Former President Barack Obama recently gave a speech in which he attacked the critics of “identity politics.” At the June Copenhagen Democracy Summit Obama said: “I have little sympathy for reactionaries who cynically condemn identity politics or cancel culture when really all they’re doing is trying to preserve existing privilege or excuse entrenched injustice, or bigotry. It’s racism, homophobia and sexism that are the origin of identity politics. That’s nothing if not identity politics, and it’s done a lot more harm than some tweet from an aggrieved liberal.”
“Reactionaries”?
This would have been the Obama that burst onto national consciousness in 2004 when he gave a riveting keynote address at the Boston DNC convention, where he condemned identity politics. Then-Illinois state Sen. Obama said: “There are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. They should know that the United States of America is not liberal or conservative. There is no black America, white America, Latino America or Asian America. The United States of America exists. Our country is often divided into red and blue states by pundits. Red states are for Republicans and blue for Democrats. However, I have news for them as well. … We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.”
Days before he announced his race to become a Democratic nominee for president in 2008, Obama gave his first “60 Minutes” interview:
“60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft: “You think the country’s ready for a black president?”
Obama: “Yes.”
Kroft: “You don’t think it’s going to hold you back?”
Obama: “No. It will not be me winning this race because of any other factors. It’s going to be because I have not shown to the American people a vision for where the country needs to go that they can embrace.”
At a 2007 speech at Brown Chapel AME church, presidential candidate Obama talked about the black struggle, how much had been achieved and that which remained: “The previous generation, the Moses generation, pointed the way. It took them 90% of the journey. But we still got that 10% in order to cross over to the other side.”
This Obama was the Obama Americans assumed they had recruited in November 2008. Positive, hopeful, a liberal Democrat to be certain, but a black male who could at least serve as a racial reconciliation worker, acutely aware of the progress America has made. He was a 70% approval rating when he first entered the Oval Office on January 3, 2009. According to an ABC News poll, 58% of respondents believed race relations would improve under Obama in January 2009. However, in October 2016, a CNN/ORC survey found that 54% believed race relations would worsen under Obama. It was this poll which came one month prior to the election.
Obama as President pushed a growing list of race grievances, despite little evidence. The list included “the Cambridge police acted stupidly”; racism is “still part of our DNA that’s passed on”; “if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon (Martin)”; holding up Ferguson as a microcosm of racial strife in America; inviting race-hustling incendiary the Rev. Al Sharpton to the White House over 70 times; and embracing the Black Lives Matter movement, an activist organization based on the false narrative of police “systemic racism” against blacks. Obama never missed an opportunity for Americans to see him as a conciliator. Obama knows full well that racism is a significant obstacle to American success. He is a living testament to this truth, as his election and reelection are a clear example.
Obama was elected president based upon a lie. Obama entered the presidency as an articulate and even-tempered, racial unifier. He left it as an articulate and even-tempered, racial incendiary. He plays today the race card in his Martha’s Vineyard bunker, which is valued at $12 million.
Larry Elder, a nationally syndicated talk-show host and author, is best known for his bestsellers. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry Elder on Twitter @larryelder. Visit www.creators.com to see cartoons and features written by CreatorsSyndicate authors.
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