A panel of experts examined President Barack Obama’s performance thus far in a discussion entitled, “The Obama Legacy: A Critical Assessment,” last Wednesday in the Student Center Ballroom.
The panel was comprised of Robert Perry, professor of African American studies; Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, professor in leadership and counseling; Ronald Woods, professor of African American studies; Edward Sidlow, professor of political science; Mark Higbee, professor of history and philosophy; Ana Monteiro-Ferreira, assistant professor of African American studies; Patrick Pieh, adjunct lecturer of African American studies.
Ravi Perry, assistant professor of government at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. also participated and Victor Okafor, head of EMU’S department of African American studies department, moderated the event.
Provost Jack Kay delivered the opening remarks. Kay said there’s been a lot that’s happened in Obama’s presidency so far that has impressed him.
“Presidency is an awesome job,” Kay said. “I’ve always been infatuated with it. Presidency is something that deserves great scrutiny and also great praise. It becomes incumbent of us to sit and talk.”
Okafor asked the panel what their take was on why democrats lost majority seating in the House of Representatives.
Higbee said the democrats’ losses were large.
“Fewer people voted for Obama’s party,” Higbee said. “More people stayed home. Why did people not vote? President Obama failed to convince people. This loss was massive, not marginal. Democrats will likely lose the seats in 2012.”
Robert Perry said the loss was not out of the ordinary.
“It’s nothing unusual about the fact he could not get them to turn out,” Perry said. “Now you would have hoped he would have been able to motivate those voters that turned out.”
Sidlow said he doesn’t believe the loss of seats is something to be alarmed about because it’s happened in other presidencies.
“I honestly don’t find the drop off that scary,” Sidlow said.
Higbee said new presidents do not always lose seats.
“An exception would be 2002 with Bush,” Higbee said. “He gained seats. Obama has not been successful at showing what he’s been good at. There are policy areas that he could have taken stronger steps.
According to Woods, republicans were more successful in conveying their message.
“I believe republicans did a better job in shaping Obama’s agenda as an anti- American presidency,” Woods said. “The American voters are much more pragmatist. The bottom line is the American economy has not turned around. Things were not working and when things are not working, we try to get rid of the person at the helm.”
Ravi Perry said it’s a host of reasons why democrats lost seats during the midterm elections.
“The idea you have a black president, this is a new phenomenon,” Perry said. “On top of that, people are broke. They will vote that person or party out they feel is responsible. Some of these individuals who voted are not strong voters. They don’t have the same partisanship strength. These are young people who were voting for Obama, not anyone else. He is the incumbent party, they traditionally lose seats.”
The panel discussed achievements and progress President Obama has made during his two years in office.
Ravi Perry said although some are easy to point out, a few are largely symbolic.
“One, he’s made key appointments in his administration, he’s passed bills, and created jobs,” Perry said. “There are a host of symbolic things. His rhetoric for one.”
Robert Perry said one concerning thing to him is how progressives have responded to Obama’s presidency.
“I’m not surprised by conservatives, but progressives seem to not understand,” he said. “They accuse him of being too cool. We need to understand the history of African Americans. They cannot respond the same way to things as whites. He is a black man that has to walk a chalk line.”
“He has to be cool. He would be criticized if he jumped up with militant rhetoric.”
Everyone’s expectations of Obama have been “ridiculously high” according to Ravi Perry.
“A lot of people have become disillusioned,” Perry said. “I don’t think expectations are problematic, I think it’s easy to talk about things Obama hasn’t done.”
Woods said there have been major points of progress, but they’re not lauded because the of the time it takes to develop them.
“Race to the Top is important,” Woods said. “One of the problems is the many policies advanced by Obama are ones that do not pay instantaneously. I think in part, Obama is a more analytical and cerebral person. Politics doesn’t like that.”
Zamani-Gallaher highlighted the funding the president has put into community colleges and stem cell research.
Monteiro-Ferreira credited Obama with saving the automobile industry.
“These are industries that are slowly making the economy better,” Monteiro-Ferreira said.
The panel tackled the controversy surrounding the Tea Party. Ravi Perry said the tea party is “anti- Obama” and it’s partly because he’s black.
“It is truly an anti-American group,” he said. “The fact the Tea Party is having success with fringe elements is not a surprise. They will be around through Obama’s presidency. It’s the type of opposition I hope the liberals are paying attention to.”
Sidlow said republicans, particularly those in the House of Representatives, will find themselves in the same position as the democrats in the 1950s’.
“There were two democratic parties,” Sidlow said. “I don’t think Boehner will bring the two parties together.”
Higbee said people should not confuse this Tea Party with the original Tea Party from Boston.
“The original Tea party objected taxation without representation—not taxes,” he said. “It’s very interesting to me it’s funded by billionaires. I think a certain part of it is white supremacy, not all of it, but a significant part. Some of them think, ‘we’ve got a black guy in office, it must not be legit’.”
Okafor asked the panel their thoughts on whether or not the perception of Americans has improved around the world.
Not much progress has been made with that, Ravi Perry said.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “You would see a faster movement towards peace.”
Sidlow disagreed and said America is better presented to the world.
“Obama is still perceived as a rock star overseas,” Sidlow said. “To look for world change over a brief amount of time is too soon.”
President Obama is a smart individual, but he’s made a few bad decisions, according to Higbee.
“We’ve escalated American problems,” Higbee said. “Not just in the short-term, but the long-term. President Obama is making the same mistakes as President Kennedy.”
Higbee also criticized the amount of time Obama has spent in Afghanistan.
“He spent more time in Afghanistan than at home,” Higbee said. “Fighting wars that can’t be won is a huge distraction.”
Woods said the war in Afghanistan is not a war of choice.
“It is a war of necessity,” Woods said. “From a fundamental point of view, Afghanistan and Pakistan remain critical theaters of the war on terrorism.”
Higbee said America hasn’t seen a truly successful president in 50 years.
“President Reagan is the only successful president the United States has had for the last 50 years—I’m 52,” Higbee said.
Eric Brown, a member of the alumni association board of directors, said the majority of the panel didn’t provide the audience with a critical assessment of the president, but instead a “love fest.”
“It’s disappointing,” he said. “I think people confuse policy with accomplishments.”
