Life
Obama to celebrate civil rights law that laid the groundwork for his presidency
The civil rights debate now extends to issues like attempting to establish a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented people in the United States. This is unfinished business for Obama, who now views it as a long shot that Congress will pass immigration reform this year.
“On civil rights, he has struggled with the immigration bill that would take 12 million people out of the shadows and give them rights they don’t have,” said Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who generally supports Obama.
Obama’s boosters say the president in some respects has experienced racism himself in pushing his priorities.
Assistant House Democratic Leader James Clyburn of South Carolina, the top African American in Congress, said he believes a lot of people in the country want to see Obama fail and he attributes this in part to racism.
“There are a lot of people who believe that certain positions are reserved for only white people, and the presidency is one of them,” Clyburn said.
Obama, while seeing his overall job approval rating slide into the 40s, is still enjoying overwhelming support from the African American community.
A recent Reuters-Ipsos poll said 72 percent of African Americans approve of the job he is doing, including 72 percent on the economy, 63 percent on foreign policy, and 66 percent on dealing with Congress.
“In part, his major contribution is just being there,” said Senator Angus King, a Maine independent. “And in part, his major contribution is not being there as a civil rights figure, but as a man who is president who happens to be black.”
