Trayvon Martin

When Senator Barack Obama was elected the first black president in 2008, African Americans were flushed with a new sense of possibility and ownership in the American political system (source). Many of us thought it was our time in the sun. Political pundits and black-folks everywhere serious questioned if America would undergo a new era of pro-black politics? An era were institutionalized racism would be challenged and black-needs would be prioritized.
Eight years have passed since Obama’s first appointment and the reality of a non pro- black president has raised the question: Is it even possible to have a black president engaged in black-politics?
If you believe in the polarization hypothesis, the answer is unabashedly, no.(Source)
As Ronald Walters outlines in his essay, Two
We use his success in being elected twice to inductively suggest, it is not possible to have a black president that is engaged in black politics, otherwise Jesse Jackson would have won in ‘88.
Firstly, President Obama left the most critical issues out of the conversation regarding Trayvon Martin’s death. He deferrs the most controversial aspect of the case – the legal merits and the justification of non-consequence for killing young black males – to be solved by legal analyst and pundits. Pro black politics would have openly challenge the legal institutions that justify the killing of black men.
Secondly, although, President Obama began by saying Trayvon Martin could have been his son or even him 35 years ago, following that, Barack Obama seemed to distance himself from the African American Community: describing our narrative in the third person. A true pro-black politician would have said, we or us, not them and they. He was obviously distancing his