The fact that the author felt it necessary to describe the president as African American implies that's the reason he was polarizing.   At least there is no pretense of being color blind by the author.   The President  had no opportunity to change his mixed heritage and no reason to deny it.    If some feel somehow agitated unrest in black communities I think they are wrong, the protest were local, not coming from the White House.    Talking about black communities,  exposing the bitterness to the light of day. let the country deal with problems, not pretend they don't exist.

A failure to compromise?     I'm Ok with saying that Congress and the White House seldom had cooperative actions, but that's a two sided responsibility.   It's fair to say President Obama failed to find a working agreement with the Republican Congress.   We can't know if a European American would have found that task any easier.