Politics & Power Quote by Cornel West

West’s opening move is strategic restraint: “I’m not saying” signals he knows the charge waiting in the wings. In the Obama era, critique from the left - especially from prominent Black intellectuals - was often met with a uniquely loaded rebuttal: you’re helping the enemy, you’re undermining “our first Black president,” you’re performing disloyalty in public. West names that policing directly, then refuses it.

The phrase “racial treason” is doing heavy cultural work. It’s an intentionally extreme formulation that exposes how moralized the conversation had become: disagreement isn’t treated as political analysis but as betrayal of the group. West’s point isn’t only that Obama should be criticized; it’s that Black political agency shouldn’t be narrowed to cheerleading, gratitude, or symbolic protection. Accountability becomes a test case for whether representation expands democratic participation or just reorganizes loyalty.

Context matters: Obama’s presidency carried extraordinary symbolic weight while governing in the messy realities of drone warfare, Wall Street stabilization, and incrementalism on structural inequality. West, long invested in a prophetic tradition of Black critique, positions himself against the idea that symbolism should purchase immunity. “Our president” lands as both recognition and rebuke: yes, there’s collective pride here, but collective pride is not a political program.

What makes the line effective is its preemptive framing. West isn’t merely responding to critics; he’s redefining the terms of legitimate dissent. The subtext is clear: if a community can’t criticize its own historic victories, it’s not winning power - it’s managing sentiment.