Race/Related: The Obama Era: Breaking the Racial Barrier

Join the discussion View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Sunday, January 15, 2017 [The New York Times] [Join Race/Related »] [The New York Times] Sunday, January 15, 2017 [Barack Obama waits to be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States at the Capitol on Jan. 20, 2009.] Barack Obama waits to be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States at the Capitol on Jan. 20, 2009. Damon Winter/The New York Times How Obama Found His Voice on Race Only weeks after 70 million Americans chose a black man for president, shattering a racial barrier that had stood for the entirety of the nation’s 232-year history, no one in the White House, especially the man in the Oval Office, wanted to talk about race. President Obama had made a pragmatic calculation in January 2009, as the financial crisis drove communities across the United States toward economic collapse. Whatever he did for African-Americans, whose neighborhoods were suffering more than others, he would not describe as efforts to specifically help Black America. Mr. Obama made the decision knowing how powerfully his election had raised the hopes of African-Americans — and knowing that no matter what he did, it would not be seen as enough. “I remember thinking, ‘They are going to hate us one day,’” said Melody Barnes, who is black and served as Mr. Obama’s first domestic policy adviser, recalling her sadness when she stood in an auditorium in those early months as a crowd cheered for the success of the new president. “I knew that we couldn’t do everything that people wanted to meet those expectations.” The fear inside the West Wing was that promoting a “black agenda” and aiming programs directly at African-Americans at a time of widespread economic anxiety would provoke a white backlash — the kind that, years later, White House officials would view as helping to elect Donald J. Trump. “At a minimum, that would have been tone deaf,” said Eric H. Holder Jr., who served as the nation’s first African-American attorney general during much of Mr. Obama’s presidency. “And at worst, would have created a reaction in the larger community that would have prevented the things you wanted to do.” Mr. Obama, who had grown up straddling two worlds as the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas, wanted to be the president of all America. Framing his efforts in racial terms could exacerbate something that was already simmering, he thought. [Read More »]  Doug Mills/The New York Times [A President Who Inspired Big Dreams] By CAITLIN DICKERSON, ADEEL HASSAN AND ANNIE CORREAL One of President Obama’s lasting legacies may be the symbolic impact on the generation for whom “president of the United States” has always referred to a black man.  In His Own Words Before he was elected to the United States Senate, Barack Obama said: “There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.” That statement, made during [his keynote address] at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, catapulted him into the national spotlight. Here are videos of other memorable addresses he made on race: 2008: Senator Obama traced the country’s race problem back to not simply the country’s “original sin of slavery” but the protections for it embedded in the Constitution. [[WATCH]] 2009: At the 100th convention of the N.A.A.C.P. in New York, President Obama spoke in personal terms about his rise to power as a black man and warned African-Americans not to make excuses for their failure to achieve. [[WATCH]] 2010: Mr. Obama spoke at the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in Washington on his first Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as president. “You know, on the heels of that victory over a year ago, there were some who suggested that somehow we had entered into a post-racial America,” he said. [[WATCH]] 2015: The president paid homage to the peaceful protesters trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama 50 years earlier. Instead they were[beaten by police officers]. The march was one of the most important moments in civil rights history. "We know the march is not yet over; we know the race is not yet won," he said. [[WATCH]] 2015: Mr. Obama sang "Amazing Grace" at the funeral for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a black pastor who was killed with eight others during Bible study in a church in Charleston, S.C. [[WATCH]] 2016: The president spoke at the memorial service for the five police officers who were killed in Dallas: “I’m here to insist that we are not as divided as we seem.” But he also said he understood if Americans questioned whether the racial divide would ever be bridged. [[WATCH]] 2016: At the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Mr. Obama alluded to Black Lives Matter protests as part of the strength of America. “We’re not a burden on America or a stain on America, or an object of pity or charity for America,” the president added. “We’re America.” [[WATCH]] [Adeel Hassan »]  Around the Web Here are some of the stories that we’re talking about, beyond The Times. Michelle Obama surprised people as they recorded goodbye messages to her [[video]]. Albert Woodfox, a member of the Black Panther Party who was held in solitary confinement for more than 40 years says the greatest disappointment of freedom is realizing how little has changed. “[It’s the same old America].” Rumi is often called a mystic, a saint, an enlightened man. He is [less frequently described] as a Muslim. “[Beyond Sacred]” is a theater production exploring the diverse experiences of young Muslims. The five participants share the common experience of coming of age in a post-Sept. 11 New York City. Tools that were designed to bring people together are used by people to magnify divisions and undermine social solidarity, writes a technology researcher in “[Why America is Self-Segregating].” Sasha Obama missed her father’s farewell speech in Chicago so she could study for a science exam. A writer used the moment to satirize an Asian-American stereotype, but instead fed into an African-American one. [Here, he imparts a lesson]. The college football season ended last week, and a former sports columnist for The Times notes that while black players dominate on the field, the multibillion-dollar [college sports industry is blindingly white].  In The Times The Times publishes many stories that touch on race. Here are a few you shouldn’t miss, chosen by Race/Related editors.   [Trump’s Cabinet So Far Is More White and Male Than Any First Cabinet Since Reagan’s] By JASMINE C. LEE A look at gender and ethnic diversity in presidential cabinets. [Mayor Rahm Emanuel before President Obama gave his farewell address in Chicago on Tuesday.] Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press [Chicago Police Routinely Trampled on Civil Rights, Justice Dept. Says] By JULIE BOSMAN AND MITCH SMITH City and federal officials have agreed to a series of reforms the Police Department will make to address the problems detailed in a scathing report. [Eddie Johnson, superintendent of the Chicago Police, speaking at a news conference about the charges against four people accused of beating a teenager with mental disabilities.] Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune, via Associated Press This Week in Hate [Anti-Semitic Note Promises ‘Mayhem’] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD These hate crimes and incidents of harassment were reported in recent days. [A portrait of Myra Thompson painted by Rudy Shepherd in 2015.] Courtesy of the artist [Looking at an Artist’s Portraits of the Charleston Shooting Victims] By DANIEL MCDERMON For years, Rudy Shepherd has made watercolor paintings to humanize people in the news. [The chair President Obama used to sit in to get his hair cut at the Hyde Park Hair Salon. An Obama cut, at $24, remains popular.] David Kasnic for The New York Times [For Many on Chicago’s South Side, Obama’s Farewell Will Be Personal] By MONICA DAVEY People in his hometown sounded possessive, proud and wistful as he prepared to give a farewell address Tuesday in a convention center beside Lake Michigan. [Four organizers of the Women’s March on Washington. From left, Tamika Mallory, a gun control advocate and board member of the Gathering for Justice, a nonprofit founded by Harry Belafonte; Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab American Association of New York; Bob Bland, founder of Manufacture New York; and Carmen Perez, executive director of the Gathering for Justice.] Todd Heisler/The New York Times [Women’s March on Washington Opens Contentious Dialogues About Race] By FARAH STOCKMAN Conversations surrounding the march on Jan. 21, the day after Donald J. Trump’s inauguration, are alienating some women even as organizers stress unity and inclusion. [Rose Simmons, a daughter of the Rev. Daniel L. Simmons Sr., holding a photograph of her slain father, outside the federal courthouse on Wednesday.] Logan R. Cyrus for The New York Times [Anguish, Rage and Mercy as Dylann Roof Is Sentenced to Death] By KEVIN SACK AND ALAN BLINDER Mr. Roof, the white supremacist who killed nine black people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, faced the relatives of his victims. [Dylann S. Roof listening to court proceedings with William Maguire, an assistant defense attorney, during a hearing in July 2015 in Charleston, S.C.] Pool photo by Randall Hill [At Dylann Roof’s Trial, a Question of How Many Tears Are Too Many] By KEVIN SACK AND ALAN BLINDER Roof, convicted of killing nine churchgoers, finds the testimony from families of his victims excessive, and even the judge has misgivings. [Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch speaking at a news conference in Baltimore on Thursday.] Patrick Semansky/Associated Press [Baltimore Agrees to Broad Change for Troubled Police Dept.] By ERIC LICHTBLAU AND JESS BIDGOOD A scathing Justice Department report last year accused officers of systematically harassing black residents. Now, the city has agreed to a consent decree. [Heavily armed police in Dallas in July after five officers were shot and killed by a sniper during a peaceful protest against policing tactics.] Ralph Lauer/European Pressphoto Agency [White and Black Police Officers Are Sharply Divided About Race, Pew Finds] By JONAH ENGEL BROMWICH A majority of the 8,000 police officers surveyed feel their jobs are harder than ever. Matt Chase Opinion [How to Destroy the Business Model of Breitbart and Fake News] By PAGAN KENNEDY Many companies don’t know that their ads are appearing next to abhorrent content. Tell them. [Morning at East End Cemetery in Henrico County, Va., in a partly cleared section.] Brian Palmer Opinion [For the Forgotten African-American Dead] By BRIAN PALMER Neglected black cemeteries deserve the same level of care that their Confederate counterparts get. [A man being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in 2015 in Los Angeles. Activists are concerned that the Trump administration could use a gang database to deport unauthorized immigrants regarded as criminals, even if they have no criminal record.] John Moore/Getty Images [Gang Database Criticized for Denying Due Process May Be Used for Deportations] By JENNIFER MEDINA The A.C.L.U. is suing over sweeping gang injunctions issued in Los Angeles that could also be used to round up supposed criminal immigrants, even when there is no evidence or trial. [Nina Chaubal, left, and her wife, Greta Martela, run Trans Lifeline, a hotline for transgender people. Ms. Chaubal was held for four days in the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona.] Caitlin O’Hara for The New York Times [Transgender Women Fear Abuse in Immigration Detention] By FERNANDA SANTOS Lawyers and advocates say mistreatment and abuse endure, despite guidelines issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. [Ben Carson speaking at Yale last month. Mr. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, has been nominated by President-elect Donald J. Trump to be secretary of housing and urban development.] Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times [Ben Carson, Shaped by Poverty, Is Likely to Bring Tough Love to HUD] By YAMICHE ALCINDOR The nominee to head housing and urban development once benefited from government programs, as well as a strong work ethic. But he’s a skeptic of the former. [Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, along with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, testified against Senator Jeff Sessions at Mr. Sessions’s confirmation hearing for the attorney general post on Wednesday.] Al Drago/The New York Times [John Lewis Puts Race at Center of Jeff Sessions Hearing] By MATT APUZZO AND ERIC LICHTBLAU Mr. Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, said the attorney general nominee’s pledge to enforce “law and order” harked back to the civil rights era. [Ninaj Raoul, executive director of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, in her office in Flatbush, Brooklyn, on Tuesday. She is planning to attend a rally focused on the rights of immigrants called We Are Here to Stay in Washington on Saturday.] Joshua Bright for The New York Times [Immigrants Head to Washington to Rally While Obama Is Still There] By LIZ ROBBINS Hundreds will travel to the capital Saturday to make their voices heard on immigration issues, before what they fear may be a harsher regime takes hold. [Jean-Louis Goldwater Bourgeois, right, a wealthy activist, wants to turn a house in the West Village into a prayer center. His choice to run it is Anthony Jay Van Dunk, left, a former chief of the Ramapough Lenape Nation.] Sam Hodgson for The New York Times [Giving Back a ‘Stolen’ Property to the Original Manhattanites] By COREY KILGANNON An activist wants a West Village building to be a prayer house, to be owned and operated by the Lenape Indians, who inhabited Manhattan before European settlers appropriated it. [From left, Wanda Sykes, Allen Maldonado, Anthony Anderson and Deon Cole in the “Lemons” episode of “black-ish.” ] Richard Cartwright/ABC [‘black-ish’ Creator and Actor Again Walk on a Political Tightrope] By BRUCE FRETTS Kenya Barris, this ABC sitcom’s creator, and Anthony Anderson, its star, discuss an episode about the fallout from the presidential election. [Zazie Beetz and Donald Glover in “Atlanta.”] Quantrell Colbert/FX [What TV Says About Race and Money] By SALAMISHAH TILLET “Atlanta,” “black-ish” and “Insecure” have all recently explored black economic mobility. [August Wilson] Arty Pomerantz/New York Post Archive and NYP Holdings, via Getty Images [What August Wilson Means Now] By BEN BRANTLEY AND WESLEY MORRIS Our critics talk about the power of language and representation from the playwright, a great chronicler of the 20th century. [In the 1950s, Willie Evans helped the University of Buffalo secure its first invitation to a bowl game, but was barred from participating.] University of Buffalo [Willie Evans, Who Was Barred From a Bowl Game Because of His Color, Dies at 79] By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK Evans, a star halfback, was one of two University of Buffalo players turned down for the Tangerine Bowl after an 8-1 season in 1958. The team rejected the bid. [Roy Innis, a go-it-alone activist, disdained desegregation efforts. In 1972, he discussed his opposition to busing at a news conference.] Bettmann [Roy Innis, Black Activist With a Right-Wing Bent, Dies at 82] By ROBERT D. MCFADDEN Mr. Innis, the leader of CORE, took a go-it-alone approach to black empowerment and had no use for desegregation and affirmative action. [Jewel Plummer Cobb at her office at California State University, Fullerton, in 1988. The campus experienced a surge in growth during her tenure there.] California State University, Fullerton [Jewel Plummer Cobb, 92, Dies; Led a California Campus] By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK Dr. Cobb, the first black female president of Cal State, Fullerton, had been denied a New York college post in a move that led to bias accusations. ADVERTISEMENT  What Do You Think of This Newsletter? How are we doing? Email us at [racerelated@nytimes.com]. 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