If Barack Obama would become president how would he affect the African American community? | Teen Ink

If Barack Obama would become president how would he affect the African American community?

May 20, 2008
By Anonymous

If Barack Obama would become president how would he affect the black community?


Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961 to the parents of Ann Dunham and Barack Obama Sr. Barack’s parents met each other at Harvard University. Obama’s father named him Barack, meaning “one who is blessed “from the Swahili culture. As Obama grew up he volunteered to help poor black communities overcome the strains and struggles that put them in bondage. From April to November of 1992 Obama served as a director for the Illinois project called VOTE, which he helped register about 150,000 black people to make a change within their community. The outcome of the project VOTE made Obama realize that he wanted to make a difference within the world.
“The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama states that we pay too much attention to color and issues that do not really make a change in life. But the things that we should recognize is the dream and legacy that Dr. Martin Luther King gave when he stated that “we should not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character”. In 1996 Obama was elected to be the Illinois State Senate, which meant that he would represent the poor South side of the black communities. As Barack continues to compete with other candidates he persistently lets American know what he stands for, such as making a positive change within America.
Barack feels that if he becomes president he would need a sense of urgency about improving the education system. I agree, because having a good education determines your future and what you earn out of life. Statistics show that in 1999, five out of every one hundred youth enrolled in high school dropped out without completing before 2002. Barack also feels that being poor in this country is a hazard to our health, because we do not have the necessary benefits that we should have. Barack also feels that being able to vote changes the choices that many people make in life. Most importantly Barack would like to delete all the hardships that most African Americans face each and everyday which are poverty and racism.
Those were the major and important issues that we as African Americans must look at. The question that we must ask ourselves is whether Barack is simply trying to convince us to vote for him or does he really express his message honestly to the people about changing this country? The reason I ask the question is because most politicians or person who has runned for president or who have become president makes promises to the people about making this country a safe and better world to live in. Then the promises become apologies to the people because their needs are not met.
I feel that Barack would make a positive change in America because as he grew up he help built strong blacks communities and he also helped struggling families overcome the poverty that most African Americans face today. In 1985, Barack moved to Chicago to help with living conditions that were influenced with crime and high unemployment and he made great improvements. I strongly feel that he would do the same thing to better our struggling country. In one of Barack’s debates he stated that he would try to decrease the crime rates.
He also stated that he would make more jobs available for society because African American males have been ranked number 1 for the highest number of crimes committed amongst minorities. Statistics show that there have been over 23 million crimes alone in the United States. Barack said that he is passionate about seeing these men have access to well paying jobs to keep them off the streets. He also thinks that having a good occupation determines how one functions or maintains in life. But most importantly it helps prepare you for growth in the future. There was a youth survey given to black voters to see how they felt about voting. Reports indicate that young black voters have little confidence in making a difference within their community. Voting allows people to express their feelings about the way things are being done in the world. Barack gave a speech about race and how it affects everyone and I thought that it would be an important message that everyone should partake in. It states that “For the African American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming ignorant but continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life”. But it also means binding and improving health care, and better schools, and better jobs to the larger aspirations of every American.
But Barack stated that if he becomes president he would invest and encourage young black voters to vote because it is important to make a change. If Barack becomes president I honestly feel that he would make a positive change within the black community by making it stronger, safer, and by making wiser decisions that impact every aspect of our lives.


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This article has 1 comment.


sk8erchick78 said...
on Oct. 19 2008 at 2:28 am
if Barack Obama wins to become the president of the united states then i think we would get out of a little bit of debt that president bush and former president ronald reagan have cost our country. I am not saying that the country has become worse since president bush and former president ronald reagan became leaders of the u.s.a but they have flushed millions of dollars down the toilet to help starving and sick people in other countries but what about the sick and starving people in our country. If we had extra money to send to other counries after we helped ours thats the way we should of done from the start. if we did that i think number one we would have a bigger population and number 2 poor people could actually have a chance at surrviving and now since the stock market is terrible peoples hard earned money is gone and thats not fair.