U.S President Barack Obama was called an inspiration towards young black Americans by a leading U.S civil rights organisation, during its 100th annual convention for celebrating the country’s first black president, the Reuters reports.
However, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) said the battles to close gaps in health, education and legal justice all still remain.
According to the Reuters, a study shows Black Americans in U.S occupies 13 percent of its whole population. On average they die younger than U.S whites and earn less money, they are more likely to be imprisoned or have a bad education.
Benjamin Jealous, 36, the youngest person ever to serve as president of NAACP, said people now have a situation in which hope is up, but because the situation has not changed much, frustrations are up as well.
“Since Obama was elected, there’s a feeling of pride and accomplishment, hope for young folks,” said Gerald Stansbury, president of the NAACP Maryland State Conference.
“It’s given them a true picture of what African-Americans can do and that it pays off to stay forthright in the struggle – and that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “We are inspired, and now we need tools.”
Even though America has got a black president “there is discrimination out there”, said Mary Hall, 69, of Fayetteville, Georgia, a retired newspaper executive and NAACP delegate.
Joe Canady, 46, President of the Conway County NAACP branch in Arkansas, said Obama is going to do all he can, but he cannot do it all and we have got to help ourselves. “It’s going to take us all working together.”
NAACP national field director, Stefanie Brown, 28, from Bedford Heights, Ohio, said black Americans now want to see progress in areas where racial disparities still exist.
“People will not only just give him a pass because he is African-America, I feel they still want to hold the president’s feet,” Brown said. “We do want him to be vocal on issues that we care about.”
Since Obama came into office in January there has been more optimism about race relations.
The United States has long fought the battle with racial tensions. Slavery only ended after a bloody 19th century civil war and segregation still persisted into the late 20th century.
For centuries, racism and lynchings targeted at blacks ensued, especially under Jim Crow laws, which were a set of rules promoting the inferior treatment and accommodations of black Americans in comparison to white Americans, and also built up a system with a number of economic, educational, and social disadvantages.
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