Robert Cherenson: Obama’s problem was forgetting his white side

In the opinion piece “How will history regard Obama” by Erin Aubry Kaplan (Page 1D, Feb. 7), the author asserts that for the American black community President Obama has been heroic and transformational, yet not so for white America. She cites the old racial lines have held, and that is due to white racism.

My challenge with the president not bridging the racial divide is not based on his blackness. Rather, it is his dismissal of being half white. Because he is bi-racial he should have been the perfect individual to bring greater societal understanding; identifying with frustrations from the different vantage points. But he has rarely articulated that understanding. He has been divisive and often hypocritical and disingenuous.

As an example, the President could have denounced the inflammatory race-baiting accusations of individuals such as Al Sharpton, which caused old wounds to bleed. Instituting a root cause analysis for societal problems would have gone a long ways toward resolving race-based conflict.

Effective transformational leaders seek to understand all of the positions of complex issues. President Obama has not been effective on the race front because he has not expressed, with clarity, the understanding of multiple perspectives in an attempt to find commonality and real solutions.

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Robert Cherenson: Obama’s problem was forgetting his white side."