Impact of the nation’s first black president
As Barack Obama’s historic presidency winds down, scholars are beginning the complicated undertaking of assessing the impact of the nation’s first black president. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) convened analysts, practitioners, and activists this week for a two-day symposium to consider Obama’s legacy on issues of race, justice, and civil rights. At the symposium’s opening Wednesday evening, panelists said Obama’s leadership addressing racism and policing — both in getting parties to the negotiating table while quelling the emotional tinderbox of protests and counterprotests, and in his relentless push for meaningful criminal justice reform, particularly around mass incarceration — will be seen positively in the coming decades. View all posts in National & World Affairs Explore: Obama’s America By Colleen Walsh, Harvard Staff Writer | September 30, 2016 | Editor's Pick Popular > “I think President Obama will go down as one of...