On race relations, President Obama is feeling optimistic.
At least, that’s how he comes across in an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, who asks if “the United States is more racially divided than it was” when he took office. “No,” Obama says, “I actually think that it’s probably in its day-to-day interactions less racially divided.” …
It’s easy to dismiss this as undue optimism or a retreat to 2008-style post-racial thinking, especially given events in Cleveland, Ferguson, and New York, and the stark divide in how blacks and whites see law enforcement. But Obama isn’t wrong. When it comes to race relations, America is better than it’s ever been. CONT.
Jamelle Bouie, Slate