A thank you to President Obama

You know, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to write a piece about (now former) President Obama. There are going to be a lot of thinkpieces about this anyway, but I think it’s good to share my perspective.

Like many black people, I was excited to see a person who looked like us rise above the odds to become the nominee for a major political party in the United States of America. We couldn’t believe it, older people especially. I heard many times that “We thought we would never see this in our lifetime.”

We’ve had many people come somewhat close, from Shirley Chisholm to Jesse Jackson to Al Sharpton, but he was the first to make it all the way.

And he did it all while being a symbol of class and respect. He spoke well and was a professional, yet was relatable to many people. His family is lovely, with Michelle being a successful lawyer and a wonderful role model for black girls across the country.

When he won Iowa, people at my middle school started cheering him on. This guy was the real deal. He genuinely had a chance of winning.

Obama was elected during my freshman year of high school. It happened at a time in my life where I transitioned from a mostly black middle school to a mostly white high school. The differences between them were night and day, especially after the election.

There was a sense of pride when I woke up for school the next day. My parents were excited to tell me that our next president was going to be a black man.

I was so happy. This person who looked like me, had the same skin, understood the problems of being black in America, managed to defy all odds and be elected to the highest office in the land. Even a decade ago, that was unthinkable.

When I went to school the next day, the attitude was… mellow. There didn’t seem to be as much fanfare about it, despite this being an historic day. I actually heard some people complaining that he won.

“He’s not qualified!”

“What has he done?”

These were questions that I couldn’t answer at the time. No doubt many of those people recently voted for a guy who didn’t even serve in public office or have any political experience at all.

I don’t think I can accurately explain the significance of a black person becoming president. Like other minorities, it’s great to see people like you on television or in positions of power. I still cheer for the black people in game shows!

This was unreal. To see him swearing in and being our new president. It was inspiring. It was exhilarating. It was terrifying.

That last one is significant because while we were excited to see him, we knew that he’d be a huge target. Anthony Anderson on Black-ish covered my (and a lot of black people’s) feelings the best:

If you didn’t see the clip, the most important part is the end:

“We were so proud. And we saw him, get out of that limo, and walk alongside of it, and wave to that crowd. Tell me you weren’t terrified when you saw that. Tell me you weren’t worried that someone was gonna snatch that hope away from us like they always do. That is the real world, ‘Bow. And our children need to know that that’s the world they live in.”

That was my feeling every time I saw him go out in public; every speech, every time we walked into a crowd. Someone would take him from us, simply because he didn’t have the right skin color.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but the racism and irrational hatred was alive and well. When he ran for re-election, the slogan for the GOP was basically “We need to get this black guy out of here.” Mitch McConnell refused to even meet with a future Supreme Court nominee for months, setting a horrible precedent in our government.

I doubt he would have gotten the kind of hatred and refusal of cooperation for eight years if he was white. They wouldn’t have questioned his birth or his dedication to the country. Someone wouldn’t have shouted out, “You Lie” during the State of the Union address.

It’s a reflection of something Chris Rock said: “The black man gotta fly to get to somethin’ the white man can walk to!”

He had to work harder in an already tough position just to get what he wanted. That’s something a lot of minorities can relate to.

But back to what Obama means personally for me. I wish he could have done more, but I think that he did a great job overall. I doubt that we’ll have so many prominent black entertainers, actors, and hidden figures come in and be recognized in the White House again any time soon.

He brought attention to the impact of the War on Drugs and mass incarceration, becoming the first sitting president to visit a private prison. He also granted more commutations of prisoners (usually for non-violent drug offenses) than any president in history.

Whether you agree with his policies or not, his presence was important for the little black kids who grew up to see this person like them leading the country. A country that has (and continues to) hurt them at a systemic level.

Even for non-black people, his election proved that we can elect someone who’s not white and male to the highest position in the country, paving the way for people of different backgrounds, and especially women, to rise to high positions of power. If you can’t see the importance of that, I don’t know what to tell you.

So I just wanted to say thanks, President Barack Hussein Obama, from the bottom of my heart. Hopefully we as a country can have more presidents like you, or even better.