Dr. Boyce: What if Barack Obama Were a White Man?

About eight years ago, I wrote a book called “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” The book was designed to analyze the vast impact that skin color has on our outcomes in a historically racist society. The summarized conclusion of the project was that disparities in the educational, economic and criminal justice systems give black men a much smaller margin of error than the one they would receive if they were white. A white kid in college caught using dope in a frat house gets a slap on the wrist. A black kid in the projects doing the same thing might lose his entire future.

Right around the time I finished the book, a legendary radio show host out of Milwaukee by the name of Keith Murphy asked, “Have you heard of this guy named Barack Obama?” My first response was “Who is he?” and my second question was “How do you say his name again?”

Murphy explained that Obama was a senator from Illinois that “everyone is excited about.” I did my research, and later on CNN, noted that Hillary Clinton may end up getting competition from the guy who was so sharp and charismatic.

Years later, after reflecting on how dumb it was for me to pour my soul into the first book about George Bush, I asked myself the corollary question: “What if Barack Obama were a white man?”

I started off by asking the readers on my Facebook page, a group of highly-intelligent black people who give me perspectives from across the board. Then, I looked in the mirror and asked myself the same question...

Meaning absolutely no disrespect to teachers at any level, they do provide invaluable service to helping students develop their own talents and hopefully find their best skills to provide for themselves and serve society, I do agree that Obama would likely have become a teacher. Giving him the best benefit of the doubt - assuming that without any affirmative action consideration he could have been accepted into the schools he attended (and maybe he could - we really have no way of knowing as no records are made available), his post-law school work centered on community organizing and teaching. Doubt he would have been a white community organizer. President of Harvard Law Review, if published comments at the time are given the credibility they should be given (see http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/06/us/first-black-elected-to-head-harvard-s-law-review.html ) should have resulted in him obtaining a coveted clerkship position for a Federal Court of Appeals judge followed by a clerkship for a Supreme Court Justice. While such clerkships are invaluable for establishing oneself in the legal profession, Obama indicated at the time his intention to return to Chicago and community organizing. Perhaps he recognized that he would be found out for his lack of actual talent and work ethic in an Appeals Court clerkship, which would have definitely eliminated him from consideration for the Supreme Court clerkship, ending his political aspirations.

But - if he was white - probably never would have “won” the title as President of the Harvard Law Review to begin with. Previously awarded to the top student based on GPA until the ‘70’s, when it was replaced by a system intended to increase minority representation and ultimately simply a popular vote contest.

That all being said, he seemed to enjoy teaching, probably would have been his profession. Failure to produce anything beyond his own autobiographies as published works, doubt he could have risen to much prominence.

Michelle and her husband Barack stood, as of 2007,in the exact intersection where Identity Politics, White Liberal Guilt, and Affirmative Action meet. By that time, it had become a very well-travelled intersection. Michelle is every bit as unaccomplished as her husband, and functions socially as his “beard”, knowing what we have come to know about her Barack. They are a bogus duo, much like an American version
of the Ceaucescu duo in Romania. But in America we found that we re-elect people like this, honoring and not questioning their fictional histories, and their political use as symbols.It has been a jolting experience to see such large numbers of the voting, and non-voting public doubling down on their initial mistake, not able to face up to their naivete,and in fact aggressively asserting their worst tendencies ONE MORE TIME. They drag us all down with them, and even though we will survive them, one of my biggest gripes is HOW MUCH OF OUR TIME, NOT TO MENTION OUR MONEY, THEY HAVE WASTED!

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