After being officially sworn in today, President Barack
Obama will be publicly sworn into office tomorrow, January 21, 2013. This day
also happens to coincide with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which as Sally
mentioned in the previous post, symbolizes just how far this country has come
in regards to racial equality. But despite Obama being the first
African-American president, the U.S. still has a long way to becoming racially
equal.
Obama has used this important day to emphasize how much he
admires King and his efforts. The National Day of Service on Saturday, which started
the weekend of inaugural festivities, was in honor of King (you can read more about this day here). The president has
said that Martin Luther King Jr. is one of two people who had the most
influence on his career, the other being Abraham Lincoln. Both of these great
figures fought for something that allowed Obama, and all African-Americans, to progress
so much. 2013 also happens to coincide with the 150th anniversary of
the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and King’s I Have a Dream speech.
Tomorrow, President Obama will use two Bibles when taking the public oath, one
that belonged to Martin Luther King Jr. and one that belonged to Abraham
Lincoln.
Some say that with King on his mind, Obama will start out
his second term more focused on the same issues that King fought for, like
poverty and racial equality. In his first term, Obama seemed more focused on foreign affairs than problems here at home. Though understandable, like in
bringing troops home or eliminating Osama bin Laden, it seems like Obama pushed
aside the issues that have been continuous problems for all presidents.
We will just have to wait and see what President Obama lays
out in his Inaugural Address tomorrow morning. What do you think Obama will
focus on in the next four years? What do you wish he would focus on? How much
influence will King’s legacy have on Obama’s decisions?
1 comment:
Martin Luther King Day definitely made an impact on Obama's inauguration, but I feel like it strays from the point of the Presidency. To target racial equality makes little to no sense to me. I am an Asian and I can happily be friends with a White, a Black or Hispanic. I am sure there are places where racism still takes place, but that is just false ideals. It isn't something you can just make people stop believing. Also instead of tackling poverty, Obama should focus on economic issues in general. If the US economy gets better, poverty will automatically become better. One thing that bugged me and continuously bugs me today is the Obama's favoritism to the poor. Yes, there are some people that are unfortunate and need some government help. However, there are many people that are milking the benefits of welfare without repercussion. If Obama continuously focuses on "helping the poor," I feel that America will eventually become a socialist/communist country.
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