Eight years ago I was sat in a secondary school classroom the morning after the US presidential election. It was a GCSE English lesson and, in a moment of rare acknowledgement for the real world, we were given a warm up activity to describe in one sentence what we thought about the election of America’s first black president. I wish I still had the exercise book where my fifteen-year-old self expressed biting cynicism and pointed out that judgement should be reserved for what Obama would actually do. I wish I still had the evidence only because it would be useful to take in the irony that I am far less justified in the disappointment I feel now having pre-empted it in typical teenage style.

Today it already seems trite to point out where Obama offered so much hope and promise, yet failed to deliver so spectacularly. Before even being conscious that you’re about to make that suggestion, someone invariably reminds you that it’s all the fault of Republican efforts to block and impede him at every turn. It’s true. We need think no further than the many times Republicans held the federal government to ransom by refusing to raise the debt ceiling if they weren’t bowed to.

But Obama didn’t run on the promise that it would be easy to change America. His was a campaign that emphasised how deeply rooted that nation’s problems are, accepted their difficulty and yet crucially broke the consensus that nothing could be done by saying “Yes We Can”. His 2008 run for the presidency suggested that by investing hope in him, there was hope for America.

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Three years before Obama’s election the disastrous impact of Hurricane Katrina had wrecked so many lives. The government’s response – betrayed by its own racial and class interests – was itself a catastrophe. This context of George Bush’s government having left black and other poor people so obviously helpless would see America go on to elect its first black president. Undisputedly the promise of Obama was wrapped up in the significance of his racial background and the possibility of a US leader from one of the nation’s most hard done by communities.

For this reason race will be a measure by which we judge Obama’s time in office and on that basis opinions are likely to be mixed.

In some sense the president became just another black celebrity for white consumption. Either out and out racists demanded his birth certificate to question why he dared to speak in American public life at all and prove he was ineligible to be president or we heard endlessly about his charm, charisma and sense of cool. Obama’s blackness, whether hated or not, was in fashion.

The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 Show all 10 1 /10 The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 21: U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama thank supporters during the Commander in Chief Inaugural Ball at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. President Obama was sworn in for his second term earlier in the day. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Getty Images The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive for the Inaugural Ball at the Walter Washington Convention Center January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. President Obama started his second term by taking the Oath of Office earlier in the day during a ceremony on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. Getty Images The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive for the Inaugural Ball at the Walter Washington Convention Center January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. President Obama started his second term by taking the Oath of Office earlier in the day during a ceremony on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. Getty Images The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 U.S. President Barack Obama dances with first lady Michelle Obama during the Inaugural Ball January 21, 2013 at Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term as President of the United States. Getty Images The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama ride in a golf cart an Inaugural ball 1/20/09 Official White House Photo by Pete Souza Getty Images The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance during the Youth Inaugural Ball at the Hilton Washington in Washington, DC, January 20, 2009. Obama was sworn in as the 44th US president earlier in the day. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 (L-R) US President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and president-elect Barack Obama stand outside the Diplomatic entrance of the White House on November 10, 2008 in Washington. Obama is visiting the White House at the invitation of Bush ahead of his January 20, 2009 inauguration as the next president. AFP PHOTO/Tim SLOAN (Photo credit should read TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images) Getty Images The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 (L-R) US President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and president-elect Barack Obama stand outside the Diplomatic entrance of the White House on November 10, 2008 in Washington. Obama is visiting the White House at the invitation of Bush ahead of his January 20, 2009 inauguration as the next president. AFP PHOTO/Tim SLOAN (Photo credit should read TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 US President George W. Bush and president-elect Barack Obama make their way through the Colonnade on November 10, 208 to a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Obama is visiting the White House at the invitation of Bush ahead of his January 20, 2009 inauguration as the next president. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images The Obamas celebrate the Inauguration in 2009 and 2013 performs during MTV & ServiceNation: Live From The Youth Inaugural Ball at the Hilton Washington on January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States today, becoming the first African-American to be elected President of the US. Getty Images

What about his actual policies touching on race? The unemployment figures for Black Americans remains double that of their white counterparts at over 8 per cent, so while unemployment dropped since the recession for all, nothing was done to close the gap between different racial groups. Somehow, despite its centrality to the financial collapse, Obama’s administration had little in the way of housing policy. When the foreclosure crisis hit it was Black and Latin American communities who were hit hardest. Not only losing their homes, but the wealth tied up in them.

But perhaps most telling is that it was during the Obama-era that a nationwide movement of protest had to erupt in defence of Black lives. With vigilantes and law enforcement killing black people across the United States, communities and campaigners on the ground stood up loudest. In support of that movement the president said little that would rock the boat and even less was done. Obama chose not to lead as a Black president except where he showed great confidence in admonishing his own community with calls to take self-responsibility.