Race Gap: Blacks Fall Further Behind Under Obama
Black Americans have overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama in two presidential elections, but they have fallen further behind during his term in office, losing ground in measures of income, employment, and education.
The national unemployment rate has dropped to 7 percent,
but the jobless rate for blacks has hardly moved since Obama took office, declining from 12.7 percent in 2009 to 12.5 percent, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
And while the recession impacted all race and age groups' earnings, blacks fared the worst.
The poverty rate for blacks sharply increased, rising from 12 percent in 2008 to 16.1 percent Wednesday. Median income declined by 3.6 percent for white households to $58,000, but fell 10.9 percent to $33,500 for black households, Census Bureau figures show.
"The data is going to indicate sadly that when the Obama administration is over, black people will have lost ground in every single leading economic indicator category," Tavis Smiley, a black radio talk-show host, said on Fox News in October. "On that regard, the president ought to be held responsible."
While blacks turned out in record numbers to support Obama in 2012, many are becoming more vocal about the lack of progress for African-Americans.
"I don't know how much he has done or how much his policies are responsible for the current state of blacks in America. What I do know is that we are worse off than we were when he came into office," Harry Alford, president of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, told Newsmax.
At a conference at Howard University in early 2013, economist Dr. Bernard Anderson, who still supports Obama, expressed a sense of exasperation that has grown over the course of his presidency.
Anderson said: "He is not going to run again for anything. He does not deserve a pass anymore. Let him not only find his voice but summon his courage and use his political capital to address racial inequality. He owes that to the African-American community.”
Alford said the administration could help blacks by addressing the 20 percent decline in small business lending, investing more in programs that help prisoners transition into permanent jobs, and adopting education policies that support alternatives, including charter schools.
Alford cited the Keystone pipeline as one example where the president has rejected an issue that has support in Congress and could have a positive impact on African-American employment, particularly in the states through which the pipeline would run.
"There are lots of things he could do, but he has not done so," he said.
Umm.. bit off topic but Orthodox Jews support Republicans 75% get your head on straight
