Many African Americans say “Barack Obama didn’t do anything for Black people.” This talking point reeks of a propaganda campaign rather than a view genuinely coming from the Black mindset. Given that we began in America as slaves, having a Black man take Western society’s highest seat of power means some degree of progress. Having the skill and wherewithal to seize and maintain the presidency against unprecedented opposition showed America that Black people are the utmost capable. That alone is something Obama did for Black people. White men definitely didn’t like it. However, when Black people say that Obama didn’t do anything for us, most mean that he didn’t sign any Black-specific legislation. In that case, no American President has ever “done anything for Black people,” rather they’ve always done things for themselves that Black people incidentally benefitted from. Civil Rights cleaned up America’s international image, averted America having a domestic Communist enemy and it also eased White guilt by obscuring from White people the truth that they were democratically electing to maintain an evil and deliberately oppressive social 
model. Additionally, Civil Right’s Legislation wasn’t ever written for Black people. Nowhere in the document does it mention the words, “Black,” “negro” or “African American.” Black people drove a movement that made legislators ensure civil rights for everyone. Affirmative Action, another law that doesn’t mention the words, “Black,” “negro” or “African American,” is commonly considered a law for Black people but it mostly benefitted White women. Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves because he was losing the Civil War. Emancipation enabled Black men to fight for the Union, while also eroding part of the South’s free labor force. The vast majority of abolitionists wanted to free the slaves solely to send them back to Africa, thereby physically separating Black people from the fruits of their own labor and retaining them for White America. Also, the cause of freeing slaves helped the North prevent the South from using its free labor force to dominate it. Let’s not forget that New Orleans, not New York, was America’s initial banking capital. American propagandists have successfully caused Black people to hold Barack Obama to an unprecedented ideal, expecting him to be the very first President to “do something for Black people.”
America hates Blacks. It began that way and todays tacit negative sentiment towards Black people, for instance, where our institutions instinctively work to blame unjustified police killings on unarmed Black men instead of the professionals tasked with keeping them safe, are no more than America acting within its original character. For a president to do something explicitly for Black people would be political suicide. The difference between how Conservatives and how Liberals would penalize such an act by a president would only be in how honest they were about it. Conservatives would be slightly dishonest and say such an act is not the right move for the nation and perhaps emphasize the economic impact. Liberals on the other hand, would speak about how it would “divide the nation” and emphasize how America has no significant racial issues and that laws specifically benefiting one group would drive that group further from others. Both approaches have the net effect of preventing the doing of anything for Black people. This is why America refuses to even discuss reparations despite it being an absolute fact that America made itself a world power solely with free Black labor. Without that labor the issue of how to compensate people for such a monumental labor effort would have prevented this nation from ever having enough unity to prosper and dominate Europe. If you don’t believe me, look at how Europe experienced no peace or unity until the Berlin Conference in 1884, where it unified on how to coordinate stealing African resources. Without free Black labor, America would have been as unified as the European Union is today, with powers coming and going regularly and no ability to take major unified steps without fighting.
Robert Byrd
Had Barack Obama attempted to pass, lets say, the “Black Power Act,” his presidency would have been less successful than Joe Biden’s is now. At least with healthcare, Obama’s flagship issue, White people won, which means subsequent runoff winnings for Black people. Obamacare definitely helped me get health insurance. Helping White minorities also empowered potential allies of Black people such as gay Americans and White women. This was simply the best Obama could do for Black people and Joe Biden’s initial presidential success proves it. Joe Biden can’t even get an infrastructure package through the Senate because it’s simply too liberal. Biden’s agenda is not even Black, and White male interests have stopped it in its tracks. We are currently looking at White Male oppositional power running at 75%. Had Barack Obama attempted a Black agenda we would have seen it working at 125%. Republican moles in the Senate that block Democratic legislation like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema would have just been the beginning. Remember that Joe Manchin’s Senate seat belonged to Robert Byrd, an ex-Ku Klux Klan leader. Barack Obama attempting a Black agenda would make Joe Biden’s current predicament look like child’s play.
Barack Obama did all for Black people America would allow him to do, which is more than any other president was capable of. He demonstrated that a Black man could gain and retain power without consequence. The American experience has given Black people such a negative outlook that feelings of guilt, feelings of unworthiness and automatic expectations of consequence immediately follow our 
successes. Obama also showed us an intellectual prowess unparalleled by any other American. I saw him answer hostile journalists on such a broad range of issues yet never lose his cool or mess up enough for Conservatives to exploit effectively. Conversely Donald Trump avoided non-friendly media and self-destructed any time challenged. Obama showed America that Black people could wield the utmost intelligence and hold power. Prior to his presidency, I would walk onto film sets and random White crew members would ask me to do the menial tasks of a Production Assistant, despite being the Second Assistant Director and second in command of the whole set. This didn’t happen on Black productions and it immediately changed on White ones when Obama became president. After his 2008 victory people began cautiously asking what my position was on set. I noticed this change immediately after Obama became president. Thanks Obama!
Joe Biden’s lack of legislative success thus far should show America what would have happened if Obama tried to enact a “Black Agenda.” He would have expended his political capital on a futile cause, created new political enemies on the Left and made a second Black presidency, perhaps one to crack the “doing something for Black people” ceiling, extremely more difficult. Given how we failed to put our emotions behind us, hold our noses and vote for Hillary Clinton, I’m not sure if we were ready for a Black agenda back then. But on the other hand, we did snatch the Democratic nomination from Bernie Sanders then defeat Donald Trump so perhaps I’m giving us less credit than we deserve. Either way, America’s hatred of Black people makes a Black agenda nearly impossible in today’s current social environment. A Liberal agenda is proving to be problematic and it has the interest of many Whites so imagine how difficult an unprecedented “Black agenda” would have been.
If we want a Black agenda, we must first set the scene for one and show what ever politician that considers taking this unprecedented step, they won’t be wasting their political capital.
The first thing Black people can do is take unified actions. This would mean the people who disagree with a certain Black measure, not sabotaging it. Media are quick to amplify the voices of Black naysayers because divide and conquer of Black people is an American instinct. They exploit our feelings of lack of meaning by giving us a voice if it serves to destroy a growing Black consensus. Resisting this drive would be the first step.
Second, leaving the Democratic Party would send a sign to those exploiting our support that our backing is not guaranteed. This by no means, means we should start voting Republican. I’d advise against it actually. Instead of calling ourselves Democrats we should say we “ally with the Democratic Party” but are open to other alliances given an attractive enough offer. The Republican Party is the party of White male power. The Democratic Party is the party of White male’s exploiting non-White, non-male power. Thus far, Republicans have only offered us an attitude change, saying that if we pretend America’s adversity towards us doesn’t exist and push forward, we can accomplish anything. Although true, they are asking us to run a race while ignoring the weights around our ankles. I’m going to do some shoddy math so please excuse me if its not exact and just embrace the point. It’s a fact that Black homes are 
generally appraised at 23% less than White ones. This translates to 23% more labor or 6.9 more years of 1/3 labor, meaning a Black person spends 36.9 years laboring for a home it takes White people 30 years to labor for. BUT WAIT! Since Black labor is generally compensated at 20% less than White labor, those 36.9 years labored for a home translate to 80% value, meaning a Black person buying a home still owes 7.38 years of labor. This American devaluation system, which is solely based on race, means a Black person has to work 44.28 years to gain the same value of a White person working for 30. No Black attitude adjustment can fix this race-based disadvantage system embedded in the core of America’s fabric. And we would truly be inferior if we didn’t fight to undo it. Republicans’ proposed attitude adjustment is more geared towards holding themselves blameless and maintaining a built-in advantage than bettering Black people’s stake in America; they’re also more geared towards decreasing Black Democratic support than gaining Black Republicans. We Black people will not ally with a political party that thinks we’re dumb enough to exchange attitude coaching for our very real political might, especially from people who have never experienced and quite honestly, couldn’t handle our predicament. We can adjust our own attitudes and the one we have, while not unified, makes us, the ex-slaves, a big deal politically in America. Democrats, on the other hand, actually need Black people in order to be a viable political party. This causes their current dilemma, where they have to balance the racism in their party with the need to do things for Black people to keep our support. Too much help will upset its fragile balance and not helping enough would be detrimental as well. The result is a political party that works to outsmart Black people, delivering more symbolic gestures than substance.
The third thing Black people can do use our creativity to unify us under a doctrine of solidarity and unified action. Rappers like Lil Wayne are so good that they rap about the same things over and over again and somehow keep us drawn to their art. I last remember memorizing a song by Lil Wayne about home invasion robberies called “Mona Lisa” because the delivery was so phenomenal. If Lil Wayne and Roddy Ricch can get me to spend time committing their useless (to me) lyrics imagine what productive messages they can instill in the Black mind. “Unity at All Costs” comes to mind. Slavery programmed us to seek opposition with one another and it was effective. I call it “Plantation Mentality.” I noticed this within myself over 20 years ago and have since taught myself to be vigilant and override these thoughts whenever they arise. As a result, I have allies throughout the world and friends “plantation mentality” would have blocked. If Black artists began rapping about Black people’s inevitable unity, America would change overnight. Another message would be to “declare your alliance.” We often walk into spaces with other Black people and don’t acknowledge them. We may be too busy or have too much on our minds but to the other person it may seem you don’t like them. These feelings, though unverified, create a long list of fictional but real in the mind, negative interactions with other Black people. So to avoid this, I always “declare my alliance” with other Black people by simply saying “hi.” It could be a nod, a discrete power fist, a smile, a “what’s up, brotha/sista,” a “you good” or any form of acknowledgment. From that point you are allies and vow to do whatever is in your power to help them while you are in each other’s presence. It doesn’t mean you’d pull an abusive police officer off their back but it does mean you’d record it, provide favorable testimony as to what happened and follow up on the matter to see how you can help. It doesn’t mean you’d break up a gang fight but perhaps you’d step in to de-escalate a potential beef. Declaring your alliance creates a unity feeling and neutralizes silence and Plantation Mentality.
Anyway, I digressed. The point of this blog post is to demonstrate that Barack Obama trying to enact a Black agenda would have hurt Black people in the long run rather than gain some type of power. We have to play the long game and the next time we get a Black President we have to show Unity at All Costs and only speak favorably about them in public. In private we can be as critical as we want. In public we have to keep our game face on and treat our next Black President as a decisive victory rather than showing our disunity like last time saying things like, “he ain’t going to do anything for us” before he even had a chance to. White America knew Donald Trump was a dumb racist but they got behind him and spoke about everything other than his stupidity and racism. Even today they blame the pandemic itself for America’s catastrophic response and hold Trump blameless. We can do the same with our leaders but the things we won’t be mentioning aren’t as morally debilitating.