The only criticism I've ever made of Barack Obama's time as President was that he didn't fully exploit the first 2 years of his presidency when he enjoyed majorities in both the House and Senate.
Economic and political elites were at their weakest at that point due to the recession - banks were reeling from books stuffed with bad debt, most major corporations were laying off tens of thousands of people, investors had seen the value of their portfolios cut by more than 50%, foreclosures were at an all-time high...the panic, fear, and chaos across the country as a result of the financial crisis was a genuine opportunity for Obama to make some serious headway in closing the economic gap not only between blacks and whites, but also working/middle-class people in general and the wealthy.
Looking back at it now, its all more than a bit ironic - until April/May of 2008, I don't think Obama expected to win the Democratic Party nomination...much like Trump never expected to win the Republican nomination (nor ultimately, the Presidency) in 2016. Obama was preparing himself to be the first black Vice President to the first female president, and the thinking among most political elites at the time was that him spending 8 years in that role would "acclimate" the electorate to the idea of a black President in 2016. This wasn't just the thinking of white Democratic Party elites - black political elites (the Donna Braziles of the world) believed the same - and Obama was fully on board with their plan. He was content with "waiting his turn" - he could see that there weren't any other black men on the Democratic Party's bench at that time that could credibly challenge him in 2016, and he was skeptical that with his name and background that he'd be able to generate enthusiastic black turnout in key swing states without several years of proving his "blackness."
But when Obama started crushing primary after primary in early 2008...it threw the master plan into total disarray. Political elites literally couldn't believe what was happening. Neither could Obama. I actually think he was panicked - if he won the Democratic Party nomination, he would be up against a (now disgraced, but back then still unassailable) white war hero in John McCain, and he didn't want his reputation tarnished with a loss in a general election that the Democrats were expected to win by a landslide because of Bush's failed war in Iraq. The financial crisis only added to his panic - by his own admission, Obama was never particularly well-versed in macroeconomic matters, and wanted the focus of his first administration to be on reshaping foreign policy. Exiting Iraq and Afghanistan were his top priorities - he felt that as long as he could achieve those two things, he'd be guaranteed a second term where he'd be able to make some headway on the domestic front - especially on issues that directly affect black folks (persistent racial inequality in incomes, school achievement, imprisonment, etc.).
Obama handled his unexpected win with a whole lot more grace, class, and skill than Trump has - but the fact that it was so unexpected still led to (in my opinion) Obama's failure to genuinely exploit the fallout from the financial crisis.
Things were moving so quickly, and were so far out of his comfort zone, that he essentially imported the entire Clinton economic policy team and let them run the show. For them, the top priority was stabilizing the financial system (banks and the wealthy have always been loyal fundraisers for the Clintons) - and they would do whatever it took to achieve that. Populist/progressive economic policy took a backseat - and Obama wasn't confident enough in this area to push for the sorts of concessions he could have easily won because of elite desperation at the time (steeply progressive tax rates, uncapping FICA taxes, elimination of income tax below $40k, increase in the capital gains tax, a financial transactions tax, Medicare for All, tariffs on imports from low-wage / environmentally destructive countries, basic infrastructure investment, etc.).
Other than that failure, which I think was mostly due to him not expecting to win the Presidency, I think Obama was a pretty damn good President.
I disagree with Obama
very strongly on immigration policy, but God doesn't give with both hands.
He isn't Malcolm X and never claimed to be - so accusing him of not having done enough for black people doesn't really hold much water with me. And anyways - what American President do you know of that ever got involved when a black professor was racially profiled and arrested for trying to get into his own damn house (or have you forgotten what he did for Henry Louis Gates Jr.?)
He got us out of Iraq and kept us out of Syria for the most part (thank God). The Medicaid expansion that he pushed for (most important part of Obamacare IMHO) has made health care available for literally millions of working class black people that didn't have any access before. His administration was free of scandal, and he served as an incredible role model for black kids.
The last part is so important.
I remember growing up not seeing a single black face in the line of Presidents in my history books. To me, the idea of a black President was a childish fantasy.
Right now, across the country, the fact that a black man was President -
and nothing bad happened - is being imprinted into the consciousness of tens of millions of kids of every race. The next black President will be the one to help move things forward for all black people - and he won't have any of the fear or self-doubt that Obama must have experienced as the first black man running for President with a real shot at winning.
