User:Mjbugua/"A Different Image" by Dudley Randall and how president Obama has failed African Americans

"A Different Image" by Dudley Randall and how president Obama has failed African Americans Barrack Obama is the first black president of the United States of America, and he is expected to make a change in the lives of the people he is representing. The poem "A Different Image" has a historical background and the poem talks about recreating and restoring the life of the black man. This is seen in the line where Randall says "shatter the icons of slavery and fear and replace it with a classic bronze of Benin". This is because the African Americans were made fun of by the minstrels who would paint themselves black. Since Obama became the president, many people thought that the stereotyping of black people would change. Racism has become one of the most irritating things in the United States. It was the expectations of the African Americans that when the president of the United States changed to be black, then they will be able to have the freedom that would change the perception of the black man. In the recent interview that was conducted by CNN, the African American actor Morgan freeman stated that Obama has made racism worse than it was before. This is because the president is under scrutiny of so many people and he believes that the pressure has made him forget who he truly represents. This is centrally to Oprah who has supported Obama in so many things. She believes in the vision that Obama has for the American people. The African American people believed that if Obama became president the rate of employment would go up for them. This is wrong because he has failed them terribly. Michael Bachmann has indicated that unemployment among the African American community has gone up by 12.7% since the inauguration of president obama in 2009. This is centrally to the promises he made in 2008 during the campaigns. The most alarming thing ids that is that recently in June the unemployment rate for black people has gone up by 1%. He had promised that there will be equality when it came to the economical desertion, but this has not taken place. The amount of money that people are getting is not even enough to support their families with the policies that he has introduced. Many people especially the black people have started questioning whether they elected the right person for the job. The economy has hit bottom rock in the past several years and even when people are employed, they are hired for a unusually short period of time. The policies in the working environment have actually gone down, and many people do not have confidence in the presidency any more. It is surprising that when the people who voted for Obama including the black people have been disappointed in the work that he is doing. During the Martin Luther King Day, harry Belafonte who marched with Luther during the civil right, was the one who showed disappointment with Obama. He was quoted saying that Obama had the perfect opportunity to do more than what many president in the United States have done, but he had let the chance slip away. He criticised his moral force by arguing that people hoped for more than talks and policies ion Obama, but the best thing was actions which were extremely valuable. The people who were strongest supporters of Obama have also shown a lot of contempt in his way of leadership. This is because; for African Americans the expectations were more than the others. The African Americans have really had the most social problems. This has included the health insurance, education and even living standards. The living standards of black people have worsened instead of becoming better. The food prices have gone up, and most of the people are suffering when it comes to the self sustenance.

Imprisonments of African Americans were expected to go down after the president was inaugurated, but that did not happen. The African American people have continued to engage in criminal acts, which have led to having a more percentage of people in prison being African Americans. It is not a wonder that even the women have taken up the same thing and the abortions experienced in this in the United States by the black women is alarming. According to the 2000 census, 30% of all abortions have been by the African American women. President Obama has undermined the United States by introducing policies which have not only affected the entire nation but mostly the African Americans. The economic troubles have undoubtedly brought a lot of division between the people and people and mostly among the black people. This is because they cannot understand why, the president had to introduce policies which have affected them. He has served the black people in the poorest way. Many people regard the projects that the president has embarked on as the ones that have made the economy deteriorate since the borrowing has become unorthodox. The African Americans who are living below the poverty line are so many. This has not been registered in the country since 1993 because 27.4% of African Americans are living below the poverty line. This is because the contracts and project,s which are owned by the black people have either been counselled or stopped. There is intense decrease in the number of contracts that are being issued to black people who own businesses. Darrel pointed out the republicans who are in congress are offering better solutions than the man they thought will be their hope as the president of the most powerful country in the world. For a change, he should have made sure that the private sector jobs have been improved and increased. This will assist people to have a variety of place to work thus improving their living standards. Education is the most notable thing the African American people want in their lives. This is because education is the most rewarding gift that any person can be given. For change, president Obama should have done away with the urban public school system which is failing the African Americans. The blacks have criticised the president because he does not seem to be dealing with the priorities that made him the president in the first place. The policies that he is embarking with do not concern the people who are in the minority sector especially the blacks; it is for the whole world ant the entire country. Randall was in support of the black president. In the poem, he says “the age requires the task” the task that Randall was talking about is that of creating change and making a difference. By creating a new image for the black man that would have improved the perception of people on how they have been slaves and that would have gained the respect. He says “create a different image; reanimate the mask”. The mask of black people being picked on because they are black. This should have been the first thing that president Obama would have taken action in dealing with. Perception is one of the issues that have led to racism in the United States. Because the black people were slaves, they should not be subjected to fear and torture that they cannot do anything that will raise their level of status in each and every way. They should endeavour to show that their skin colour does not depict their working values nor does it depict their state of living. Improving their lives is what they had been fighting for and once they got it by having the first black president of the United States, they do not show a lot of enthusiasm in him. The life they are living in right now cannot be compared to the classic bronze of Benin that Randall was talking of in the poem. African Americans have always been judged by their colour and “the mask” is the face of the society which was presented during the age of the slavery. The minstrel’s burnt-cork face is the dark colour of the skin, and that is what Rendell calls it. One of the most challenging things with the black people is the amount of trust and hope they had in their president. As they elected him, they thought their lives will change for the better but to their surprise, it has become even hard. Racism levels have gone up because they are blamed for the incompetence that the president depicts. Instead of the president showing how much the black people have the ability to make cogent and reformed ideas, he depicts the incapability and inefficiency that they posses. Image is not what the eye sees. For the African Americans, it is more than mere articulation of words or dressing but the perception that they get from the other people. The president was supposed to shutter the icons of slavery and fear for the African American people, but what he has done so far is against all things that people believe in. The economy has not favoured them, and most of them are blaming the president. Many people have lost confidence in him and they are not ready to vote for him again because he has not improved their lives in any way. The people believe that the dream that he had gained from martin Luther king Jr. Should have been enough to make him realise that he was not only representing all the people who voted for him, but also his race, which is considered the minority in the country. It is hard to explain to a child why they have a black president and he is sleeping hungry since the parents have been fired from their jobs because of lack of jobs. Image is something that brings hope for the future, and that is one thing that Barrack Obama the first black president of the United States has not shown or depicted for his own people. One of the most disappointing things is that, the president has taken back the respect and the loyalty that people had before they elected him as the president. “A different image” has become a failure and the African American people have solely blamed it on the one person they hoped to give than the change. The slogan “yes we can” by president Obama is no longer making sense. Therefore, the African Americans have concluded that the president has failed them. References "Ballad of Birmingham." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary K. Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. 17.Poetry for Students. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. http://go.galegroup.com ."Dudley Randall." Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Detroit: Gale, 208. Literature Resource Center.Web. 25 Mar. 2010. . "Ballad of Birmingham." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary K. Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999."Civil Rights in the 1960s. " The African American Almanac. Ed. Brigham Narins. 10th ed. Detroit:Gale,2008. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. http://find.galegroup.com ."Ballad of Birmingham." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary K. Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.24-27. Poetry for Students. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. http://go.galegroup.com ."Ballad of Birmingham." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary K. Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. 28-29. Poetry for Students. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .Randall, Dudley, and Lena Ampadu. "The Message Is in the Melody: An Interview with Dudley Randall."Callaloo 22.2 (Spring 1999): 438-445. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Vol. 86. Detroit: Gale President Obama Failing African Americans Retrieved on 22nd June 2012 from http://gop.com/coalition-support/president-obama-failing-african-americans/