President Obama spoke bluntly yesterday about how he thinks his race has affected his approval ratings, saying during an interview with The New Yorker that there are many Americans who may not ever approve of him simply because he is Black.
It’s a fact that anyone on social media already knew, but it’s interesting to hear it acknowledged by the president for the first time.
“There’s no doubt that there’s some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea of a Black president,” Obama told the magazine.
He also admitted, however, that there are also people who are supporting him only because he is Black.
“Now, the flip side of it is there are some Black folks and maybe some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I’m a Black president,” he added.
The interview focused on Obama’s poor approval ratings and the steep decline of approval he has had with white voters since he was first elected in 2008.
Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer insists that the president’s drop in approval ratings has nothing to do with his race and everything to do with his policy.
“Poll after poll makes it very clear that Obamacare and other job-killing policies are the reason,” Spicer said referencing the president’s approval ratings among white Americans, which have fallen from 43 percent to 39 percent.
Notwithstanding the color of his skin, Obama’s second term in office has certainly been plagued by controversy.
Americans’ concerns with the Affordable Care Act, Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks and gun reform have all served as major hurdles for the Obama administration.
It does seem, however, that the response to the president’s mistakes are much less forgiving than they have been for presidents in the past.
In addition, social media users frequently use racial slurs to criticize the president.
Not to mention that several Southern states attempted to secede from the union when the nation elected a Black president.
Other social media users, however, have brought up valid arguments about the president’s time in office and agree with Spicer’s contention that his low ratings don’t have much to do with his skin color.
“Racist Americans are the outliers, not the average,” one tweet read while including a link to President Obama’s interview.
“‘I’m fine with losing my job, losing insurance, being audited. I just can’t stand that he’s black.’ <— What Obama thinks white people think,” another tweet read.
Obama also noted in the interview that his main priority is looking forward and trying to address the nation’s concern about jobs and the economy.
