Black Americans were filled with hope and high expectations when Barack Obama was elected to the highest office in the country, according to Columbia University professor of political science, Fredrick C. Harris who said, "He was going to be somehow the savior who would come in to save the black community."
Now, eight years later, we asked experts to weigh in on the state of black America.
How has the Obama presidency affected the economy, unemployment, education and health care for black Americans?
We spoke with Harris and Jason Riley, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute on the issue and both seemed to agree that while Obama's win was a psychological boost for black people, his presidency did not end up improving conditions for black communities in the United States and it did not "heal the wounds of a nation."
"It hasn't turned out as well as some people thought for black people having a black president," Riley said.
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