A Recent Event That Shaped American History
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A Recent Event That Shaped American History
Part 1
Morris Smith, a mechanic, residing in Texas, and an uncle, participated in an interview on recent developments in American history. He is a member of the black American community. He was asked to choose one last event in American history, give out his opinions, and explain how this event would bring changes to the United States of America. He decided to speak about the former president of the United States of America, Barrack Obama.
Mr. Smith was asked to give a candid opinion about Mr. Obama’s victory in the 2008 presidential elections. He submitted that he never looked forward to such an occurrence in the American soil. That a member of his black American community would win presidential nominations, and the most prominent seat in the country too was unthinkable. He was excited that for once, members of his race felt valued.
When questioned why he saw the victory was such a success, Mr. Smith argued that the small population of black Americans residing in the United States of America was not large enough to promise a member of the community a political view in such a big stage. According to him, other races living in the United States of America, apart from European Americans, are tiny to promise one a presidential election win.
Mr. Smith also felt that the United States of America’s history of her past presidents didn’t give any hopes of Barrack Obama winning both presidential nominations and elections, simultaneously. All past presidents of the United States were European Americans. Thus, expecting a man from a mixed-race to go against the odds and make it to Whitehouse was extraordinary.
Another reason why Mr. Smith believed that Barrack Obama’s presidential nominations and ultimate victory in presidential elections in 2008 were heroic was the fact that he had no past political affiliations. Therefore, a black man, deciding to run for the presidency of the United States of America, and still win the contest was very commendable.
Lastly, concerning Mr. Smith’s argument, the prevalent racism in the United States of America didn’t seem to support a possibility of a contestant from a small race winning both presidential nominations and corresponding elections simultaneously. The United States of America used to experience and still experiences cases of racial stereotyping, discrimination, and profiling. Mr. Barrack Obama, a member of the community mostly racially discriminated, was not expected to stand for the presidency of the United States of America and win the contest. Therefore, according to Mr. Smith, Obama’s victory was such a milestone.
When asked about his opinions regarding the impacts and effects of Barrack Obama’s presidential victory of 2008 on American politics and history as a whole, Mr. Smith was convinced that the success was a turning point. He believed that more members of the minority races in the United States of America would be interested in contesting for various political positions in the country. Also, he believed that the win would bring the start of a decline in racism in the United States of America.
Part 2
In the year 2008, Barrack Obama became the first member of communities outside European Americans to become president of the United States of America (Love, Tosolt, 2010). This was and is still regarded as to be unthinkable. There are very many reasons why Mr. Barrack Obama’s achievement is seen as an extraordinary milestone in the politics and history of the United States of America as a whole. Some of these reasons are explained below.
According to Edge (2010), for one to win any political seat, they need to have full support from a vast community that they hail from. This means that an individual from a very populous community and with full support from their community is very likely to win any political seat. However, in Barrack Obama’s case, he comes from a society that has a tiny population in the United States of America. Therefore, even if all members gave him their support in his ambition, he couldn’t rely on their support alone to win the seat. He could have lacked enough numbers.
Secondly, all past presidents of the United States of America had been European Americans (Kenski, Hardy & Jamieson, 2010). History of the presidency of the United States of America was against the ambitions of Barrack Obama. However, how he, as a member of the black American community, managed to turn around things was such extraordinary. None expected a member of such a small race to get their way into Whitehouse.
Lastly, concerning Tesler & Sears (2010), racism has been and still is, very rampant in the United States of America. Since time immemorial, communities outside European Americans in the United States of America are mostly discriminated based on their race. Black Americans happen to be one of the victims. Therefore, it is safe to say that Barrack Obama, a member of the black American race, made history when he won both presidential nominations and elections, ultimately.
Generally, according to King and Smith (2011), the political achievement by Mr. Barrack Obama of winning the 2008 presidential elections of the United States of America brought considerable changes to the political arena of the country as well as the history of the country as a whole. For the first time, the black American community would feel equals to European Americans. Other communities living in the United States of America must have felt empowered; members of these communities must have been motivated to go for various political seats.
In summary, Barrack Obama made history by being the first non-European American to be elected president of the United States of America in 2008. This achievement brought a lot of changes in the history of the United States of America. For instance, hopes of curbing racism in the country were raised.
References
Tesler, M., & Sears, D. O. (2010). Obama’s race: The 2008 election and the dream of a post-racial America. University of Chicago Press.
King, D., & Smith, R. M. (2011). Still, a house divided: Race and Politics in Obama’s America (Vol. 125). Princeton University Press.
Love, B. L., & Tosolt, B. (2010). Reality or rhetoric? Barack Obama and post-racial America. Race, Gender & Class, 19-37.
Edge, T. (2010). Southern strategy 2.0: Conservatives, White voters, and the election of Barack Obama. Journal of Black Studies, 40(3), 426-444.