In the English 115 class I am currently taking, one of the topics we had discussed during class was our president, Obama. One of the fellow professors at SWCCD whose expertise is on African American studies, Professor Stanley James, recently did a presentation on Obama. I wasn't able to make the presentation, but I got the gist of it as we spoke about it during class.
Basically, society doesn't praise Obama's accomplishments, but rather focus on the negatives and what he "fails" to promise. Here are a FEW examples of the amazing things this man has done...
1. For even centuries, politicians have been talking about health care reform. Since THEODORE ROOSEVELT. When was he president? The begin of the 1900s. Now, that's a pretty damn long time. Out of all the presidents, Obama is the first one to actually do something about it. The Affordable Care Act: restrictions on pre-existing conditions, makes healthcare more affordable for small businesses, removes lifetime caps, and more. Does this sound bad to you? I don't think so.
2. He believes in equality for everybody. He signed the Lilly Led better Pay Act to help women get equal pay as men for work, and the repeal of the men's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Ooh big deal, he's SUCH a humanitarian. Actually, it is a big deal. To women and those who are gay, it is. Knowing you have a leader who is accepting should be comforting.
3. Obama supports education! For those of you who have growing children, consider this a major PLUS for him. He gave more flexibility to the No Child Gets Left Behind Act--concerning the education of children in public schools--and is making college aid more available.
4. Despite inheriting one of the worst economic messes since the Great Depression, he added over 2.6 million private sector jobs to our economy, and indications are that our economy are slowly improving. To slow for you? Then you attempt this.
How about this? Obama inherited the WORST ECONOMY since the Great Depression, with unemployment on pace to reach 20% by the end of his first year. It's no Obama's fault that prior Presidents have piled all of their shit on his plate. Another huge factor, is racism. Evidently, our president is African American. People are ignorant. His skin color affects the way people view him. It's kind of like the "Looking Glass Self." This means, that people's perceptions of an individual, "form" that individual's appearance and actions.
Disagree? Agree? Everyone's opinion matters. Thanks for taking the time to read this. :)
Disagree? Agree? Everyone's opinion matters. Thanks for taking the time to read this. :)
Nice recap of your classmates' presentation.
ReplyDeleteWhat caught my attention from the students' report of James' talk was the way we were able to figure out how the different topics James brought up (health care, oil spills, the debate for women's reproductive rights) all pointed back to and supported his larger point. Not just that the President is subject to harsher critique than his predecessors. Not just that Obama doesn't get recognition for his his success. But James' larger point that this double-standard is a reflection of the same kind of mentality behind Jim Crow Laws. All the different smaller points James made - all that he was doing - pointed toward his larger message.
This phenomena, of the smaller chunks pointing to the bigger claim, works not only in speeches and lecture, but in the essays and books we are reading. I'm hoping that we are able not only to see that at work in what we read, but put that into practice as we write.
Henry