In an article written this past January for the Daily Beast, columnist Goldie Taylor gives her opinion on the prospect of there being another black president in our lifetimes:
The reality is there may not be another African American president in our lifetime or even that of our children. The 2016 election was less about what Obama did and did not accomplish in office and more about who he was. Today, as Trump’s ill-equipped, race-to-the-bottom cabinet nominees face confirmation hearings, I long for the moral center of Barack Obama. Even if I find issue with his pragmatic approach to governance, I will miss his brand of optimism.
I tend to disagree with Goldie Taylor. Like Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ash, and other historic black pioneers that came before him, Obama performed his job very well, and in the face of obstacles that would have cowed weaker men. After eight years as the president of this country, Obama left office in January with a 60% approval rating, one of the highest in the modern era. Americans love him because he is supremely intelligent, engaging, confident, hard-working, and genuinely good. If another black man with the same qualities emerges as a candidate for the highest office twenty years into the future, he will have a great chance of winning because this candidate will remind them of the man that the majority of Americans love.
Donald Trump is already making us long for the days of Obama, when we were secure in the fact that the guy who occupied the highest office in the land was qualified, smart, and had our best interests at heart. Trump in the antithesis of Barack Obama, a selfish and self-centered spoiled son of a millionaire father who has never had to work for anything in his life. His reasons for pursuing the office of the presidency were suspect and transparent--he wanted to grow his sprawling empire. He pretended to care for the people of this country, but if you’d ever attended Trump University or engaged in any sort of business activities with Trump, you knew that he was a peddler of bullshit.
Still, Trump was elected despite being shown to be a crook, a racist, and a sexual predator. We know that if Trump had been a black man while exhibiting the same characteristics then he would not have been elected president. But Trump was a rich, male, and white, and was given a pass because of the privilege that he is afforded.
There was hope that Trump would step up to meet the demands of his office, but those hopes have been dashed. For Trump is in possession of a middling intellect, is inexperienced and impulsive, and seems to lack the will and capacity to grow and learn. These alarming Trump characteristics have been exploited repeatedly by the Russians, James Comey, the courts, and the democrats. He has been unable to shepherd through any major legislation despite being gifted with a majority in the Senate and The House of Representatives, his approval ratings are the lowest ever for any president during the first few months of his tenure, and he is the object of ridicule in every foreign country. He is, and forever will be, an abject failure.
Trump is failing as a president because he is way below average intellectually, lacks the work ethic necessary to do the job that he was elected for, and has a weak constitution. He wallows in scandal like a pig does in shit, and Trump and his minions won’t ever be able to get rid of the smell. His moral failings may ultimately be the reason for his removal from the office of president. And he will be among the most hated presidents when he leaves office, a cautionary tale for what can happen when Americans vote for the wrong person.