The short answer is yes, but not in the way you think!It's very simple... his Presidency flushed out all of the racist rats, snakes and roaches out into the open. They were always there, but we really had no idea how many there were lurking in the shadows until the first black President spent 8 years in the oval office.
The right wing and every level of bigot that exists, not only wanted him to fail, but they stacked the cards against him to ensure it. Even with the odds against him, he has now become one of the best Presidents in American history.
Instead of changing their minds that black people are human beings after all, his time in office just made them angrier and meaner and more violent. They saw their enemy winning, even when they pulled every dirty trick in the book for him to fail. It simply enraged them and made them come out of the woodwork.
Not only did he do a great job overall, but his calm, cool, graceful, intelligent character and his attitude towards all the vileness directed at him and his family... only proved what a great leader he was. Not only was this black man a great President, but proved himself to be a moral leader, teaching us all how to overcome obstacles. You don't give up, that's what he taught us.
I honestly believe his success is what has caused so much of the new era of racism.
It's like a wounded beast that will claw and bite and do what ever it can to win. But here's the thing... it won't win. We simply will not let that happen.
These angry beasts may not ever be erased from the planet because hatred and violent behavior will always exist in some form, but when the demented beast raises it's head, we can collectively shove it back into the dark where it belongs.
The hope I have for us all, is that someday they will ONLY exist in the shadows. We know they will always be around, but we can do things as a society, to keep them out of the everyday world.
