With the election of the first African-American President, many African-Americans have expressed deep pride in Barack Obama’s election. Have students go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97506193 and listen to “Tell Me More” an interview entitled: “Will Obama Presidency Change Perceptions among Blacks?” 

This podcast consists of an interview between William Raspberry (Retired Urban Affairs Columnist, Washington Post), Dr. Jelani Cobb (Department of History, Spelman College) and Professor Patricia Williams, (School of Law, Columbia University).  After students listen to the Podcast have them discuss the following:

Questions:

1. The participants of the NPR podcast discuss whether Barack Obama is/or should be a role model for others to emulate.  If this is true how do your students see him doing this?

2. Does President Obama have special responsibilities to the black community?  Is it his personal responsibility to see that help is given to alleviate the poverty that many blacks experience? 

3. If you agree that this responsibility is his, did John F. Kennedy have that same kind of responsibility to the Catholics in America as he was the first elected Catholic President? 

4. Do you think stereotypes and perceptions of African-Americans will change with the election of Barack Obama?