Race in Obama’s America
Axel Bevort – 2.b

Section A

In the first text, Yolanda Young, a lawyer and columnist for USA Today, reflects on how she experienced what she calls “a cultural paradigm shift”(line 7) first-hand. She begins by writing that for twenty years, she walked the streets of Washington D.C. virtually unnoticed by its white citizens. This all changes when Barack Obama was elected in November 2008 and his wife becomes the First Lady Of The United States. Young starts receiving regular compliments on her looks, such as “You’re so pretty. You look like Michelle Obama” (line 5). Due to a change in presidency, racial equality between the black and white races will no longer be a dream. This point is further emphasized by a study conducted in 2008, in which “51% of (non-black) participants showed an automatic preference for white people”(line 11), compared to a previous research where 80% preferred whites. Although there have been exceptions of black women ”who were embraced as beautiful” (line 14), e.g. Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell, the average black woman was not perceived as being as attractive as a white woman. In 1954, two psychologists provided expert testimony regarding experiments, in which they presented a black doll and a white doll to black children and proceeded to asking them which doll they preferred. To Young’s surprise, almost ”half the girls thought the white doll was prettier” (line 25). She blames the results on low self-esteem and concludes by saying that it is only a matter of time before equality between the two races is achieved.

In the second text, Eric Holder, an Attorney General of the United States, expresses his opinion on how important it is to study and understand the history of African-Americans and the contributions they have brought to the U.S. throughout the years, by confronting their racial past and “soul”.