Whether through tearful interviews or celebrations in the streets, many Americans evidently took Barack Obama’s election as the 44th president last week as a victory for U.S. race relations, but some black leaders say the media has taken the conclusion that racism has ended in America too far.

Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner, who represents the heavily black neighborhood of Roxbury, said though Obama’s election revealed changing attitudes in America, it does not signify the end of racism, which still runs deep in the American psyche.

Turner said the residents he represents were excited about Obama’s election, but knew the candidate would not solely be a president for the black communities.

‘Obama’s election is a healthy sign, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg,’ he said. ‘He didn’t talk about urban issues or race. A black man can’t talk about race and be elected in this country.’

With the exception of Obama’s race speech after his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s controversial sermons, Obama did not dote on racial issues. Obama had to speak to a wider audience and calm fears from whites that he would only serve black Americans, Turner said.

Boston University Howard Thurman Center Director Katherine Kennedy said the election of Obama would open a new dialogue about racial issues in the country, but would not eliminate racism.

Obama’s election was an important step in creating more common ground in America, Kennedy said. She said that the search for common ground and racial reconciliation was often stymied because of fear of asking the wrong question or appearing ignorant.

‘We want to again embody what America stands for, a country of many people who together embody the best of everything,’ said Kennedy.

Kennedy said the black community needed to stop themselves from holding Obama to a different standard than they would other presidents.

‘He isn’t the president for black Americans, he is the president for all Americans,’ she said. ‘We would be doing him and us a disservice if we expected anything else.’

Kennedy said the most important part about Obama’s election was how he engaged people in politics. She said it was important for everyone to rally around Obama so that America can begin to heal.

BU professor of history and African-American studies Ron Richardson said the election of Barack Obama was a monumental moment in American history.

‘Obama’s election was a vindication of the struggle of a people and their strength to endure and prevail,’ he said.

Richardson, the former director of the BU African-American Studies Center, said Obama’s election represented a rebirth of the American idealism that died in 1968 with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.

‘It’s not simply ‘here is a black man,’ but ‘here is a representative of that progressive spirit,” Richardson said.

The Obama campaign brought out a spirit in Americans that many thought was lost forever, Richardson said, adding that Obama’s message appealed to Americans because instead of being told they were selfish and conservative, they were told that they could aspire to be better.

Richardson said racial reconciliation will not be complete until every American can come to grips with this country’s violent history. He said that too often people rush to brush it aside and say that they have ‘moved on.’

‘When every American cries for the slaves who have died in the Atlantic slave trade, or every American has cried for the Native Americans that were killed, or every American feels upset and hurt for the oppression of women in the country,’ he said, ‘then we will be prepared to move on.’