Presidents more likely to represent the concerns of white Americans than black Americans in speeches, yet Obama proves to be exception to rule

Using data from Gallup Poll’s “most important problem” question from 1969 to 2012 Melinda R. Tarsi, Jesse H. Rhodes, and Tatishe M. Nteta were able to evaluate whether Presidents addressed issues of importance to African Americans when delivering speeches to the public. Despite views held by many that Obama failed to represent black interests while in the White House, research found that he was the lone president to prioritize black issues over white issues in his major speeches.