presidential legacy is a complicated thing, like an
equation where his character, decisions, policies,
promises, failures, successes, and anything of any
consequence on a national or international scale
are variables. Right now, people – not just Americans, obviously – are looking back on the last eight
years in the U.S. and weighing these variables, tipping the scales according to their view of the world. If you’re a West Virginia coal miner,
a African American schoolteacher from Chicago, or a journalist from
Toronto, you’re going to see things differently. But as more time passes,
the legacy will begin to look more similar to more people.
A
For soon-to-be-former President Barack Obama, that convergence of
views is still a dot on the horizon. Right now, his accomplishments are
being refracted through the prism of many worldviews, magnifying him
into a giant of progressive causes in the eyes of many (including yours
truly), and twisting him into something else entirely in the eyes of others.
If the election of Donald Trump proved anything, it was that there
were far more of those others in America than most expected. Consider, for example, the fact that he was the first African American to
win the presidency. He had what many people would characterize as
two successful terms, and yet Trump ran a campaign built on racial resentment – regularly saying things that should have disqualified him for
the position – and won (if you’re not fully convinced of that, I should
point out that the Ku Klux Klan is planning a parade in North Carolina to celebrate Trump’s election; or that the president-elect’s chief
strategist, Steve Bannon, is a hero of the white nationalist movement).
Or consider the DREAM Act, a law that would prevent the children
of undocumented immigrants from being deported.
fredi winter 2016 •
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