to use, you can see deep trough in the 1990s. [inaudible] all the industries when putin came to power, kill our enemies

no matter where you find them. [inaudible] the catastrophe of the submarine or terrorist act of the theater or fear to conduct the -- however -- [inaudible] because in the real income due to the high oil price, we are growing by about 8% per year.

this situation is incredible. we can say that in the theory did between 2000-2008, russia has never had such -- [inaudible] which became the basis for support of -- [inaudible] abruptly interrupted. and after that, the putin regime can secure the stability and growth of the level of -- all the way the end of 2013 w

were absorbinghe -- [inaudib] disappointment, particularly among middle-class in russia all the way toy -- [inaudible] that one can say that the situation -- [inaudle] how es theork with the putin regime? you can see a slowly it was growing which is explained by the summer 2008 when there was the war.

later we can see the trust went down step-by-step. programs rating was down to the lowest -- only 60%. this is a very high index. this is a very significant factor. in december 2014, 40% said they would not like to see the putin

candidacy the nominated for the non-presidential elections, and the secretary's are waiting to hear whether -- so this wasn't the lowest. let me remind you that between 2011, which was the lowest stable period, this was a period of demonstrations when the middle class came out to the streets. very sharp criticism, accusation from a corruption. the decrease of the united russia's ruling party populari popularity, then there was the moment when --

[inaudible] and his slogans were supported by 45% which was the highest point. later, right after that, incredible aggressive, anti-ukraine and anti-western campaign, annexation of crimea. putin's rating as you can see jumps all the way to 88%, which practically matches what was in 2000, during the war with georgia.

and later he states more or less on the same level. -- stays. at the same time t crisis erupted across the country, which was quite a year and radically different from what we haveeen in 2008 because this crisis, unlike this crisis and unlike the current crisis, unlike the want of 2008, 1998 which was a systematic crisis, not troubled by the international economic situation. not related to the drop of oil prices because the depression of e economy in 2012 when -- as high as $100 a barrel which

meant the regime run out of resoces, unofficial management and the growth of the government expenses. it's sufficient to say by this time when putin came to power by the end of the yelton buried the government was controlling about 26% of all the finances. now it controls about 70 or 71%. in other words, the state sector, the same area in the economy has dramatically been increased as a number of dependent on the government, has been increased. not only military people but also people who work for the state enterprises or enterprises where the government has a large share as well as -- the

so-called teachers, physicians. the situation has been dramatically changed. the revenue, the income with a drop of oil prices and with apeciation of the income has had a painful imct on the middle cla and most, t pooressegments of the population first of all, real urb population. l the assessments of thtrust of the government went, sedived. so in general one can say the crisis in israel assessment of the drop of the real income was not so dramatic. it was only about 50% according

to government officials. it was a little bit more but. [inaudible] people managed to -- [inaudible] all the discontent was transferred from putin to the lower level of government. you can see the blue lines as it goes down. this was particularly annoying and provoked the legislators, the deputies. today the assessment is roughly 62-30%.

but the most important what happened, the entire western sentiment. and the ukraine criticism, the ukraine propaganda, i'm not going to analyze it because we don't have enough time, like it was directed not so much against ukraine but against the policy of the federation. [inaudible] which inspired the mind on revolution. [inaudible]

[inaudible] but as the enemies of putin and, therefore, enemies of russia. this is a very important factor. because it is related to the fear of kremlin toward this possibility of maidan revolution petition in russia. so policy was reinforced not after maidan but in 2012 after -- in moscow -- [inaudible] limited the activities of the civil society which used

censorship, persecution of opposition. this is when these so-called legislation against the ngos and foreign agents was introduced as propaganda was against the position as hidden western agents who conduct pro-u.s. policand our channels of input of the so-called color revolutions. the attitude towards putin is not linear. one should not receive 96% as the resultf euphoria of recognition of charismatic of

putin. [inaudib] he is a charismatic leader, a demagogue who would ensure new path. if you look at, and i believe this is quite important chart, the sympathy with the exception of the period of the crimea, the people, putin was liked mostly by a third of the population. negative approach towards putin was also not very similar but the indifference was the most important facr. and in the apolitical output, this element is bearing construction of the old regime's. one can say by the ality -- [inaudible]

to bring the society -- [inaudible] because of this is the goal of the domestic policy of kremlin. that does not -- that does not mean that the condition of put putin, after the report itself, reports were published, corruption, we have questions. you can see that putin was perceived to a certain extent as the head of a corrupt system.

but the population without having sufficient information about it, except it. very few believe that they share completely the provisions of the report that putin is one of the members of the -- style government. by the time of crimea annexation, they share of this people decreases to the minimum level and then it goes up again. as a significant share of the people who are absolutely, absolutely reject charges against putin. but the main bulk said well, maybe it is correct, but i myself am not really aware of

it, of the corruption. and encourage that kind of approach, well, everybody is a thief, that is the system, but for me the more significant resu -- if it is true, what's the difference? if it is true or not, what is important is that the life in the country is getting better. this duplicity, this opportunity is very important. it is one of the import key components of the indifference and not involvement or one should take into consideration the inertia.

this is the experience of a person who has learned -- the repressive state, to be loyal, to display loyalty to this government. and in reality it's not, is concerned only about his his or her own personal probls. in other words, the strategies of everyday attitude of people is a physical survival in the involvement of the government. people clely have an idea what the regime is about. putin is supported by the so-called political oligarchs,

military in the eyes of the population, he's not even a monarch. not so much monarch, as much as the information. therefore, the population better has idea about the nature of the regime system. as i said before it's very important here, the western propaganda. not simply anti-western propaganda but the situation will grow to the level of the east of the great war. this is a very important component because propaganda, indeed, not only raised this way of national pride, and self-assurance as our

respondents say, they feel more self-confidence. we have shown that we are strong and everybody started to respect us. this is the idea of a bear who is showing his teeth, was very efficient for the -- said during the crimean history, crimean story, pride and self-respect, it has jumped twice, almost -- extremely painful and deeply hidden. today was revealed in this aggressive self-assurance as the country who has restored great superpower. the more aggressive ideas and

attitude of the government, the more satisfied is population of russia. as we take a look at the components of the sentiment towards putin, particularly in foreign policy, attention to the national interest, to the international area and restoration of the russian moral authority. this is very important because in all other areas, putin activity is in the best case scenario modest, and sometimes even a successful. he has not achieved great success is in his fight against corruption. again, counterterrorism fight is quite depletions, and the economics goes down, which does

not make him more popular. the situation in the northern country is unstable. is only symbolic area in achievement is foreign policy. here it is very important that putin works here in a completely different environment, the environment of the millennia russia, of the russian civilization as a civilization against the rest of the world. that only in his system, it makes sense to assess it. because the government and the local regional governments were upset by purely criteria, and the onus is on them which is removed from putin for the current state of things. meanwhile, also like to say

propaganda also raised the level of the soviet perceptions. one can say during the last two years we have been dealing with a dramatic manifestation of dramatic -- rebirth of many soviet ideas and perceptions. not only return to the old ideas that the government control economy better than the free market economy, because it secures a certain stability, stable salaries, free medicine, education and jobs. but it also provides certainty in the future. people do not remember about

clinical shortage -- but they believe the return of socialism can be used as some kind of guideline. and the political system of the soviet type seems to be, remains to be quite appealing. western democracy as a model, as a very attractive. today is practically, is nonexistent. the current system is starting to be assessed. as more positive after crimea, is less attractive.

there's no need to make some special comments, but it's very important that the united states is enemy number one, in the framework of this confrontation and the struggle -- power status for russia, and the united states plays the role of -- all this conflict, all the perceptions of the cold war were brought back. the united states not currently oppose the united states and competition of the system but also in a military rival. here you can see with the launch of the anti-ukraine propaganda,

a negative approach towards the united states has grown along with the negative sentiments towards ukraine. in general, the list of the unfriendly nations was always led by the former federal republics which opted come for integration with the west. since latvia, lithuania and estonia, later georgia and then came ukraine, turned the orange revolution in 2004, ukraine is sometimes then becomes the unfriendly country or even an enemy. that lately with the context of the general anti-western propaganda there is culture growing towards germany which is very -- always a positive with

the german as well as against poland and great britain. if we take 2008 we can see the list other friendly nations as enemy nations. and the attractiveness of china has dramatically raised as the rhetorical anti-support of the west. but first of all there's no doubt about it. they carry the burden of the current situation, and russia was always presented as a victim of a foreign animosity, for an aggression which allows to use and the domestic policy, to preserve domestic policy -- world righteousness. the aggression comes from

outside. we can only defend ourselves. what what's also important is the rise of the feelings of the prewar -- nato line. this has a sense of threat of the work, removes all the claims against the government but brings -- and decrees the personal -- because this is a war we need to be patient. the most important motto here is, which goes back a long time, we can cure everything as long as there is no war. this is the illustration of the idea that russia was always --

[inaudible] and finally you need to understand the extreme importance would be after putin came to power, the environment of animosity of surrounding world, which allowed us to secure -- the people in the government. but this is -- [inaudible] however confrontation with the west is, accordi to, top agenda creates an impression that russia defends and counteracts against the western influence and status great power and plays a more significant role in international area. this is increasing influence,

brings respect from other nations. restoration of the great powers, this is what people expected from putin,nd the most portant element ithe march of 24, crimean annexatn and ti-western confrontation. if i 1999, 65% felt that rsia -- started as a serpower, and has been turned into a regional power, at the moment, at the moment of propaganda, both in 2008 when there was the war

against georgia or annexation of crimea, the feeling of the restoration of the great power status, and this involvement dramatically decreases potential for the social converse, both in economic and political issues. change the domestic attitude towards the government, the government remains to be a corrupt government. but this is -- inside country, not outside of the. my time is running out, that's what i'm going to stop here. >> thank you very much, lev, and there's much to think about and many interesting numbers to contemplate in your talk. i will ask the first question, and make sure you are all adjusted.

okay. so my first question really goes to the nature of the opinions about the old soviet system. and if you could address the question, we talked about the the rising number of support for the soviet system -- [inaudible] >> and i was just curious if you could identify when you talk about the support for the soviet system, whether you could break that down by age groups? in other words, support for the old soviet system those who lived through the old soviet

system pours the support for the soviet system equally spread amongst all leaders in society, including young people? [speaking russian] >> translator: if you look at the chart, in 1988, there was a very dramatic sense that the country was in a dead end. at that moment our research was given a very strange picture. the number of responses like worse than anybody else, we are -- nuclear weapons, we are how

we should not, for example, of how not to do things, it went from 7% to 54% in just two years. it was acute stage of collective frustration. and, of course, the entire system was pursued in a very negative fashion. after crisis of the mid 1990s, comeback began, leaving too difficult economic situation which was a very difficult, which we don't need to discuss. great deal of disappointment in the western models, and the growth of nostalgic feelings and sentiments towards the soviet past and the idealization of the

past which was skillfully played by putin. in the sense that there was a perception that the reforms as well as maidan were inspired by the west and directed at the destruction of the soviet union. ..

[inaudible] young people who are not familiar. [inaudible] therefore they have a delusional idea.

[inaudible] it secured a certain level of social warranty i'm just going to make a quick note, you need to speak directly into the microphone so our interpreter can hear it answers the bank and get the feed.

[inaudible] [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] do

you see this as a crucial problem >> it is a logical question. i personally do not believe that this is a serious issue. it's not radical and different from situations in other countries. [inaudible] [inaudible] there is nothing in situation that is different. this is some sort of invented

excuse to justify and understand our data. [inaudible] [inaudible] there has been reason after mass profit to which extent it had an impact,

[inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible]

[inaudible] [inaudible]

i believe there is no great deal of difference in such a collection of government information. >> thank you. the american foreign-policy council, i would like to ask a question, looking looking a bit into the future. one of the big issues that the russian government is facing is the need for reform of the detention system which is very generous by international standards and extremely expensive given russian government finances. children has proposed some fairly, i wouldn't say radical, but significant restrictions on age and on benefits. some of these have already been introduced for government

employees, but the pension system is one of the most fundamental elements of the patrimonial relationship between the state and people in russia. it is the primary means by which much of the older population survived. if between now and the next presidential election there were a significant alteration in the pension system, how do you think this would affect broad public attitudes toward the state? >> even mentioning the possibility, i believe there

will be a harsh policy [inaudible] the inflation last year was at the level of 9%, and even by the end it was 16%. it had decreased dramatically. [inaudible]

[inaudible] [inaudible] >> short questions back here. steve crowley, i'm a fellow at the wilson wilson center. i just want to follow up on the question, how about the support for vladimir putin and how does this breakdown by social groups? he heard in 2011, 2012 there were protests, we were told mainly by middle-class

professional class folks in moscow and st. petersburg and vladimir putin seems to claim the support of the working class and the industrial enter lands and so on. what does your data say about who exactly is supporting prudent? [inaudible] [inaudible] why are they silent

[inaudible] [inaudible]

[inaudible] [inaudible] is the situation then worsened and i would not call it a

majority [inaudible] the situation is going to change dramatically, indeed this all can change very quickly. [inaudible]

[inaudible]

[inaudible] [inaudible]

[inaudible] specifically the russian middle-class [inaudible] the russ bonds trent responses quite different. the growing immigration sentiment because middle-class has many unhappy people

[inaudible] [inaudible] there are industrial, repressive areas of russia and they are the basis [inaudible]

[inaudible] [inaudible] look what happened in ukraine.

the population has horrific memories [inaudible] [inaudible] they have to protect russia from genocide and therefore it's an ethical act because russia restores by conducting an ethical policy because in part

it's also a certain profession. therefore despite the fact that the official media was only volunteers [inaudible] they think this is the right thing because the war is a war >> we will take one more round of questions. the questions must be very short just ask the question, no statements, no comments. i last the speaker to very quickly respond to these statements because we are already up against time. i3 hands up.

twelve and three. [inaudible] [inaudible] >> you discuss the anti- american being at cornerstone of vladimir putin's message. can trump make a deal to reset relations with russia or is that fanciful >> so these are two questions and then we are done

[speaking in native tongue] [inaudible] only 9% spoke in favor of clinton therefore this will be seen as the success of vladimir putin

[speaking in native tongue] [inaudible] it was a highly unpleasant situation that this also creates a number of problems because we

cannot get any money from the government. we earned this money [inaudible] [inaudible]

[inaudible] there registered as of foreign agent and that means we will be punished again hour forecast is no organization has the process because i believe we still have more time [inaudible]

we saw a lot of conch tracks that need to come through >> i want to thank you for just this fascinating conversation about what's going on inside russia [applause] i also want to take think are cosponsors at george washington university, c-span and all of you for coming. i wish you a happy thanksgiving thanksgiving. thank you so much. come on >> a look at the u.s. capitol where newly elected of representatives gather with

incumbents to form the 115th congress in january. new members are making their way to washington and we caught up with one of them recently >> for those who aren't familiar with the 15th district of texas, where is it >> it begins on the mexican border all the way to northeast san antonio. it is an eight county district >> a district that a president elect trump would be very much impacted by those efforts. can you talk about the border issues in the district and what the state barrier between the united states and mexico is >> the wall won't work. if it did, i would be for it. we've done a very good job securing our borders in texas. this too has done a good job. we have troopers thrghout our border region. security is much more controlled than people imagine. we need to continue to improve

it make it better, it's obviously a border wall sounds good in his campaign rhetoric but in reality, i would invite donald trump to come down and see things for himself. i think you might have a different point of view. >> as a democrat, democrat, what advice are you giving to the democratic leadership in congress? specifically on immigration and border security issue, especially now that democrat are in the minority >> we need to find common ground and i'm here to work to try to make america better and move our region forward. we have an immigration policy that doesn't work, the policy that's in place now has divided families. we have parents and children living in different countries. husbands and wives, broken families. it's not who we are as a country or a family or region. that something we need to continue to work on >> what did you do before running for congress >> i've been practicing law

>> any legal issues >> my cases ended up having immigration issues because a lot of the people i represented had immigration issues. so is a time where i couldn't get a hold of one of the family members or relatives or families were broken because of immigration poli that was in place. many times i would have to travel across the border to get document signed because folks who had legal action, beneficiaries in the united states could come across and sign a simple document. these are folks who weren't interested in moving here. they were just folks who needed to come and take care of business >> what is that project like traveling across the border for you and your hometown? describe what that is like >> traveling across the border has been a tradition for hundreds of years in texas and we do a lot of commerce. there our largest trading

partner and a very important part of our community. now i will say this, it has become more dangerous and we need to work on that. we need to engage the government of mexico to make it safer than it ever has been before. seven years ago, it was a lot safer than it is today. in terms of security in south texas, we are one of the safest communities in the state and i feel very comfortable there. >> have you thought much about your committee assignment in congress? >> i have. we start at the top and were asking for appropriations and my predecessor will leave a void after he is gone. transportation is a big issue. i'm very interested in trying to in clement a fast rail from san antonio from the border to the valleys and sent monterrey mexico. these are all committee

assignments that i am asking for and hopefully will be fortunate >> thank you for time >> thank you >> join us tonight for the look at the future of policing. speakers include a member of president obama's task force as well as a new york city police officer and professors from the university of chicago and morehouse college talking about policing and race in america. here is a preview. >> you look at a time like ferguson, there's 20000 people. 16000 citizens had warrants. 16000 of 20000 people. that is unconscionable. that's because we didn't decide were going to start making everybody tickets, what i'm saying is that if you have a system where the town business, all the jobs lead, there are no

jobs and now you've got 16,000 people with warrants. it is a racial racial thing. somehow black people, you can go to traffic court but you be like you why people are really good drivers. is only by people here. you ask about the race dynamics but often you have to think about the structural piece that leads to a town like ferguson turning police into [inaudible] and citizens into vulnerable people >> that's a look at the future of policing here on c-span2 tonight. >> here are some of our featured programs thursday, thanksgiving day on c-span. just after 11 am eastern, eastern, nebraska senator on american values, the founding fathers and the purpose of

government. >> there is a huge civic mindedness in american history, but it's not compelled by the government >> followed at noon by tom harkin on healthy feud and the rise of childhood obesity in the u.s. >> from everything from monstrous the burgers with 1420 calories and 700 grams of fat and 20-ounce coke some pepsi's, 12 or 15 teaspoons of sugar, feeding an epidemic of childhood obesity >> then at 330, wikipedia founder talks about the evolution of the online encyclopedia and the challenge of providing global access to information >> once there's 1000 entries entries i know there's a small community there, i know there are five to ten active users and another 20 or 30 they know a little bit and they start to think of themselves as a community. then an inside look at the year-long effort to repair and restore the capital down. then justice kagan reflects on her life and career >> than i did my senior thesis which was a great thing to have done. it taught me an incredible amount and it also taught me

what it was like to be a serious historian and sit in archives all day everyday and i realized it just wasn't for me >> then justice clarence thomas and nine >> geniuses not putting a 2-dollar idea and a $20 sentence sentence. it's putting a 20-dollar idea in a 2-dollar sentence without any loss of meaning >> just after 10, at an exclusive ceremony in the white house, president obama will present the medal of freedom, our nation's highest award to 21 recipients including mbr's nba star michael jordan and philanthropist bill and melinda gates. watch on c-span and c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> now look back at president obama's legacy during his time in office. it's it's part of a recent harvard kennedy conference in

the age of obama. whether you will hear from a panel of historians, authors and academics, we look at civil rights and what's ahead for the next administration. this is just short of three hours >> it is now my pleasure to introduce our moderator for today's opening panel. she is the host of under the radar with kelly crossley airing on sunday on wgbh. her weekly commentary air weeklies weekly during the morning edition. she is a frequent commentator on local and national television and radio program. she has been quoted in the new york times, political and the new york post. she's been on cnn, pbs news hour, and pri and pri the take away. she appears weekly on tv meet

the press examining local and national media coverage and frequently host a show focusing on current events in communities of color. she is also the recipient of two harvard fellowships from the nieman foundation of journalism and the institute of politics at the john f. kennedy school of government, right here. she was also a producer for the eyes on the prize among america's civil rights years which earned her an oscar nomination, a national emmy and the dupont columbia award. with that, i will turn turn it over to our moderator to introduce our panelists [applause] >> thank you. i'm going to start by introducing the panel is just before we begin. we will talk for about 45 minutes and then there will be time for each of you to ask your question so you can be prepared to do that after we stopped

speaking here. every single one of these panelists has a robust bio. you will not hear it now. i'm going to give you the one sentence that is on this page. beginning with professor mary at the ends. mary. he is the professor of american social history and african studies at the university of pennsylvania. [applause] joshua is the founder of the values partnership and the former heads of the white house office of faith-based and neighborhood partnerships. [applause] taylor is a at princeton university. sir michael singleton is a political consultant, writer and political analyst. [applause]

i know that our panel is opportunity and opportunity missed. let's start on the opportunity and which is the uplifting side of the equation, and i want to begin with someone who has much in the field of civil rights, prof. barry you have worked with several presidents. when we talk about looking at race and justice in the age of obama, you can bring up a context to it that i think you others can't. i want to ask you, what is the opportunity that you see from a policy perspective that president obama obama has been able to make happen? >> i think i know too much and some days i think i should stop talking to anybody about anything because i'm a cynic. i'm a cynic because i observed

in some capacity in every administration since the accident, republican and democrat. when i look at obama when he was running for office and i was excited about it and i never believed in open change to begin with because i knew too much. the opportunity he had was to show he is a black man coming to the president, he had all the right credentials and had some engaging personality and was really smart and no one had to be embarrassed by what he did in

his day today, in the way he behaved with his wife and his children and his mother-in-law in all the things he did that he would engage in personally modeled behavior, which he did do. you also know from the speech he gave at the convention that he was a wonderful artist and i happen to write a book about it called power in words about all the speeches he made. you knew he was incredibly lucky he was incredibly lucky because he was from chicago and the islands look at the chicago tv and everyone knew him and people came from chicago in that first primary which he won and when i told bill clinton that hillary was going to lose after he won that one and that she should just stop running and bill got

mad at me, but anyway. stay quiet. i said she's not going to win. he just won iowa. obama had the opportunity to show, whenever you're black and you're the first person to do something, and i've been in that position a lot of times myself, people always say, are you going to mess up so much that nobody can ever do it again? i don't think anybody can say he messed up so much that nobody can do it again. racial inequality has been touched but it's intact. not only that, the article about people who are educated, black folks who have college degrees and to come to places like this, when they got to the job market they don't get the same opportunity to move up as other people do. capitalism is safe.

with cap protest and all that, but we haven't had a widespread rebellion and the poor white have mostly been ignored, the deplorable time i guess they're called, are still out there and life will move on. i think the opportunity to have a black man with the right credentials and do the job and he did the best he could with what he had. if there is a specific policy that he was able to take all of that but you just said to make that work in a policy that really exhibits his use of the opportunity >> i think obama did not use his policies and his opportunity in the first term as effectively as i would have liked to see it. i was present at the creation of the affordable care act and i know that lets of people,

advocates, went intory to put up public options in the affordable care act. the democrats had controlled the congress but the other thing which i think is a more egregious failure, the court could find that medicaid didn't have to be expanded and millions of poor people who live there, the poorest day in this country, mississippi alabama, a lot of poor black folks, his constituents and all across the country uncovered because they were trying to hide what was in the bill. this is true, i'm not making it up, from the republicans and those who had the expertise read the bill and congresswoman pelosi said they got a pass.

they had the majority there. you can't blame that on the republicans. they had a majority. the other thing i think he should've done better, i would have hoped, in my opinion is that the race to the top, using that discretionary money for untested, untried, on evaluated programs could've been spent on school, programs for kids who are out on the street stealing and robbing and shooting each other, and for them to have school and training and job programs while they are in school like they did at one time in the 60s and 70s and after school programs, and more vocational programs to get them off the street. those are tried-and-true programs. they're not just pie in the sky, they are tried-and-true.

i think he could've done better on that. >> i'm going to stop you there. you are going into my opportunities missed >> i'm approach you on this question with some trepidation. he was not on your plan. i'm ask you to dig deep and find the opportunity that he was able to make happen in terms of policy >> i think, if i can, i think the president has done a reasonably decent job. in particular, if you look around the country at hispanic youth and african american youth and even poor whites who share the same communities as those two groups, he has given a lot of hope and inspiration. i think for a lot of minorities who believed that of course you

can accomplish whatever you want to put your mind to america, that wasn't quite fully realized until you did see a minority become the first president, the most powerful individual in the world. that is something i don't think any number of case studies, you can't quantify what i can do for community of people. you look at places like walt moore, new orleans, other cities. my grandmother happens to be an educator in new orleans and i visited often and talk to the kids there, and they live in in an environment that i could never imagine. when i asked them, what you think about your future? you see yourself? what do you want to do when you're done with high school and go to college, et cetera, more often than not they say i can do anything now. when you asked them why they say look at michelle obama and president obama.

constantly reflect on what that means. it's puzzling. i'm not quite sure how to figure out what his presidency has meant to so many black and brown people. i think that something you can't quantify. maybe you can theorize it a bit. for me that is an opportunity. it's not policy. it's beyond policy. it is something that i think will potentially uplift an entire generation of people. that's an opportunity for me >> okay. joshua, you start from a position of faith, but i know that at the 50th anniversary, you connected the civil rights movement with president obama's legacy. you saw the connection, connection, you spoke about it. i'm wondering if you see that as his opportunity >> i am a person of faith, but i will talk about some of his work

and concrete policy achievement that we have seen over the past eight years and then we can move to more about cultural context after that. some very important and specific things. first, the afton american on employment rate at the height of the great recession in march march 2010 was 16.8%. last%. last month it was a .3%. because of his intervention in the economy when he wrote down pennsylvania avenue, twisting arms on capitol hill to make sure we got things passed and he made the move on the audio industry that he did and so forth, the black unemployment rate has been cut in half. the second thing i would mention is the affordable care act. certainly much more could have been done there. i think a public option would be ideal and was very much immersed in negotiation with congress. in fact, little fact, black woman named daniel gray was the

first in drafting a lot of the language there. even with the laws in the affordable care act among non- seniors, the afton american uninsured rate has been cut in half since beginning of the open and roman. in 2013. that is a big deal for real-life individuals who now have health insurance because of president obama. the president has permanently banned the use of solitary confinement for juvenile offenders. that's a huge deal. is the work at the watson house and interacted with a number of juveniles who had to sit for weeks, if not months in solitary confinement. that that is not allowed anymore. that's a very important thing. overall, we have 30% fewer

juveniles in secure detention some when he started in 2008. he has started the shift. let's talk about teen pregnancy. in the bush administration we had ideological ideas that didn't focus on contraception and prevention. last year the rate dropped to 34.9% from 60%. that's a good big deal. i could go on and on. we can look at the number of black folks and black women on the federal bench. twenty-six appointments to to the federal bench. more than any other president. ten states have the first black woman judge and they will be

there for a lifetime because of president obama. i think in general, i think there's a little bit of a disconnect between the way black folks that i interact with in my second home which is my barbershop in d.c. and those in more elite african-american circles. among everyday afton americans around the country, there's a sense that he did everything he could with what he had been some achievements were made but will he take a look at his achievements from a more elite perspective i think there's more disappointment. i could go on but hopefully >> i'll let you circle back later. >> time i ask you to answer the same question, what did the admistration get right about

using an opportunity to make policy? >> i think it's a very competent question because i think when you look at the level of expectation and hope that existed at the beginning of the obama administration, where in some circles, in the news media there was a discussion about whether we were entering into a post- racial period :

santana grassroots mobilization that can stand up to the status quo. that's where those expectations came from. to me that is what a lot of the disappointment lies in the disconnect is between what candidate obama rant on and what president obama ultimately became. i think that is the complications and the history that we actually have to deal with. >> so let's move to opportunities missed. [laughter] somebody said nothing is more expensive actually than an

opportunity, that has been missed. what did it cost americans, african-americans, we're talking that race and justice as a theme. in terms of race and justice, joshua, what did it cost for these opportunities to be missed? >> we've been handed an extra and we can see all of the cancers that are in our body as a country right now. that is a shocking, destabilizing thing. i agree that we have not achieved the level of hope and change, this shift in public discourse, the sense of unity as a country that president obama articulated so beautifully in 2008. what we may be missing something really important about that, i believe personally the reason we haven't achieved it, blm and others have done an amazing job

pointing this out, the primary obstacle to open change as we now see is white supremacy. that is on the table out for everyone to see. we havthe x-ray. we can see the trump supporters. we can see the tea party movement in 2010. we can see the issues with race bias in policing. we can't -- i think it probably took the country too long and maybe even the president to want to be able to identify these things. what a lot of folks in this room knew that already, right? because of the tremendous work of these young activists and others around the country for pointing this out, keeping his issues at the forefront, now we can do something about it. we can talk about implicit bias in the presidential debates. we are having serious rigorous conversations about not only shifting things more bothered by

the way bias affects other areas of american life. it's on the table now. a long with a missed opportunity and the fact that it took a while to get put on the table even as other policy achievements came to be, but now it's a. that we can do something about it. >> mary frances berry can you start off with a number of things, but i just want you to target race injustice for the moment and say what do you think is achieved opportunities missed from this administration and? >> well, i think that, for example, the black unemployment rate that joshua mentioned was a 16.9 was something and i spent three years trying to get somebody in the white house to target some programs toward black unemployment. at one point women's unemployment, black women was way high and people's houses were getting foreclosed and there were stories about in the

paper and people who have jobs, got laid off from school systems and all kinds of bad things happened. i finally had to resort to getting a reported to raise the question at a white house press conference. when the reporter raised it, finally the other reporters start erasing it and then they were stories about in the press. but what i'm saying is it may be a point whatever now, twice the rate of everybody else come it always is since clinton. but the whole, obama's first term, you have is something going on in the country. the point i would make was that you could target some of those resources that i talked about in my earlier answer toward trying to do something there. i know the stimulus was passed but it wasn't big enough in the first place and it wasn't targeted right. and there were problems with it. i only say policy, that we can put aside if we must come him come and he said he did the best he could with what he had, for

what they did when the democrats had total control. they had a year almost a year what they could pass anything different li passing. they have the vote. his problem is not just the white warbles or the poor people who are white and the trump people. his people -- is probably as the democratic party in my opinion has become too much the professional classes. and is not the party of the poor anymore. that's a major problem. and since it is not, people on the hill have to worry about where they get campaign contributions and what people say and the reason why they did affordable care and kept the insurance industry in it was because of that. and the woman who was lobbying for the insurance plans, she was the best lobbyist in washington. she's now making money doing something else. she would laugh when people would criticize the insurance industry because she knew they were going to get a big cut out of this thing.

now what they're saying is give us more money because we are losing money. but my point is that it's not just obama. the problem is not obama deep. the problem is the democratic party and what it does as a party that no longer represents those people who wants to vote for it every time it was all to go out and vote, vote, vote. what do they do? scare us. trump wi put you bk in slavery. this is going to happen to you. you've got to vote for us. forget about the policy part and but we didn't do and what we are not going to do, an article to do it and how you hold us accountable, and then we don't hold them accountable because what we did inis globe and go to sleep until the next time they come back and say vote for us, vote for us, vote for us. it like a city near we will do all right no matter who was president. ain't going to starve. but i'm talking about the people farther down.

that's why care about. the opportunities that in the midst of opportunities for somebody to rise up, somebody like bernie sanders. he wasn't my favorite cat but at least, at least he talked the talk. he doesn't walk the walk, but obama is fine. he did great. and when you compare him with trump, compared with trump that's why his approval ratings are so high. people say water his approval ready so i? black people love them. we pray for them every sunday in church. [laughter] but the other thing is that trump is so bad, when something is about them even bad looks good, what ever it is. [laughter] i know you didn't ask me all that. [laughter] >> let me just pick up. this focus is really about president obama and it is administration company made the point the party also had a part

to play in that. shermichael earlier made the point of the hope and change was very important in terms of cultural response of americans with generally, but black americans, that it still didn't translate into policy that he could pin point. and keeanga, want to come to you because a lot of the criticism for president obama was in the range with what he could do regarding policy, was that there was no emphasis on targeting policies for african-americans specifically. none. i know you've been a chief critic about this and so for many people this is paramount. >> he said in 2012 in the midst of him, second run for president, just to clarify, i am the president of the united states, not the president of blk america. during this period in which there was disproportionate

suffering and impact of economic crisis in black communities. again part of the reasowhy this shift, the tide turned for obama among black voters was the belief that whether or not he ma significant promises, probably can't pin point but the idea of change doesn't come from washington, it comes to washington. yes, we can come all that come was the idea that the election of the president was result in particular pay to the oblems in black communities that were front page news when the economic crisis was happening. and not only did that not happen but i think it's important to point out how the president also, while not paying

particular attention to black communities policy wise, was also preserving a space of blaming black communities for the problems that existed. what i mean by that is that at a time when the occupy movement is exploding, when the entire western world is talking about economic inequality, the problems with capitalism, the reckless behavior in wall street as a direct come having a direct implication with the economic crisis in 200 2008 what is prest obama talking about? black men need to be acting like fathers, black parents need to stop beating their children. black parents need to turn off the tv and read to their children. going tchicago and bemoaning the lack of role models. all of this kind of language that was taking the spotlight and the emphasis off of the structural systemic prlem that

everyone was talking about and redirecting that attention back into the behavior or morality of black communities, and basically preserving that space which was shrinking in effect and keeping it alive which i think is very destructive. >> is it fair, when we know, you just reminded us, that the presidency, though writ large come is limited in the parts of what it may do. was the expectation that he would target really not one that should have happened? given everything you've said. >> the expectation is if you go into black communities and talk about your candidacy as a product of the civil rights movement, if you go into black communities and try to demonstrate your campaign as the trajectory of social movements that have been unfolding since

the 19th century, then i think it's unfair to them come back to those communities and say where's all these expectations come from? why do you expect me to do particular things? president obama who spent most of his administration until black lives matter erupted, he's distancing himself from talking about race and from the with issues in the black community. then, month ago and said the black people don't vote for hillary clinton, then that is a slander against my legacy. >> another seminal moments spirit of wanto get back to you. shermichael, your job is to look at the political process and direct your clients as you may. so given that we understand that the presidency is limited, can't get a very strong reaction but

okay, you created the expectation actually, so explain to me from your perspective in terms of race and justice have those opportunities were missed and we may have, even within his limitations, taken an opportunity to change that. >> i guess to no surprise are not the biggest fan of president obama's. and 2012 i worked for governor romney and speaker right. i traveled all over the country with those too. they were my preference to be in the white house. but specifically as it pertains to the president and the statement he made as president of all america, yet during his presidency and gay americans were tempting to get legalize gay marriage, his white house insisted the were advocating for that. hispanics come his white house advocated or some type of comprehensive immigration. these are specific policy initiatives that he targeted throughout his presidency. however, as it pertains to african-americans, for the most

part he didn't say much of anything as it pertains to race and juice. >> so no targeting of african-americans. >> not at all. i want to talk about two the specific things come education and criminal justice reform. when i'm on television and i'm on -- a large african-american audience and typically on the only republican. we talk about these issues weekly and it baffles me when you look at education, let's think about the pell grant. i went to morehouse. most of my friends went to a stroke of a college. fortunately for me i didn't rely on these things that a lot of my friends do. look at the pell ants. the rules were drastically changed under president obama's administration. that, in fact, a lot of young african-americans. absolutely. or look at the parent plus loan. the rules for creditworthiness were significantly change. now you have poor african-american mothers, most of them single, who can't send

their kids to college who may want to go to school. you could say that could apply for predominant white institutions. most of these kids would not qualify. a beautiful thing about historical black colleges it would give those kids an opportunity to excel. if their parents can find a simple loan to lease give them in the door, they can't go. and yet kids out on the streets. you see chicago, you see baltimore. you see other places. the president has been nothing. there was an article i will was reading a couple months ago with oppression at a meeting with congressional black caucus members, and it was about more funding for historically black colleges. the president for the most part was extremely dismissive, a lot of them were stated it was quite clear that the president was out of touch. he should've hired graduation rates or the should of this or that should have that. their fundamental purpose was we

agree, we get those things but these colleges, these institutions serve a huge purpose to our community. i can remember in college where i had many of my friends who came from their destitute backgrounds. some of them the first year or two in college didn't perform well academically. i'm sure if there at another institution they probably would've got booted out what morehouse been morehouse kept those students there. worked with them as they were able to achieve. a couple months ago i was on tv with the former president of ended college and she was sharing a story during a commercial break about a young lady who entered bennett underperforming, cannot afford to be there. the board said you got to let her go, she doesn't have the money to the doctor said we are not going to do that. she's not perform well academically. we are not going to do that. we're going to keep her and work with the. this young lady is now an attorney. and attorney. if the president had his way they will continue to cut

funding, contented to make it more difficult for the people who voted for you 90%, supported you for all of the ills in my opinion, extremely loyal, you can work on coverage of immigration, you can work on gay marriage issue but for the people who gave you majority of the vote both times, and in my opinion haven't received anything for it if you ask me, you mean to tell me that we can't focus on making it easier for them have access to a quality education? let's talk about -- to have enough time? talk about criminal justice reform. the president i believe it was 600 individuals i believe he commuted. lyndon johnson -- >> 774. >> there we go. more than anyone. lyndon johnson i believe is over 200. kudos to the president. i'll give them that. it cost between 18-$50,000 per prisoner per year depend on the state.

federally it cost between 20-$30,000 per year. our prison system is near capacity. we have the largest prison population in the world, the largest which is a third. it's absurd. 90% of the people in prison, 90% are in there for nonviolent offenses. 90%. we have mandatory minimums which disproportionate impacts african-americans and hispanics. the president hasn't focus on these issues. it's absurd to me you're the first african-american president who doesn't focus on issues that impacts the community that looks like them, that gave him the majority support, that are loyal to him it just me and he ignored these issues. if you ask me, the president has not been a very effective job and those are two things that disproportionately impacts black people.

when i travel, when i go to new orleans, my grandmother is an educator. i talk to people. i see of these issues impact these communities and that's just one example. that's one example with the president has failed. >> josh, because there in the white house with this president i want to frame the question this way, and that is, is our expectation, i take from keeanga to point he curated the point that more be expected but because he is the first african-american, are we treating them differently in the way we would've treated another administration to force a focus on race and justice speaks i think black elites are. i don't think most coveted black people are. i mean that in a specific way and not in a disparaging way. i want to address a couple of important points that have been raised. one, criminal justice reform is a faceting perspective in terms of where president obama has

been publicly aggressively on that issue. the naacp convention last year aid a major speech pushing for criminal justice reform and did a special is the first president to to a prison and then went back to the hill and the white house has been on all our push to pass criminal justice reform. who is stopping criminal justice reform? chuck grassley, republican senator and other republicans who are not bringing criminal justice reform to the floor. let's get specific and talk about specific policies and specific moments. let's talk about the president addressing race. i would love for someone to study the. disconnects between all of the speeches on race president obama gives, which are reacted to positively -- and then a couple weeks later the same folks can see why does he ever talk about race? i've been there for many of them.

in 2007 when he was in some the first time. i was there with him unabated anniversary we walked across the bridge. in 2007 right after that speech he walked over to reverend fred and grabbed his will to push them across the bridge and spent time with him privately in ways folks never would know. i was there invalid us when he gave his race speech on the campaign. right after trayvon martin was killed he walked out to the rose garden and said, if i had a son he would look like trayvon, then followed up after the acquittal of that murder and went down to the press briefing room and did not talk about personal responsibility but looked specifically at the systemic issues. look at that speech. let's keep going to i was there in charleston when he stood seven feet above the coffin of clementa pinckney and didn't just talk, it could've been a funeral, a regular funeral

addressing the eulogy but he spoke specifically to the hiory of bla people in this country, and why that n died. i was sitting ght behindhe faly when thobou t conggati, itelli a urviceroo grt hiwh hsttesi azg e anhivoe ki. henow gon th medheir voicewiis best pasdon. >>'m- t - [tki or ch other] >> fifteen seconds abo the bureaucracy and public policy. you heard some of the achievements but he also put in place the big names like eric holder elegant talk about his achievements, like our current attorney general. we can talk about her

achievements in the name of people like melody barnes, the head of the domestic policy council who has been neighbors ran the country into tenure, anti-poverty at the beach. he has a tremendous amount he could have done, should have done but there is a reason and i don't think black folks are dumb. dumb. i think when you pull most black americans and not just are they praying for him but he did do as much as he could with the vast majority would say yes. i trust my great grandmother to have a pretty good assessment of president obama. >> i just want to bring it back to i know you do want to respond. would we put the same pressure on another administration? would it have been -- >> no. he deserves even more pressure. spoke so michael and then keeanga. >> really quickly, i had this argument a lot. it dries because. the president gave great speeches. wait a minute. kudos to the present but he's a good orator.

kudos for that. dust that results. that's not result. waiting there. as it pertains to the senator grassley, i have a friend who works for the city but i do not agree with the fact is holding up criminal justice reform. in my opinion i would have preference the present of your targeted to versus having a robust policy. i would've wanted more targeted and specific issues. spent so not all boats rise speak that's not how d.c. works and you know this very well. if you're going to talk about mandatory minimums, go to congress and to force republicans to take an up or down vote on this issue. then you go down from there. the president could have easily -- >> like on the sensing -- >> i'm letting keeanga go. >> there's always been a reason why he didn't accomplish these things. i find that so -- >> i just want to say i really

want to push back on this notion of its only quote-unquote elite blacks who criticize the president. you can do any number of polls you want. black people, i believe will not criticize the president involving because of the structural impediments and all that. to me you have to use different measures. if you think that the people on the streets of ferguson where the elites, then i'm not sure i can help you, or the people on the streets of charlotte, or the people, ordinary black working class people who have been on the streets for two years because of the absolute lack of change in the issues of police violence and abuse. when we are talking about justice and race and missed opportunities i believe we're living through one now. that the president does all

number of things to appeal to activists and to cultivate the idea that something is happening. you take the commission, the policing commission that came out of the first wave of protests in ferguson and then nationally and 2014. it has been almost 19 months since the 58 recommendations of the report came out in march of 2050. and another 1300 people have been killed by the police. we can talk about the constraints of federalism and the length to which the federal government can go and policing is local. those are not, you can't dismiss those. on the other hand, there is a problem with the lack of accountability with policing,

the continued attempt have an evenhanded approach to this which, of course, the president probably has to do. but these are the reasons i think why that movement has continued to stay on the streets. because of that lack of responsiveness. you can't dismiss that as a couple black professors had an issue with president obama. but everybody else is great with president obama. makes no sense of the current political situation, with the images of black lives matter. it makes no sense in terms of black millennials rejection of hillary clinton. those things have to be accounted for and can't be dismissed as a couple of cranky professors who don't like what's happening. >> mary frances berry, you 30 seconds. we are going into questions spirit you are going to get a chance to answer questions of the audience but the last comment. >> i'll be fast. the speeches, which are wonderful, he's good at and it

builds up the persona that talked about at first as president, that's a role of a president who is good at that can do very effectively and it comforts not just black people but it's not radical and wild and makes white people in other peoples of color to gray. that's what the speeches are about. they are not about policy is less policy isn't limited after that are before. the second thing is that what obama has done about, part of the problems we don't know enough history. they should be more history and policymaking here at the kennedy school and other places. ..