Why Obama must make ending racial inequality the focus of his remaining time in office

(theGrio)  President Obama — or Reverend President — has captured America’s attention on racial inequality. He must make the issue his central theme for his remaining time in office.

At the eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney — the state senator who was among the nine killed by Dylann Roof at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. — the president bore the weight of black folks on his shoulders when he articulated the history of slavery and the problem of racism we face in everyday life. His words were a call to action, as he seemed to realize that removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse — without addressing the systemic racism that remains once the flag is gone — risked becoming a squandered opportunity.