"I am wondering if the novelty will rub off, particularly among those youth who have economic struggles as it relates to living in poor neighborhoods," said Fredrick C. Harris, a political science professor at Columbia University and director of the Center on African American Politics and Society.
"The question is: Is an African-American elected to the highest office going to alter their economic circumstances? They still have to contend with the drug dealers in their communities, the crumbling public schools and just making it day to day."
Back at the Baltimore Freedom Academy, Johnson agrees.
"I don't see him making that much of a change that all people are going to say, 'Oh, Barack Obama is president. Let me go to school,' " she said.
"People are still going to do what they want to do," said Jasmine Cooper, 15, a sophomore.
Staying hopeful
But English still is hopeful, and waiting to see if that hope will become - as Obama promises - real change.
Just last week he was talking to a friend's grandmother who got teary-eyed when discussing her discrimination-filled childhood and, consequently, what Obama's possible nomination meant to her.
"The stuff she went through was crazy," English said. "So to go from there to this point, it's amazing. Now I just want to see what type of changes he's going to make for black people, for Hispanic people, for all nationalities. Because it's still hard out here. Even now, it's hard to get a job. So I just want to see what changes are going to get made."
tanika.white@baltsun.com
kelly.brewington@baltsun.com
Sun reporter Sara Neufeld contributed to this article.
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