In 2008, when Barack Obama assumed his mantle as the president of the United States of America, he inherited a country on the brink of an economic collapse. Two wars and decades of poor fiscal policy in the banking industry had brought the U.S to an economic downturn that threatened to avalanche into a real economic depression.
Obama proved himself to be a substantive leader in potentially disastrous times by sticking to his promises by hitting the ground running. He was confronted with a complexity of issues before he was even sworn into office. These issues demanded immediate action. Few presidents deal with events as critical and important to the health of the nation in a four year term, that Barack Obama faced in his first few weeks of office.
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There was the Detroit bailout of American automakers, Chrysler and Ford, which saved over one million jobs, effectively boosting the economy . The Affordable Care Act, better known as “Obamacare”, which has paved a worthy path towards a resolution for the healthcare crisis. Even more notably, Obama managed to take us out of the war in Iraq and eliminate one of our biggest terrorists threats, Osama Bin Laden.
It took 52 years since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which aimed to remove voting barriers for African Americans, for a black man to have a legitimate chance of reaching the white house; let alone reach it, as the most powerful man in the world. It was not too long ago that the image of a black man sitting in the oval office was considered a product of an overactive imagination. To many, the fact that Barack Obama sat in the oval office, is ample proof that we have entered the “post racial” era of history in America. In his Farewell Address, Obama made it clear that we have not yet reached a post-racial America.
One man was not going to eradicate racism entirely within eight years. The notion that Barack Obama, or any president for that matter, has the all encompassing power of orchestrating such actions is a mistaken one. One President can not change how society sees race, especially when the bulk of racism is institutionalized. In fact, a multitude of presidential terms from the best of the best can not accomplish this. Changing aspects of institutional racism is perhaps one of the most difficult things to change because this may in fact, require generations to remedy.
His speech was largely a call to action, fueled by his lamentation of the current state of our nation. In assuring us that his fight towards a more just and fair democracy is not over, and that he will now fight alongside civil society, he exemplified the urgent need for transparency. A transparency that allows us to see outside of our own “bubbles”. Bubbles that many have enclosed themselves into, perhaps out of habit, or sheer ignorance, or a combination of the both.
In order to actualize our duties as citizens, we must retract from these self-defeating bubbles. We must first become aware of our biases, and then educate ourselves. Educate ourselves on all sides. We have somehow thwarted what it means to have political discourse. Instead, we have egged ourselves against one another. Not listening to the other with genuine intent, but simply focused on what we will spit back next. Many of us have stayed stagnant in attack mode, our tails standing up and our backs arched back ready to pounce at any opportunity. This is expected, justified even - but as Obama himself said, “Let’s be vigilant, not afraid”. Without acknowledging the threats to our democracy and what we can do to remedy these threats, we will continue to talk past one another. It is the with the same poise that Obama showcased when silencing the crowd’s reaction to the mentioning of President-elect Donald Trump, that we must move forward with.
Nonetheless, a peaceful transfer of power does not mean silence. Obama also made this clear. Protecting our way of life in the United States is not only the job of high ranking officials in swanky offices, but this duty trickles down to civil society as well. We must hold ourselves more accountable. When things are good, and especially, when they are bad. It is time for us to “lace up our boots”. In turn, we must see ourselves as more capable. We must acknowledge our legitimate positions in society, by acknowledging the illegitimate positions of arbitrary propaganda and fear mongering.
Now is not the time to withdraw. We are in the heat of the fight. The fight of our very nation. In our day to day lives it is easy to withdraw and not see the bigger picture. It is even easier to leave the job of heroism to someone else, but this sort of complacency, will most definitely be the root of our demise. It is when we stop reminding ourselves of the values of our nation, that we become tolerant in hearing new values - values that even go against one’s own self interests - values who are crafted by those who are afraid, afraid of their privilege being placed in a vulnerable state. We must see this clear as day. We must see the values of our founding father’s, clear as day. The respect that we have as a whole for law and order, cannot be diminished. Obama sends us off by stating that he is not afraid. He entrusts in us to answer to his call to action, and we must. If not us, then who ?
