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151 Conclusion Reflections on Identity in the Obama Era In 2009, Barack Hussein Obama became the first president of African descent in the history of the United States. Like many left-leaning voters , I saw my own vote for Obama as largely symbolic. I did not expect him to pursue a political agenda significantly more progressive than that of President Clinton nor did I hold any particular faith in the power of U.S. presidential electoral democracy to bring about an end to oppression . Yet I suspect that precisely the symbolism of Obama’s election has posed, in some ways, a significant challenge to progressive thinkers. A New York Times–CBS News poll taken just before the presidential election found that 68 percent of respondents believed that blacks had an equal or better chance of “getting ahead in today’s society” compared to whites. Among black respondents, 44 percent agreed, while among whites it was 72 percent.1 This kind of belief has echoes among progressives, whom I heard during the presidential campaign repeatedly saying things along the lines of “maybe once Obama is elected we can focus on class” or “maybe now it will become more clear how important class is.” These views echo positions taken variously by Wendy Brown, Walter Benn Michaels, and Manuel Castells and discussed in chapter 2. However, class (understood either as an identity category or as mere socioeconomic status) in the United States has always been and continues to be deeply influenced by race. For example, scholars of race know that the waves of foreclosures following the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis hit black and Latino homebuyers disproportionately hard. Even after controlling for neighborhood risk and individual homebuyer characteristics, researchers have found “that individual race, ethnicity, and income . . . are significant and positively related to the likelihood of subprime borrowing .”2 This pattern, in turn, has emerged as the latest stage in seventy years of unfair lending practices in mixed and predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods. U.S. Census data also show that in 2007, “non-Hispanic Whites” had a median income of $31,051, while blacks had a median 152 · COnClusIOn income of $18,428 and “Hispanics” a mere $15,603.3 Figures based on total wealth rather than simply on income paint an even starker picture.4 As I have argued throughout this book, inequality and oppression have had and continue to have complex relationships to sexuality, race, and gender, as well as to class. I wholeheartedly agree that an increased attention to class would behoove progressive intellectuals greatly. I find it striking, for example, that Obama proved, throughout his 2008 candidacy for president, seemingly incapable of mentioning the working class. His campaign cast all of his policies as improving the situation of the middle class alone. Yet, when given the option, 30 percent of respondents to the New York Times–CBS News poll self-identified as “working class” rather than “middle class” (“lower middle class” was unavailable as an option).5 As we turn to class, however, we need to understand it as mutually constituted by race, religion , gender, sexuality, ability, and citizenship. We also need to continue to keep analyses of the United States situated within a large geographical perspective and a long historical sweep. The road ahead in the new world that the 2008 election brought about will require complex thinking about identity, about oppression, about privilege, about intersections, and about multiplicity. A quick look over the first year and a half of Obama’s presidency (the period before the wave of Republican congressional victories) reveals much about the new challenges that we face. Many things could be worth mentioning in the context of a book on identity and multiplicity. Obama took little action during this period regarding his promises to gay and lesbian constituents beyond a few, largely symbolic acts, seeming to betray a multiple and overlapping base that had come together in support of his election.6 Similarly, he took little action during the first year and half regarding Latina and Latino voters’ concerns over comprehensive immigration reform. Indeed, Obama chose early in his presidency to step up many of the objectionable immigration policies of his predecessor.7 In the place of immigration reform, Obama chose to offer Latinas and Latinos a largely symbolic gesture: the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court. Finally, the president’s most publicized gesture toward starting the conversation on race that he urged the nation to have in his 2008 primary campaign...

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