Obama: Not a racial breakthrough

     When Barack Obama claimed his first presidential victory in 2008, the biggest news headline was that America had just elected its first black president. While this was true, it was also the most emphasized aspect of Obama's victory. That wasn't surprising, however, seeing as though Obama's campaign largely centered around his race. I was a sophomore in high school when Obama ran for his first presidential election. I wasn't that informed about the election issues, but I knew the economy was in trouble and I listened to the candidates' speeches when they came on television. The one thing I was completely aware of, however, was that Obama could be (and eventually was elected as) America's first black president. Why? Because he emphasized it in every single speech he gave.

     Obama's victory has been labeled as one that has broken a racist social structure in America. But when we really think about it, has it? In my opinion, it hasn't. As I already mentioned, by emphasizing it in every speech he made, Obama made his race a key voting issue. While it was an extremely effective election strategy, I actually think it made the racial situation in America worse. Pointing out his race so much just drew more attention to the fact that being black made him significantly different than other candidates. In a country where black people fought for equality, we had a black presidential candidate fighting to be seen as not equal to other candidates because of his race. This is the very reason why it's flawed to call Obama's victory a racial breakthrough. Had Obama really wanted to break down racism in America, his strategy would've been to de-emphasize his race and promote the fact that he could be elected based solely on his platform. But since he chose to point out his race in every speech he made, changing America's views on racism clearly was not Obama's goal. If anything, Obama's victory just pointed out how traditional minorities are rapidly growing in America, and how much voting power they have as a group now.