Review Politics and Race in the Age of Obama
Senior Correspondent Gwen Ifill examines Obama's Breakthrough
Apr 25, 2009
The 2008 United States Presidential Race is one of the most monumental elections in American History. It is a time when race and gender were inadvertently in a face off to win the highest elected office in American politics.
The United States of America contemplated three distinctive questions:
- Are age and experience alone the sole qualities of a presidential leader?
- Will the United States elect its first female president or vice president?
- Is America ready to elect the first African American male US President?
Gwen Ifill’s book, “The Breakthrough : Politics and Race in the Age of Obama examines the significance of President Obama’s election, the past that shapes current politics and a new generation of young leaders emerging despite skepticism regarding their perceived lack of experience.
Debating Age verses Experience
President Obama had many challenges to face in the race to win the highest elected office in United States government. Opponents from all party lines described President Obama as too young with not enough executive experience to handle the pressures of being President of the United States. “Who is Barack Obama aside from a man who gave a great speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention?” was a question on many people’s minds early in his bid to run for President. Sure, Barack Obama was a US senator but only for a few years.
Many well known civil rights leaders such as Andrew Young expressed concern with “ Barack Obama not having the tenacity and fortitude to handle what America would allow in terms of politics and race.” The association of age with experience has always been an unspoken rule but definitely has not always proven to be a stranger to exceptions.
Gwen Ifill interviews several young and ambitious leaders throughout this book who have both broken the mold and accepted the daily challenges of perception in terms of their experience or lack of. Cory Booker Newark’s young and energetic mayor in Ifill’s book states, “The real test of leadership is to motivate people to be leaders themselves and to carry the burden.” Cory Booker like President Obama was Ivy League educated and interested in community activism. Mr. Booker also initially lost his first bid to run for office in his home state. The cloud of self doubt regarding the lack of experience based on age will never completely disappear but President Obama and many young leaders have decided it will not deter their political ambitions.
Accepting the Past to Enable the Future
There is no doubt that race has often mattered in politics but certainly over time it has not completely hindered America’s progress. The past in regards to race has had opened wounds that are still fresh in many people’s minds in the struggle for racial equality. Gwen Ifill’s book explores the initial apprehension of Obama’s presidency from the lens of those who grew up in a time when the color of someone’s skin mattered much more than the “content of their character.” President Obama certainly is the product of those who have gone before him but now is the time to fight for all of the diverse people in America along the economic road to recovery.
Gwen Ifili explores President Obama's Breakthrough
President Obama is a brilliant strategist in putting together a team of diverse people united to the cause of restoring America the beautiful. The question remains as Ifill’s book suggests, “When the dust from the breakthrough settles, will the Obama effect have exposed new strengths or new weaknesses?”
Overall, Gwen Ifill’s book provides a small glimpse into the insightful minds that are shaping the future of America in politics and race in the age of Obama. For more information on Gwen Ifill
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