The minority voice spoke for a consecutive presidential election, and the country listened.
As in 2008, minority voters were key contributors to President Obama’s re-election. Approximately 93 percent of African Americans voted for the president— 2 percent less than the previous election year.
Sadly, African Americans’ fortunes have not changed since the first black president stepped into office. Many question the significance of his re-election for the black community, his original voting base.
It is unfair to judge the president’s performance based on problems he inherited. A failing economy and the issue of poverty take more than one term to solve.
The 2008 election was unlike any other witnessed in American history. The black populace seemed to wake from its political slumber and embrace two democratic candidates. One was the wife of a former president loved by them, and the other was a little-known senator from Chicago. Two million more African Americans and Hispanics voted that year.
The newly elected president embodied the pride of blacks across the country.
Four years later, however, that pride and enthusiasm dipped as Republican Candidate Mitt Romney gained ground during the final stages of the presidential race. This time, African Americans voted for Obama in fear the alternative would win.
S.L. George, 67, a retired postal manager, was one of those who felt this enthusiasm in 2008.
“I look at him [Obama] as being a visionary for everybody; he’s an American and this is what we all are,” she said about the reason she voted for him in both elections.
George blamed the country’s stagnant growth on a divided Congress and believes the GOP will have to start accommodating all groups of people in order to attract minorities.
But the fact remains that not much has changed in the community since the president was elected the first time.
Blacks still suffer from poverty, unemployment hovers around 14 percent and many still fill the country’s prisons. Even the president’s hometown of Chicago suffers from a high murder rate that rivals that of Baton Rouge.
Black issues are not solely the president’s responsibility. Too often black people forget that Obama is not just representing the black community but also the United States. His policies should not target one demographic.
One might point to the president’s application of the DREAM Act as catered to Hispanics, when in reality the act enables many European and Caribbean illegals to achieve the American Dream. This political move did manage to ensure around 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, however.
Obama’s re-election is significant not just for African Americans but for minorities as a whole. Gone are the days of a voiceless minority. His re-election proves minorities have the ability to dream and to succeed. From women to Hispanics to Asians, we all have a right to dream.
“A lot of us are in the same boat as far as socioeconomic circumstances,” said business management junior Steven Goins Jr. of minorities.
Maybe the GOP will take this factor into consideration when strategizing for the 2016 election.
