海角大神

Of all the issues Barack Obama has tackled as president, race is certainly the most sensitive 鈥� and personal.

Now on the homestretch, President Obama continues to break new ground. He is tackling mass incarceration and racial segregation in the suburbs. In July, he became the first president to visit a federal prison, and commuted the sentences of 46 nonviolent drug offenders, who are disproportionately black and Hispanic.

Obama鈥檚 rhetoric has also changed. In a fiery speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in July, he made the case for battling societal racism without calling on 鈥渂rothers鈥� to 鈥減ull up their pants,鈥� or making other so-called personal responsibility arguments. In June, he used to make a point: that curing racism is 鈥渘ot just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public.鈥�

鈥淚 now categorize Obama as anti-racist, not race-neutral,鈥� says Robert C. Smith, an expert on African-American politics at San Francisco State University. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he would want textbooks to list the first black president in the race-neutral category.鈥�

Obama鈥檚 focus on racial matters is growing at a time of heightened racial tension in the country, fueling the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and a rash of fatal shootings of police officers.

Public concern over racism is on the rise. In August, the of Americans call racism a 鈥渂ig problem,鈥� the highest level in at least 20 years.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 good that the spotlight is on the issue, because that鈥檚 how we make progress,鈥� said senior Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett in an interview right after the poll was released, though she was commenting in general, not on the survey, because she hadn鈥檛 seen it yet.聽

Ms. Jarrett also talked about the pressure Obama has faced throughout his presidency to address race in a full-throated way. 鈥淥ur culture only changes when within our hearts, each of our hearts, we change,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not something [Obama] alone can do.鈥�

But Obama clearly cares deeply about the future of young minority men in America. Just watch the poignant conversation he recorded in February for StoryCorps with 18-year-old Noah McQueen. For 25 minutes, , about heading down the wrong path 鈥� in Mr. McQueen鈥檚 case that included multiple arrests and time in juvenile detention 鈥� and about deciding to straighten out.

鈥淥ne of the things you鈥檝e discovered is that you鈥檝e got this strength inside yourself,鈥� Obama tells McQueen. 聽

In June, Obama presided over the first 鈥済raduation鈥� of the White House mentoring program under his My Brother鈥檚 Keeper initiative, launched last year to help boys and young men of color lead productive lives. McQueen is one of nine participants to graduate, and is now a freshman at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

Broderick Johnson, a senior Obama adviser who chairs the My Brother鈥檚 Keeper Task Force, says that Obama has spent a lot of time with those in the program, 鈥減articularly for someone with his schedule.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that he has impacted all their lives, but they impact our lives, too, because they give the president and all of us a great deal of hope,鈥� says Mr. Johnson. 鈥淭hese aren鈥檛 young men born with silver spoons in their mouths, and they鈥檝e overcome in many cases pretty extraordinary odds already.鈥�

Since February 2014, My Brother鈥檚 Keeper has expanded to more than 230 communities around the country, including 20 native American communities, and has pledges of $500 million from foundations and other private sources. No federal money is involved. A separate My Brother鈥檚 Keeper Alliance, which launched in May, is providing corporate support.

Johnson singles out Philadelphia and Indianapolis for their aggressive My Brother鈥檚 Keeper action plans, with programs that assist minority boys 鈥渇rom cradle to college and career-readiness.鈥� Activities include 鈥渉ackathons,鈥� which promote careers in technology. Indianapolis is noteworthy because it has a Republican mayor and has attracted funding from the local Chamber of Commerce.

鈥淭hat goes to, certainly, appreciation by the business community in Indianapolis that My Brother鈥檚 Keeper is an important economic imperative as much as it is a moral imperative,鈥� says Johnson.