Race relations in the United States have a long, complex history. A nation that is deeply rooted in issues of race has reacted both to the election of its first black president as well as his soon-to-be successor. The questions of whether and how much race relations have improved still looms in the minds of many American people of color.
For Walter Fluker, the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership at Boston University’s School of Theology, those relations have improved.
“My parents weren’t able to vote,” Fluker said. “Progress is a marker in these times of legality and legislation. I also think attitudes have changed over time.”
However, Fluker acknowledges that progress does not mean all racial issues have been resolved. Looking at the most recent presidential election, he said some of the comments President-elect Donald Trump has made about race, women and immigration cannot be dismissed.
“This is a very scary moment for our nation and certainly for the globe,” Fluker said.
According to a poll published by the Pew Research Center last November, 74 percent of black voters said they expect race relations to worsen with Trump’s election, compared to 43 percent of white voters.
This is a stark difference to what the Pew Research Center reported in November 2008, after President Barack Obama was first elected, when 75 percent of black voters anticipated race relations would improve, while 49 percent of white voters said the same. Fifty-two percent of all voters said relations would improve, while only 9 percent thought they would worsen and 36 percent said they would remain the same.
In reflecting on Obama’s presidency and what changes he created in the black community, opinions vary.
Masada Jones is the assistant director of the Extended Day Program at the Lowell Community Charter Public School. In August, she participated in a panel discussion hosted by Lowell Telecommunications Corp. talking about Black Lives Matter and the relationship between Lowell police and the black community.
“In Lowell, I think there’s definitely a want to have these race-relation discussions, but they have one and then it doesn’t continue,” Jones said.
Excited to vote for a black man as the country’s president, Jones said she anticipated things would improve for the black community. While she said Obama has been a good president, she does not think there was a lot of change made for the black community. Jones did acknowledge that under Obama, people were able to find jobs more easily and more people had health care. According to a report released last year by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, about 20 million more adults had health insurance coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
Some Obama supporters did not have high expectations that his presidency would improve race relations across the nation.
The Rev. Marcus McCullough of Lowell’s Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church was one of those voters.
“When he was coming up, I was excited, but I tried to taper my expectations as well,” McCullough said.
Maritza Grooms, the teen center coordinator at Girls Inc. of Greater Lowell, also did not have great expectations. However, she said having that representation and seeing a positive black family in the White House was important. She also spoke on LTC’s Black Lives Matter panel discussion.
“When you’re a black person in America, it’s often an expectation that you’re automatically the representative for all black people everywhere and you have to do for them,” Grooms said. “I don’t think it’s fair to assume that or expect it. I think (Obama) tried to shed light on our racial issues, and then he also tried to call for unity.”
The election of the country’s first black president was a way to begin the nation’s healing process and move forward in terms of race relations, said the Rev. Timothy Martin of the New Patriots Christian Congregation in Fitchburg. But he also acknowledged that high-profile police brutality cases were brought to light during his tenure, in many ways, thanks to social media.
“I think it’s been positive, in that it brought attention to some of the problem areas in our country,” Martin said. “It made our governing agencies pay attention and do something about some of the problem areas.”
But Martin also sees a great need to improve the relationship between police departments and the communities they serve.
Some of the negative racial incidents in the country have inspired Martin to preach a more “social kind of gospel” to his congregation. Around this time of year, for the past 20 years, he also re-enacts Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech at his church and other local places.
“I want people in a way to go back in time and look at where our country was. Look where we’ve come,” Martin said. “Look how far we can go if we just put our hearts into it and get away from this bigotry.”
The racially driven killing of nine people at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, is still in the heart and mind of McCullough. He also recalled disturbing instances when people made references to monkeys and lynchings concerning the president. But, like Martin, McCullough remains hopeful for the future, ultimately believing that God is in control.
“As racially charged as things are, there are definitely instances of more cooperation and communication across racial lines,” McCullough said. “I do believe that we’re not going to be as strong as we could be and should be without all voices at the table, even those with whom we disagree.”
It’s necessary to talk about the country’s demographics as well when discussing race relations in the country, according to Adrian Ford. Ford is the CEO of Three Pyramids Inc., a Fitchburg-based organization that works toward equal opportunity and social justice for people of color.
The racial wealth divide in the country remains great, Ford noted. A report published in August by the Institute for Policy Studies, “The Ever-Growing Gap,” found that Latino and black households owned an average of six to seven times less wealth, respectively, compared to white households.
“Yes, we have to acknowledge every time we have progress, while we’re also talking about conditions that we need to improve,” Ford said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in December 2008, the black unemployment rate was 12.1 percent. In December 2016, the black unemployment rate was reported to be 7.8 percent, the lowest it has been for the black community since 2007.
Dwayne Wheeler, first vice president of the NAACP Merrimack Valley branch, said how people treat one another is the “litmus test” on whether race relations have improved. His hopes are that more people will come together over the next four years.
“With President-elect Trump coming in, we have a great opportunity, and I think we should seize the moment and make it as great as we can,” Wheeler said. “I think that we ought to try to make this world the best we can. It’s the only one we have.”
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