A spat has developed among some prominent black leaders about the extent to which President Barack Obama should be pushed to give special attention to African American issues. Some believe that holding the president's feet to the fire is not necessary (or potentially politically perilous for him) and that some of the unique issues facing black people can be addressed within the context of larger solutions.
They, in supporting their position, have erected a ridiculous straw man to under-gird their position: President Obama is not the President of black America and should not be held to that standard. This straw man that, if unchecked, will get in the way of addressing some of the crushing issues facing African Americans. For me, it's perfectly acceptable for groups of Americans to push the government to deal with their causes, so black leaders who want to go easy on this president because he is black are failing their constituents and need to reverse course -- now.
I believe this argument is a straw man because I have yet to hear one reasonable, credible person argue that Obama should be the President of Black America or solely any other segment of the nation. But that doesn't mean that issues of particular importance to different constituencies should not be given extra attention. Special problems require special attention. Need proof? Consider what has happened with Wall Street. A massive problem -- created by Wall Street's own greed left to run amok in a deregulated environment -- resulted in taxpayers convulsing more than ONE TRILLION DOLLARS to attempt to fix the problem.
The black community certainly has some responsibility for its current situation. The reality is, however, that with some black communities suffering from unemployment rates above 30 percent (In October 2009, the jobless rate for black males age 16-to-24 was 34.5 percent in my home city of Washington, D.C., a place that has made out reasonably well in the current recession and Milwaukee, Wisconsin has recently had a Black male unemployment rate hovering around 50 percent) and dangerously high dropout and criminal justice supervision rates, a unique, special, and acute problem has been established that requires attention above and beyond what our leaders -- elected and appointed, and without regard to race are willing to acknowledge.
Black unemployment won't get significantly reversed by treating it the same as white unemployment. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, 10.7 percent of white men over the age of 20 were unemployed; 17.3 percent of black males were unemployed at the same time. White women over the age of 20 have an unemployment rate of 7.1 percent, while 13.3 percent of black women are jobless (this is a devastating number given the disproportionate number of single-woman headed households in the black community). Whites between the ages of 16-19 had an unemployment rate of 24.1 percent; the black unemployment rate for same aged blacks was 43.5 percent.
Groups of Americans, whether organized along ideological, religious, cultural, business, or other kinds of lines can, and do, ask the president for special attention to their issues. African Americans, however, are expected to sit in a corner and wait for the President to get around to their concerns whenever it's convenient. I say no. Credibility requires black leaders to make sure that Congress and the White House, without regard to partisan control or the race of the leadership, that black issues are not ignored.
America should not fear a "black agenda" any more than it would fear an "environmental agenda" or an "education agenda". As I see it, the "black agenda" is simply about making sure that some of the most acute issues facing black communities across the country are respected and acted upon. Black leaders who run from a "black agenda" to protect the "black President" need to be reassessed by those who put them in their positions.
Michael K. Fauntroy is assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University and blogs at MichaelFauntroy.com
and can be found on Facebook at Michael K. Fauntroy.
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Typical of white people.
I hope in between acting like a juevinile with hurt feelings and lying about what he said, the "Reverend" Al Sharpton can read this article.
Black people continue to prove why they rank lowest on socioecomic scales. They have all their guns pointed at the wrong folk. The sooner they realize who deserves the ire, the better.
This is not a utopia, and racism still exists. You refer to treating "different groups of people differently," and say because of this, "they will always be thought of as different." By your own statements, you are saying that African American people are "different." Unfortunately, the different many choose to focus on is the color or our beautiful skin.
Your comments explain why there is a need to focus on the concerns, accomplishments, and history of African Americans.
In response to criticism from the black community, we accept simplistic statements from the President like “Hey, I’m not just the President of the black community, I’m President of the United States”. And we stay silent when he basically uses us in order to score political points via his “personal responsibility, you’re part of the problem” rhetoric. If he tried this same approach with the Latino community, for example, they would drop him like a bad habit. And they have a lot of the same issues within their communities that we have. We should have more respect for ourselves, and our value as a large part of the President’s (and the Democratic party’s) constituency.
On unemployment, people without education and adequate job skills are hard hit in this economy. Problem of education and job skills are issues that are resolved in long run rather than short run. Many factors are in interplay here. Family structure, values, planning, self-sacrifice etc.
Look, I supported President Obama from the beginning (and I still do), and I know that having him in office is 1000% better than what we would have had with John McCain. Still, that's not to say that President Obama isn't flawed in certain ways as a politician. Why is it that Black people are always given the "look at your culture" response, but every other group is allowed to make their concerns known to their elected officials?
http://www.race-talk.org/?p=2981
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-wells/a-conversation-with-corne_b_472853.html
The black "leaders" are living large...what did the rest of you get?
or any other labeled agenda, sorry but when you push any group over another it creates resentment towards that group.
I do not know if Michael Fauntroy is advocating that President Obama should propose set-aside bailout money to reduce high employment in black communities. If he is thinking along that line, how would such proposal be enacted into law in Congress, and what will be the political fall-out of such proposal. Such proposal will be gold mine-field for right-wing talk-radio and Fox News. Why anybody would be advocating that the president embark on a political suicide mission that has no upside value except to prove that he cares for the black community. Has Mr. Fauntroy forgotten what happened when President Obama inserted himself in Prof. Gates arrest issue and how he arranged White House beer meeting to put out the political firestorm that ensued?
President Obama has affirmed his indifference to the fate of Black children by allowing voucher programs to expire and signaling a deferral to the various Teacher's Unions vis-a-via charter-school initiatives.
Until leading members of the Black community confront the scourge of teacher-tenure in the public schools, hopes for the community will remain illusory.
A recent study of charter schools in California found that they are MORE segregated than public schools and they cherry-pick by cutting out special needs and ESL students. It's UNCONSTITUTIONAL to create new schools that are segregated schools. Charter schools also have smaller class sizes than public schools.
Teacher tenure exists to protect intellectual freedom. Throwing that away in favor of for-profit segregated education in which administrators suck public money away from public schools and pay administrators 6 figure salaries is beyond ignorant.
The black community is being sold a bill of goods by those who PRETEND that charter schools are "a civil rights issue." Bet those people don't know that the Walton family, the richest family in America (yes, owners of Wal-Mart) have been lobbying for the privatization of education for decades. Ya think the Waltons care about equality of opportunity? LOL!
Tell it to Michelle Rhee in Washington DC, there it is working.
It isn't a panacea. It is a lifeline.