Obama was long on well-intended vision but short on results. Donald Trump has promised — with the help of G-d— to upend Obama’s feats, but can he undo the last eight years?
NEW REGIME Donald Trump has promised — with the help of G-d and some luck — to upend Obama’s feats with Republicans fast-tracking a replacement for Obamacare and a foreign-policy team sending warm messages to Israel instead of Obama’s cold shoulder. But whether he gets the help he asked for and needs remains to be seen. Can Trump really undo the last eight years? (Illustration: Avishai Chen Photos: AFP/Imagebank Flash90)
T oday Obama is an avid golfer in his own right but 1961 was the first year that a man of Obama’s color could have teed off with a Donald Trump: that was the year in which the Professional Golfers Association revoked its “Caucasian-only clause” opening the door for all players to participate in professional golf tournaments.
When Obama was born Congress was still three years away from ratifying the Civil Rights Act. Segregation was still in vogue. Restaurants in a dozen southern states still barred men of color from getting a seat at the table while gas stations posted signs on their restrooms reading “white men only.”
No discussion about Barack Obama’s legacy can begin without expressing the significance of his breaking the White House’s color barrier in 2008 — an achievement guaranteed to cement his legacy. Obama wistfully alluded to his breakthrough in last week’s farewell address in Chicago. “After my election there was talk of a post-racial America” Obama began. “Such a vision however well intended was never realistic. Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society.”
Create a free account to keep reading.
