The Impact of a Phenotypically Black President on the Contours of African American Politics: A Consideration of the Inclusionary Dilemmas

This attempts to weave together three ideational threads. In this regard, it affords the author with the opportunity to think through these threads in greater detail, to think through their interrelationship, and to get critical feedback from scholars who share some of the intellectual interests explored herein.The aforementioned ideational threads are: (1) the challenges and constraints on domestic policy formation that have confronted President Barack Obama, thus far, in his two terms as POTUS; (2) the impact of the Obama presidencies on the contours of African-American politics; and (3) the "inclusionary dilemma" that confronts President Obama.(1) The challenges and constraints on domestic policy formation that have confronted President Barack Obama:Over the past five years, with only a few exceptions, we have seen very little evidence that President Obama has used the authority of his office, or the so-called "bully pulpit," to address conditions of racial inequality in the United States. The explanation for this reticence, this essay argues, is to be found in a set of structural conditions (inherent in our constitutional formal-legal order); partisan circumstances (associated with post-2010 ‘divided government’); and President Obama’s personal public philosophy of "civic universalism" which has steered him clear of ethnic and race-specific public policy initiatives. As pointed out below, these factors contribute to President Obama’s "inclusionary dilemma."(2) The impact of the Obama presidencies on the contours of African-American politics:To situate this essay in its proper conceptual space, an updated version of the Hanes Walton Jr.’s term "Black politics" will be used. From this updated definition, a pivotal conceptual distinction is made: Black politicians and politicians who happen to be Black. Black politicians have historically been engaged in behavior meant to confront and mitigate institutional racism and its effects on African-Americans, while politicians who happen to be Black, primarily tend to be engaged in behavior not directly tied to improving quality-of-life opportunities for African-Americans per se and/or struggling to remove or minimize the legacies of historic racism. These politicians, who happen to be Black, get a great deal of criticism from some Black folks for not making so-called "Black interests" a top priority. As a result, some Black folks are confused, angry and frustrated with politicians who happen to be Black, who are nonetheless seen by many as Black politicians. The contours of African-American politics, as a body of knowledge, have become blurred because of a failure on the part of our scholarship to make the distinction discussed above. The two elections of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. have significantly contributed to this blur because of the mistaken tendency to see him as a "Black politician," which this essay argues, he is not.(3) The "inclusionary dilemma" that is inherent in the challenges and constraints that President Obama faces if he was to address the legacies of racial inequality that confront many African-Americans:The election of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. in 2008 as the Nation’s first (phenotypically) Black president, has suggested to some that African-Americans had reached the mountain-top in the long climb toward full (civic) inclusion. For some, the election of Obama to the highest elected office in the land, suggested that because he is (phenotypically) Black, he would use the authority of his office to address deep-seated legacies of racial inequality. In his first term in office, we saw no evidence that President Obama explicitly used the authority of his office to take such action. Almost two years into his second presidency, we have seen some efforts on the part of this administration to address some aspects of racial inequality in the criminal justice system.We have gained an appreciation of what this essay calls President Obama’s "inclusionary dilemma," one the confronts President Obama – because he holds the highest elected office in the land, and because he is a politician who happens to be Black (see the discussion above), does not mean, axiomatically, that he will use the authority of his office to address the deep-seated legacies of racial inequality. Thus far, we have learned three things that have contributed to President Obama’s "inclusionary dilemma."Two factors are structural in nature. First, we have learned from careful observation of the domestic policy initiatives during his first term in office that the policy latitude that the president of the United States has is significantly shaped by separation-of-powers inherent in our constitutional order. Secondly, we have also learned, particularly since the results of the mid-term elections of 2010, that electoral outcomes can result in "divided government" – wherein one major political party occupying the White House with the other major political party holds a majority in one of the two chambers of the legislative branch of the federal government. Divided government therefore, further constrains the policy latitude of the POTUS.The third factor that constrains the policy latitude of President Obama, particularly with regard to using the authority of his office to address the deep-seated legacies of racial inequality, is philosophical in nature and particular to President Barack Obama.This philosophical factor refers to President Obama’s often repeated public philosophy, which this essay calls his sense of "civic universalism." President Obama sees himself as the President of the United States, who happens to be Black. This public philosophy has meant that he has tended to advocate domestic public policies that are broad in their impact, and to avoid public policies that ethnic or race specific in nature. This essay will provide numerous examples of President Obama’s stance of "civic universalism" beginning with his address at the national Democratic convention in 2004.These three factors have contribute to his "inclusionary dilemma," which also is a dilemma for African-Americans who have expectations that President Obama might use the authority of his office to address the deep-seated legacies of racial inequality that confront African-Americans.