I understand that when Barack Obama took the presidential oath of office on that cold, sunny day in January 2009, he not only became the president for African-Americans, but the president for all people. And in all honesty, that’s how it should be. The president of the United States is the president of the American people, not just a specific group of people.

However, because Obama is the first Black president, I’m sure we all expected things would be different to some degree. I for one understood the importance of Obama being impartial and not overly accommodating one group—specifically Blacks—because I realize the implication such treatment would spark. Obama has had to walk a fine line in an effort not to appear too Black, too radical or too appeasing. However, in his attempt to not display any sort of preferential treatment or bias towards Blacks, Obama has missed the mark and his calling to foster a better understanding among various races.

(NNPA)—It began with an Internet posting at 11:18 a.m. on Monday, July 19. Right-wing blogger Andrew Breitbart uploaded a heavily-edited video of a speech Shirley Sherrod gave to an NAACP dinner in Douglas, Ga. It was posted under the headline “Video Proof: The NAACP Awards Racism” on BigGovernment.com, one of Breitbart’s sites.

The slanted editing made it appear as though Sherrod was boasting about discriminating against a White farmer when, in fact, her point was that people of all races should move beyond their personal biases.

(REAL TIMES MEDIA)—Barack Obama spent an hour with the ladies of “The View” last week, much to the chagrin of many stuffy old media types who felt that the office would be “diminished” by the president spending time with a bunch of female talking heads. The results of the interview itself were not shocking, President Obama was his typical affable if not a little stiff self, and he answered questions with grace, sincerity and when he could humor. The truly shocking part of the of interview was that the depth and variety of questions offered the president were so much better than much of what we’ve heard from the mainstream press throughout much of the year.

(NNPA)—It took three months and a stern presidential scolding for the United States Senate to pass legislation that would extend unemployment insurance for more than 2.5 million Americans who have been out of work for a long time. Why did the Senate drag its feet? We couldn’t afford the $33 billion legislation, they said. We could afford a bank bailout, but not money for the unemployed? Many feel the legislation that finally passed will not do enough for the unemployed. It provides dollars for some, but what is really needed is a public works program, some real job creation.