New Race Relations

Barack Obama’s presidency appears to be affecting the public’s perception of race relations. Two thirds of Americans believe that race relations are good in the United states, and the percentage of blacks who agree has doubled since last July. Black Americans are among Obama’s biggest supporters but 72% of all Americans are optimistic about his coming term. Poll respondents indicate that Americans truly do feel differently about race relations because Obama is president. It seems as if the age old battle between black interests and goals and white interests and goals that has slowly begun to dissolve in recent history is rendered even less significant with a black president; things are becoming more unified. And of course the image that President Obama sends to the rest of the world is one to be proud of.
The election of the first black president the United States has ever had this past November was one of the biggest events in the history of the civil rights movement. In itself a solution to many racial issues in the country, Obama’s term now appears as though it is going to lead to others. The constructed nature of reality states that people’s world views are shaped by their experiences, expectations, biases, and by other people. In this case they are shaped by one person, President Obama. Such a radical increase in the percentage of people who think that race relations are good in the U.S right now is not a complete coincidence. Obama’s presence in politics plays a definite role in the increase and will hopefully continue to do so.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/us/politics/28poll.html?_r=1&hp