Goodbye Mr. President

Tonight, January 10th, 2017, President Barack Obama gave his farewell speech as the outgoing President of the United States. I only half-heartedly watched the speech, as I was also working, but I heard about 85% of it. All in all it was a good speech. President Obama said some predictable things about peacefully transitioning power to President Elect Donald Trump (I still can't believe he was actually elected). He also expressed some side-eye worthy thoughts. What I found most interesting though was the conversation happening on Twitter during and after the speech about when, where, how, and even if it's okay to critique the President. 

There are people praising, critiquing, and praising and critiquing his speech. Others aren't discussing the content of President Obama's speech at all, but his image, his presentation, and his family. The pushback that some people on Twitter are doing against the people critiquing either the speech, him, or both, is what caught my eye. The pushback I saw against critiquing President Obama can be summed up by the feeling that they want this moment, ten days before he leaves office, to just savor the symbolism of a Black man being President of the United States for 8 years. They don't want to think about his policies; which, I mean, is cool, totally fine. Hey, I get it; that symbolism is strong. 

I stayed up late on election night in 2008, not believing this racist ass country would ever elect a Black man as President. I didn't believe it until it happened, and I was stunned. Probably the next day I changed my Facebook profile picture to the Obama family. Throughout the ensuing eight years, even as President Obama steadily disappointed me, my heart melted every time I saw a picture of him hugging a Black child who was visiting the White House. Many of us (and by us I'm talking specifically about Black folks), have complicated feelings towards President Obama; detesting many of his policies and condescending speeches to Black folks, while also salivating at the image of this Black man and his beautiful family in the White House. 

And these complicated feelings are completely okay. We have to deeply engage with them if we want to have an honest and nuanced discussion about President Obama's legacy, particularly as it pertains to our communities. That's why I find the push back against critiquing him so frustrating. A large segment of President Obama's Black supporters don't seem at all open to any critique of him, EVER. It's like they put their hands over their ears and yell "la la la la" whenever someone offers even a mild criticism. We have to have an honest discussion about President Obama's legacy; the good, the bad, the just okay, and the devastating. I don't think people should be denigrated or considered less "woke" because they admire who President Obama presents himself to be as a man, husband, and father. But the denigration of people who critique him as being "worker than thou" isn't cool either. We need to hold space for each other to share our feelings while remaining committed to truth-telling and holding each other accountable.