Live
Audio Only
Former president Barack Obama has already been called one of the most popular presidents in history, but many feel that his two terms did not follow through on his promise for "hope," particularly in respect to social justice issues.
IN DEPTH:
Trump's First 100 Days
There is also fear from social movements and progressive sectors that Obama’s departure and Trump’s presidency will usher in a dark period on a number of social justice initiatives in the future. On World Day of Social Justice, teleSUR examines some of the incomplete promises and shortcomings of the Obama administration and how they may continue under Trump.
Immigration
In his first election campaign in 2008, Obama promised to bring about immigration reform. But even with Democratic control of congress, reform was not introduced and his administration oversaw the highest number of deportations of any president. Unsurprisingly, pro-immigration advocates dubbed Obama the “deporter-in-chief.”
From the start of Trump's campaign, the former real estate mogul has targeted migrants and has already begun to put his stance into practice. One of his first moves as president was to issue an executive order for a travel ban on citizens from seven seven majority-Muslim countries entering the U.S.
Another executive order by Trump aimed to cut federal funding to “sanctuary cities” protecting immigrants and has set off a legal battle with local councils, law enforcement and immigration advocates.
Trump’s crackdown has already been met by widespread protests and federal Immigration officials have already arrested hundreds of people. Trump said that he is carrying through with his promise and the arrests have seen “gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!” Individual cases, however, have detailed ordinary people being removed from their families.
Guantanamo Bay
One of Obama’s first promises in entering the White House was to close down the Guantanamo Bay prison facility. The prison located at a U.S. Navy base on Cuban land has been used to hold terrorists suspects since 2002 under George W. Bush’s administration.
The notorious prison has been well known as a site of human rights abuses, where inmates are held without trial and kept in terrible conditions. There are also accusations of torture techniques at this site.
In his first week as president in January 2009, Obama signed an executive order to shut down the prison within a year. But two presidential terms later, the prison remains. Obama’s administration released and transferred over 700 detainees, yet 41 inmates still remain in the prison. The former president has blamed a difficult congress as a reason for failing to close the facility.
RELATED:
As Antarctica Shrinks, Trump Picks ‘Most Dangerous’ EPA Leader
Trump said that he wants to keep the prison open and “load it up with some bad dudes” and is expected to sign an executive order to expand the complex and transfer captured fighters from terror groups including the Islamic State group to the prison.
He has also explained his support of torture and said that he would “bring back waterboarding.” Regardless of the effectiveness of torture techniques, Trump said that “they deserve it anyway, for what they’re doing to us.”
Race Relations
As the first Black President of the U.S., Obama provided many with a hope for widespread change in regard to race relations in the country, particularly for African Americans.
In 2014, Obama claimed that “like the rest of American, black America, in the aggregate, is better off now than it was when I came into office.” But by 2017, many prominent members from the African American community argued that relations are at a similar point, not just for racial equality, but also for the economy, governance and poverty and of course police brutality.
“The country’s back to pretty much where it was when this president started. White people in this country are doing a bit better. Black people are doing a full point worse,” said former NAACP head Benjamin Jealous in 2013.
RELATED:
Cuba, Iran Strengthen Ties as Trump Menace Threatens Both
During Obama’s second term, the Black Lives Matter Movement sprung up in the face of police killings and brutality against African Americans. Throughout his term, Obama was happy to support protesters but on other occasions claimed that the movement had alienated others with its approach.
Now, under Trump there is serious concern that race relations will be significantly set back. In yet another executive order, Trump laid out a "Blue Lives Matter” plan to support law enforcement, which would have serious ramifications not only for Black Lives Matter, but all types of resistance movements.
Drones
Obama inherited a number of foreign conflicts from George W. Bush, but his own record of warmongering around the world has been especially tainted by the use of unmanned drones, even in countries where the U.S. is not officially fighting a war.
Drones have been used to attack targets of the Islamic State group, al-Qaida and other groups across Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia. According to monitoring organization Reprieve, the U.S. has “used drones to execute without trial some 4,700 people,” and civilians deaths are thought to have reached more than 1,000.
Trump had promised in the election campaign to continue the use of drones against terrorist targets and even their families. Some speculate that he will also expand the drone program, which has been supported by a number of his key staff.
RELATED:
Trump's Sinking Ship: More Resignations and Rejections
War on Drugs
In another conflict stretching back to the Nixon administration, Obama also inherited the wide-reaching “War on Drugs” where billions of dollars continue to be spent across the world in an effort to stamp out the illegal international drug trade.
At times Obama was a critic of the hard-handed approach in favor of a scientific and public health approach. He increased funding for drug treatment and prevention, but he also continued to fund militarized anti-drug wars outside of U.S. borders and fill U.S. prisons with low-level drug offenders.
Advocating a “tough on crime” approach domestically and abroad, Trump’s administration seems all but guaranteed to beef up the global "War on Drugs." Through his executive order on federal law enforcement to take up the fight against the transnational drug trade, many believe history will repeat itself. Indeed countries in Latin America, many of which will continue to receive U.S. funding, know all too well the social and economic cost behind a militarized approach to drug enforcement.
Newsletter
