Hope And Change The First African American President Of...

Hope and Change? History was made in 2008. The first African American was elected President of the United States. In Barack Obama’s acceptance speech he described his election as a defining moment and one that would bring change to America. Has that change come? Race relations have always been a topic of great debate, even more so since an African American was elected President. Can a black president change the way people think about race and its place in everyday life? As we are in Obama’s last year of his second term it is obvious that racial bias has seen little improvement in the United States. Trending polls point to no improvement, recent high profile events are keeping it in the news and there has been no†¦show more content†¦A telephone survey in 2009 revealed that eight out of ten blacks said the country needed to make more changes to ensure blacks had equal rights. Also, most blacks remain skeptical that police treat them equally. In the same survey, fifty-four percent of blacks say that race relations have improved. At this one year mark of his presidency support is higher among blacks than whites (Blacks). It seems that at this point in the president’s term the African American populations does not see the change but don’t want to point the finger at Barack Obama. While during this first year, the number of blacks that have a favorable opinion of Obama is high at ninety-five percent; popularity has declined with whites from seventy-six percent to fifty-six A recent poll in 2015 by CNN said thirty-nine percent of Americans think race relations have gotten worse. Only fifteen percent say they have improved. It’s important to note that this survey was taken a week before a Department of Justice report found racial bias to be evident in the Ferguson Police Department (Shapiro). A separate poll revealed that seventy-six percent of Blacks think the justice system favors whites (Agiesta). The justice system and the things that come along with it are one of the things that put race relations to the front lines. High