By Lara Levin
Student Writer
As part of the Johnson Communication Leadership Forum, a panel of political analysts, moderated by Johnson Communication Leadership Center Director Christopher Holmes Smith, convened to confer on issues of the new administration in the discussion “A More Perfect Union? Race and Politics in the Age of Obama.”
The panel included Amy Holmes, CNN political contributor and conservative commentator; Ta-Nehisi Coates, author and political correspondent; Tanya Acker, media, legal, and political analyst; and Kyle Baker, writer, artist and animator. They fielded questions from Smith and the audience that tackled the topic of a “tenuous post-racial utopia that may or may not be dawning,” as Smith described it.
The discussion began with a comment from each panelist about their personal evaluation of Obama’s first State of the Nation address. None of the panelists could deny the effectiveness of Obama as a communicator, but Coates went on to note that “speeches are speeches — it’s easy to talk the talk, but it’s harder to walk the walk.” Baker shared this take on the power of Obama’s speech.
"Obama has gotten this far by out-politicking,” Baker said. “He sticks to things that nobody could disagree with like, 'We don't torture.' So now if you're going to argue him you have to be the pro-torture guy."
Baker’s commentary then led into Smith’s question of whether race is a justifiably marginalized issue for Obama to tackle in his presidency. As some of the panelists noted, many Americans hold the notion that Obama does not deal with race but rather distances himself from the topic. A consensus on the panel suggested, however, that not only is this untrue, but Obama has the power to tackle issues of race while representing the interests of the American people at large.
“Health and education I think are huge racial issues,” Holmes said.
“I think education is the number one civil rights issue of our time. (Baker was ) talking about Barack saying he wants to be the education president. Every president wants to do that. George Bush I wanted to be the education president. George Bush II passed No Child Left Behind, working very closely with Senator Kennedy. He too wanted to be the education president — I think you remember his line about the soft bigotry of low expectations. The question is, 'Will any of them succeed?"
By approaching these big issues, Obama is able to take a racial angle while serving as the leader of all Americans.”
Acker added, “The dividing line today is not race but class and economic disparity.”
Despite some ideological disagreement among the panelists, the singular point of unanimous agreement was that the realization of a post-racial political arena in the United States has yet to be seen, and while progress has been made, Obama’s success as president will play a crucial role in this political transformation.
To close the discussion, Dean Ernest J. Wilson III offered his remarks on Annenberg’s dedication to “take this issue of division and race in the media and communication fields very seriously,” determined to educate a new generation of students in what may be a new era in American politics.
