Hope has died and change never came: Voices

More so than ever, I wish that racism was over. That having a black president had somehow eliminated my chances of getting shot dead after my car breaks down by the side of the road. I wish that black men like me had the ability to wait for their sons to get off the bus from school without the fear of being shot by plain-clothes officers.

Even if that's all too much to wish for, why can't I just have the ability to protest without scrutiny? It seems that no matter what — whether I comply with officers' demands, or I ask why their weapons are drawn on me — I am going to die. Whether I take to the streets and disrupt traffic, or I take a knee during the national anthem, there is no safe way to demand value for black life.

I remember marching through the hallways of my high school behind the band as we chanted "Obama! Obama! Obama!" I remember that cold January morning when my school rented enough transportation to take every student and parent to President Obama's inauguration. At that point I believed in the dream called "change" that Obama sold.

Years later, I'm more politically aware.

Now I feel hopeless and doubtful about the fact that change will happen for black people in America. There's a one-sided war going on against black America, one that National Guard troops are sent in to justify and that Obama also has had a hand in perpetuating.

Too much criticism, not enough support

The president is not responsible for the killing of unarmed black civilians by law enforcement agencies that happened during his two terms in office. But as the first black man to sit behind that desk in the Oval Office, there's plenty he could say in support of police brutality victims and in support of those of us who've protested against the killings of black people by law enforcement.

Instead, his statements have often supported the notion that it's more important for black activists to be cognizant of how we protest and who might be hurt by us doing so, than it is for police to be mindful of how their bias is killing the black community. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick taking a knee before football games has brought more criticism than the cops he's protesting. In response, Obama attempted to straddle the fence. “I want Mr. Kaepernick and others who are on a knee, I want them to listen to the pain that they may cause someone who, for example, had a spouse or a child who was killed in combat,” Obama said during a CNN town hall discussion. “But I also want people to think about the pain that he may be expressing about somebody who has lost a loved one that they think was unfairly shot.”

Americans haven't forgotten the loved ones we've lost who fought in Afghanistan or Iraq, but we've ignored the black bodies in the streets of America. My cousin was killed in Afghanistan, and the forces who killed him were met by American military strength. The sister of Alfred Olango — a black man who was shot and killed by police in a San Diego suburb — called 911 hoping to get her brother help because he was having a mental breakdown. Instead, police opened fire on him.

I believe Obama understands the pressing need for a Black Lives Matter movement. What he doesn't understand is how radical the movement must be to actually implement change. “I know that there’s some who have criticized even the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ as if the notion is ... other lives don’t matter," Obama said. "We get ‘All Lives Matter’ or ‘Blue Lives Matter.’ I understand the point they’re trying to make. I think it’s also important for us to understand that the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ simply refers to the notion that there’s a specific vulnerability for African Americans that needs to be addressed."

The problem with that statement is that unlike earlier statements in which Obama included himself in the equation (think of his "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," statement from 2012), not talking about his own connection to black life weakened the cry for understanding. Some of the strong statements he made earlier in response to the loss of black life faded as Black Lives Matter strengthened. His attempt to appease both cops and BLM protesters has frequently been misplaced.

Community fears police won't change

Obama's legacy in terms of police reform will forever be associated with the Department of Justice investigations and reports for cities such as Ferguson and Baltimore. For many white Americans, those reports were the first documented proof that the system of policing in America has been dangerously run based on notions of racial bias. Black America saw the conclusions drawn in these reports simply as confirmations of the things we already knew. Are the DOJ reports a step in the right direction? Yes. They documented instances of police bias, inappropriate use of force and systemic racism that's seen in law enforcement agencies across the country.

But the overwhelming fear from the community is that the DOJ recommendations will fall short. Citizens in Baltimore, for example, have been demanding a civilian presence with voting power on review boards that investigate police infractions. We want retroactive punishment for officers in the department who have practiced, implemented and promoted stop-and-frisk policies. We wanted incredibly harsh punishments included in the report for officers who had ignored the sexual assault claims of black women.

At this point it seems as if every week we read about black people being killed by police. It's happening so frequently that I fear America will become immune. We're starting to forget about the individuals who have been killed and the importance of their stories. The president seems to have forgotten.

Eric Garner's killer was given a pay raise. Officers who killed Freddie Gray were given thousands of dollars in back pay after the trials ended. But people in Charlotte who were protesting Keith Scott's death at the hands of police got rubber bullets, tear gas and military force. Kaepernick can't even take a knee and silently protest without being chastised. Though Obama is not to blame for the killings, he does carry the burden of not protecting the bodies who've chosen to protest or protecting the lives of people who look like him and his family.

Instead, he's decided to straddle the fence. Black people taking a stand against the injustices of America have always been met with criticism. But to have that criticism come from a black president who campaigned on the work he did in the inner cities of Chicago is like a slap in the face.

Black America supported Obama and unified behind him. We got the president we wanted. We have yet to receive the change we believed in.

Kwame Rose is an artist, activist and writer from Baltimore. Follow him @kwamerose.