Harvard Law School Prof. Charles Ogletree discussed the ways in which race, gender and religious issues played into the 2008 presidential election of his former student, President Barack Obama, last Wednesday. Ogletree's speech was the first in the ongoing lecture series "Social Justice and the Obama Administration," sponsored by the Heller School for Social Policy and Mangament in honor of its 50th anniversary.

Ogletree is also the founding and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, an organization based at Harvard Law School that organizes forums and conferences to promote civil rights legislation, according to its Web site. He taught Obama during his years at Harvard Law School and is currently writing a biography of the president.

Ogletree showed media coverage of the race, gender and religious issues that arose during the campaign. Among the topics he discussed were the controversy over Obama's relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the debate over Obama's religious affiliation and fears of a "Bradley effect" in the voting booth.

During the campaign, news media released excerpts from sermons delivered by Wright, the pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, of which Obama had been a member. The excerpts were highly critical of the American government and of the history of race relations in the United States. Obama's critics at the time used both the Wright controversy and the speculation about his Muslim heritage to suggest that Obama harbored anti-American sentiments.

The Bradley effect debate arose before voting took place last November when some analysts predicted that Obama would win fewer votes than expected. This was the case when Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley lost the 1982 gubernatorial race despite his lead in opinion polls, possibly because he was African-American.

Ogletree also spoke about how, in his opinion, President Obama has helped promote civil rights and equality through his cabinet and high government appointments.

"He did [appoint Secretary of State Hilary Clinton], but he did more than that in terms of social justice," Ogletree said in his speech. Obama's appointment of Eric Holder, the first African-American attorney general, and of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and third female Supreme Court justice, were "symbolic for the country to see that everybody should have that opportunity."

Ogletree believes Obama's appointment of Elena Kagan, the first female solicitor general, was especially progressive.

"It's sort of extraordinary that . we've missed gender as a factor when over half our law students are women and half the population is female," he said.

"It was, to me, probably the most important appointment symbolically because it said, 'This is a job everyone can do.'"

Included in his lecture were several anecdotes about Ogletree's relationship with Obama. For instance, when Ogletree discussed the controversial July 16 arrest of fellow Harvard professor Henry Gates, he also described the experience of personally attending the infamous White House "beer summit" between Gates, Obama and Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department on July 30.

In a question-and-answer session following the lecture, Ogletree predicted that Obama would have to balance and address both the specific needs of the African-American community and Americans in general.

"We cannot think of him as 'the black president,' but rather the president who happens to be black," he said. Ogletree argued that this is because the president is elected to represent the entire country, even though Obama's appointments and support for legislation like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act suggest his support for civil rights.

"What would transform America," Ogletree concluded, "is not just [Obama] getting elected, but young people saying, 'I can, too: I can become senator, I can become governor.' If the young people who came out enthusiastic about this campaign became enthusiastic about democracy, about changing the way we face the issues, we can move forward on these issues and begin a real transformation in this country."

In an interview with the Justice, Prof. Anita Hill (Heller) who introduced the speaker, said, "This is really such a complex issue with so many things to consider."

"We can think about not only the role that race, gender and religion played in the campaign but how they impact where we need to go now as we look at health policy, education policy and economic policy," Hill said.

"This was the first time I had seen these images and news clips since 2008. I never realized how large a role they played in swaying public opinion," Benjamin Huh '13 said in an interview with Justice after the event

"It was clear from the videos [Ogletree showed] how during the election the news media hyped up superfluous things like whether Obama is a Muslim," said Huh.

"It was fascinating to hear from someone who knows Barack Obama personally and has sort of an insider's perspective into his presidency," said Madelyn Katz '13.