Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

US President Barack Obama after visiting the Thomas Sweet ice creme parlor with his daughters June 19, 2011 in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC.

While President Barack Obama is juggling the struggling economy, the Middle East and a nascent 2012 campaign, he has also recently drawn fire from a group of people who once supported him wholeheartedly—African Americans. In a recent interview, Princeton professor Cornel West found fault with Obama for complying blindly with wealthy whites, going so far as to label him a “black mascot” for Wall Street. Another Princeton academic, Melissa Harris-Perry calls West’s attack personal and self-aggrandizing, but she asserts that Obama has been restricted by right-wing racism. Essayist Erin Aubry Kaplan contributed an op-ed piece to the Los Angeles Times chalking up this internal, racial conflict as a modern example of the warring ideologies of nationalism and assimilation for how blacks should exert themselves in American society. Nationalism contends that blacks must create and maintain a distinct group unity, while assimilation calls for integration into mainstream society. How can President Obama, a black man who is a product of mainstream institutions, marry these two polarized ideals? What can the President do in the short term to prove that he is a proponent of black causes? Is his choice not to focus on such issues explicitly part of a larger philosophy? As an African American, how do you feel Obama is addressing the situation?

Guest:

Erin Aubry Kaplan is a contributing editor to Los Angeles Times Opinion pages whose op-ed, “For blacks, a rift over Obama,” was published on June 19th