A Referendum on His Policies and First Term officially begins on January 21

Sherman Oaks, CA -- (SBWire) -- 02/22/2013 --President Barack Obama will be officially inaugurated for his second term in office. This marks the beginning of a tremendously significant period for African-American culture and society.

Most people view an election as a referendum on the performance of the person who last held the office in question. For that reason, many people viewed the election of Barack Obama in 2008 as a rejection of George W. Bush and the Republican power structure.

The real test came in 2012: Would the country, still very much in the crises that existed in 2008, re-elect a Black president, or would the country’s continuing malaise be blamed on him? A recent African American blog commentator noted, “The first time around, Obama was a novelty. This time, Americans elected Barack Obama the leader, not Barack Obama the new and interesting Black American.” What does this mean for black culture in America?

Many say that the most noteworthy feature of the recent Presidential election was that it underscored the current deep divisions in American politics. What is equally noteworthy, though, is that the voters didn’t seem to care about Barack Obama’s race (or that of Mitt Romney); they cared about his policies and the prospects for dealing with America’s problems and issues. Could this herald a new era of, perhaps not color-blindness, but at least color-indifference in America? If we judge the most powerful man in America solely by what he does, that is a triumph for Black America: After all, the entire Black rights movement has been nothing more or less than a quest for African-Americans to be treated as equal to all citizens. This may signal that racism in America, while it will probably never completely disappear, is starting to wither and die.

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