President Obama vs. Trump: 15 Steps of Progress?

I have three questions I hope to address in this piece. What has President Obama meant to Black people and people of color? What has President Obama really done for Black people and people of color? How much will Trump set back civil rights and race relations in this country? First, let me say my opinion is my own. I'm an educated sixty year old adult Black man. But, I'm not trying to represent all of Black America. Nor am I trying to reflect what all people of color feel. And I most certainly am not trying to speak for White America. However, I have watched listened and studied what has been going on in this country. I have designed and taught courses on racism at the college level. I have conducted numerous seminars and lectures on anti-racism. More important, I have been taught about racism by people more knowledgeable than myself. No matter how intelligent a person is, there's always more to be learned. Unfortunately, most people don't understand this simple concept and think their feelings and rights are substitutes for truth and justice. I've learned in my life, that sometimes the truth doesn't make me feel good. Sometimes the truth isn't based on how I feel. All of these things have happened over a thirty year period. Therefore, while these thoughts are my own opinion, I'm coming at you from a perspective of someone who has actually studied race in America. What President Obama has meant to Black people and people of color, is actually what he has shown the world. He has shown the world that a Black man can lead the United States of America just as well as a White man. I will come back to this statement in a second. Because of this he has, rather than opened the doors of opportunity for other people of color, he has merely given Black people and people of color the address to the door of opportunity, key maker. The door of opportunity is still locked. Before President Obama came along the door was locked and people of color, especially Black people had no direction or knowledge as to where we could get a working key. We've had false trails down rabbit holes, leading to wasted time, only serving to take us further away from equality and opportunity. We had to deal with doubters of our intelligence and loyalty to America. President Obama has proven that a Black man has the intelligence to be a leader. Within the community of people of color we have always known of our ability to be patient. This ability comes with living in this society and is vital to any person of color's arsenal, as we are constantly at war for freedom, equality and success. What do I mean by saying he has shown the world that a Black man can lead the United States of America just as well as a White man? Well, that has to do with the question, what has President Obama really done for people of color? The answer is very little. He was working too hard to be the President for everyone. That would be a great philosophy if everyone started out at the place. The truth of the matter is, people of color are 15 steps behind when it comes to equality of wages, health, education and the ability to create success. If you keep focusing on giving everyone a step or two, it doesn't help Black people and people of color, catch up. We may even be at a slightly better place, but we're still the same 15 steps behind. We need someone who can advance people of color several steps, as to become equal to our White counterparts. Running the same pace as someone 15 steps in front of us won't get us any closer to equality. President Obama didn't get people of color any steps closer to equality. In fact, because he didn't push people of color forward, we lost a few steps. To be fair, through no fault of his, the lost steps were because of an upsurge in racism. Which was done to put President Obama and people of color in our places. And this leads me to the exclamation point at the end of this rekindled paragraph on the page of America's racism history. Trump is the absolute proof that America is as racist as it has ever been. He recognized it and used it to the benefit of himself and people like him. Trump and his followers will set back civil rights and race relations in this country fifty years? How did he do it? He struck gold! He found the lost City of Gold, El Dorado! In fact he found something better than gold. He found the perfect excuse of false hope for unhappy White people. And he became the conduit linking those unhappy White people to a reason for their woes in life. The reason he gives them for their woes, has to do with everyone who isn't White. This society and now Trump tells unhappy White people that people of color are the reasons their lives aren't going the way they feel they should go. Sadly, a fair number of White people believe this lie. Soon they will begin to see that the only loyalty Trump and people like him have is to one color "green". I have been on this planet long enough to have seen this type of brainwashing before. I have also read about the history of this kind of brainwashing happening in the past. Here's a clue. Several of the people Trump has appointed to a cabinet position are billionaires, with absolutely no experience. They do have one thing in common. They all contributed big money to Trump's campaign. I'm sure these wealthy people, in their hearts, have the interest of those unhappy White people. In reality, Trump only understands unhappy White people to the extent of using them. He has a track record of using and cheating White people who were poorer than he. That is when he wasn't trying to grab their wives, mothers and daughters by their pussies. As far as Black people and people of color are concerned, Trump has already begun the process of setting back fifty years, every advancement towards equality, freedom and success we have made. So, it's back to the drawing board for people of color. Like Gil Scott Heron said, "It's a Re-run." As people of color, we have experienced and know walking in darkness is merely the first step in finding the light. Maybe it is time for unhappy White people to truly walk in darkness of deceit for a while. If they experience it long enough, they'll never forget it. Maybe that's the only way of keeping the darkness from coming around again.