trump to sweep to the Presidency on a white supremacy tsunami four years later, is what I am asking.

@Mamapolo2016 Yes, because clearly he [b]has[/b]. A combination of people choosing [b]not[/b] to vote at all and others deciding that the racist candidate (because he made it pretty clear) wasn’t a dealbreaker.

@bijouxbroussard Racist candidates have ALWAYS not been dealbreakers. For both sides. For a very long shameful time. It hasn't mattered if they were racist before, has it?

@Mamapolo2016 There was a time when it didn’t matter, in our lifetimes. How long was Strom Thurmond in the Senate ? But pretty much from the Civil Rights era on, most folks tried to be less obvious about it.

@bijouxbroussard I'm talking about Republicans, yes, but I'm also talking about Democrats. It didn't matter much until fairly recently.

I'm not defending President Trump. Lyndon Johnson was a bigot. A lot, perhaps even most, have been.

There is a deep difference between saying a particular powerful man is a racist and saying he was elected by your countrymen and women because THEY are all racist.

@Mamapolo2016 I know that difference. My father didn’t vote for Kennedy in 1960 because as a black southerner, he didn’t trust LBJ and his previous connection to the Dixiecrats. Yet, after the assassination, Johnson still signed into law the Civil Rights and Voters’ Rights acts. Pop doesn’t like Trump either, he remembers the lawsuits when Trump and his father were discriminating against blacks trying to rent or buy property from them. But after Trump won, my father said, “let’s give him a chance, sometimes like LBJ people surprise you.”
Trump has been exactly who and what he seemed. So maybe [b]some[/b] people were fooled in 2016. But those who [b]still[/b] support him will be making an informed decision.

@bijouxbroussard I know you believe what you say. I know that. i know there's no changing your mind and I also know if our lives were reversed I might well be you and you me.

I'm tired tonight anyway. This does not alter the fact thst I like and respect you. I hope we both rest well.

@Mamapolo2016 Fair enough, MamaP. You rest well.

@Mamapolo2016 Ok, your question was if Barack Obama was elected for 2 terms why do people think America is filled with racists?

Some people have already touched on the answer, but I'll put my answer in. Unfortunately, there is a misconception in America that because Barack Obama was elected for president not only one, but for two terms, that America, has moved past racism. Unfortunately, the sad part of it all is that it hasn't. Obama was called the n-word, his wife was called an ape, and he was VERY disrespected by his fellow Republican congressmen. There are incidents every day where black and brown people are stereotyped, profiled, and attacked... simply because of the color of their skin. Black men are often pulled over literally for no reason. They can be driving a nice car and be pulled over because the police think it's stolen. They can be doing the same exact thing as their white friend/ or other white person and they are treated differently. There are White Supremacists that want this country to be theirs(all white) Young men are called n-words frequently. I wish you could see this for yourself. It's hard to prove if you can't see it, but it's possible. Talk to any person of color and ask them if it still exists... Better yet, ask yourself this question. If you could switch skin colors with a black person, would you? Why or why not? If you have living grandparents, ask them what they feel about black people, they might not be racist, but what about their friends? Oh, how I wish you could walk a day in the shoes of a black person. I personally think black men have it worse. But, check out this YouTube video. It does a pretty decent job of explaining it and is slightly entertaining too. I really hope you can understand that racism is alive and well. Oh and one last thing before you check out the video and please check it out, Obama won twice because there are more decent people than people who have a senile mentality. Between the black vote and the majority of the white vote who opposes racism, he took the election. Take care and enjoy the vid. I hope you learn something.

America: Still Racist | ContraPoints:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWwiUIVpmNY

@sweetiepoo I am leaving SW, I swear I am. But I did not want to leave this unanswered.

You are young and I am not. I am not yet blind or deaf. I would never for an instant argue that racism is not alive and well in this and every other nation. If it's not white against black it's somebody against somebody.

My question was, how were there enough votes to elect President Obama twice if there are enough racists to elect President Trump?

I have heard the epithets. I have thrown people out of my house and once out of my car for using them. I have quit two jobs because of unanswered racism.

I have seen a young black man racing panicked away from my father's car (we'd stopped to offer him a ride in the deep South in the mid 60s) because it was night, he was alone and the car was full of white faces.

I am not stupid and I am not smug. Racism still is with us although if I could wave a wand it would not be.

During the thread you responded to I looked to see the strength of the Klan. The Southern Poverty Law Center says 5000-8000. That's 8001 too many, and it's by no means the only racial-hate centered group.

But it's nowhere near enough to elect a President, not via the electoral college or any other way.

There are not enough black voters to elect President Obama. Even the strong Hispanic vote could not have put his campaign in the win column. 39% of whites voted for him and although I can't prove this I am confident that a number who did not vote for him were not concerned with his race, but his policies.

Blacks have many white enemies, I grant you. Not every white is an enemy and not every loss in the voting booth is race-driven.

That was my point.

@Mamapolo2016 I apologize, I thought you were asking that question [b]and[/b] claiming that racism was none existent. But why are you leaving SW? to answer your question, I did touch on it a little. I basically said that there are more good white people than bad white people. with all the good with people with all the blacks + others that voted, Obama won... and yes not just because of his skin, however, some very young people did.

@sweetiepoo You don't need to apologize to me. I meant to say but forgot to that I appreciated the sweet sanity of your response.

I do understand why we have trouble understanding each other. But we have to try, we have to try so hard.

I have watched a lot of people doing a lot of things in my life. One thing that is commonly known by counselors and mental health professionals is that if a spouse is accused unfairly of infidelity by an irrationally jealous spouse, it is likely that eventually they WILL be unfaithful. If you have the name, why not get in the game?

For a long time the US deserved the name 'racist,' although we have come along faster than many if not all nations. To an extent, we still do. But when an election goes a way other than what is desirable and the cries of 'US racism!' fill the air across the world, some good decent basic people who have been trying to do right start thinking, 'Wait. Is there nothing I can do to get the racist slogan off my t-shirt? Why try then?'

I don't doubt some voted for President Trump because of racism. I do NOT believe most did. If the two major parties do not swiftly process it that many votes for Trump were protest votes - we would not have Hillary Clinton forced down our throats - then it is going to happen again.

President Trump has not polarized us. President Trump is a non-presidential buffoon who is doing some good things that are helping everybody. We have polarized us by refusing to listen to each other.

You're a little bit right, I'm a little bit wrong is the political stance that ought to be popular right now if we don't want another four years of this caterwauling.

I have enjoyed our exchange and maybe we inched forward. I hope so.