African Americans and Latinos have suffered the most in the Great Recession. They were the first to lose jobs, and the last to find new jobs. They struggle with the highest unemployment, the greatest loss of personal wealth, the highest percentage of families losing their homes.
The calamity has led many to call for programs that would target states and communities most in need. Washington has been unresponsive if not downright hostile to this notion, yet Republicans do target when it suits them -- particularly with the largely African-American residents of the District of Columbia.
This year, Rep. Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican who knows next to nothing about the District or its people, has insisted that its appropriation include not only a ban on D.C. taxpayers helping poor women pay for abortions, but a ban on any woman using even her own money for an abortion after 20 weeks -- with no exceptions for rape or incest. Republicans aren't opposed to targeting; they are just opposed to helping.
But the economic calamity visited on the African-American and Latino communities cannot be ignored. The Department of Labor reports that African-American unemployment is officially at about twice that of whites. African Americans were more likely to lose jobs in the economic collapse and have been slower to find jobs in the halting recovery. The situation for the young is particularly desperate. High school graduates face the worst job market since the Great Depression. Roughly 65 percent of African Americans ages 16 to 19 were in the work force in January.
Close to one in three African-American children are now in poverty.
Middle class African Americans were particularly devastated by the collapse of home values. The wealth gap between blacks and whites doubled, with median black net worth falling below $5,000. As the Washington Post reported, the financial damage to African Americans caused by the subprime mortgage crisis is the most severe among all Americans and will be longest-lasting.
A big reason for this is that African Americans, like Latinos, live disproportionately in areas with high unemployment -- the ghettos and barrios of our cities. This makes jobs harder to find and harder to get to. In addition, our urban areas are the last to recover. In Chicago, for example, black unemployment increased from more than 17 percent in 2010 to more than 19 percent in 2011, even as the economy was growing.
This economy is not working for most Americans. With hard-hit families tightening their belts, employers won't hire until they see a lot more customers with cash in their pockets.
Government action is needed. We know what to do. With the construction industry idle and interest rates at record lows, we should use this opportunity to rebuild the country's decrepit infrastructure. Aid to states and localities would keep teachers and cops on the job.
We should end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and use that money to benefit small-business startups. And we should target funds to areas of high need -- with urban corps and green corps for the young and veterans. We should ensure that everyone who returns home from risking his or her life in distant battlefields starts off with a job.
But in Washington, we get partisan paralysis. Republicans posture for their base with their D.C. antics. They are simply deaf to the people who need action, not antics.
Follow Rev. Jesse Jackson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/revjjackson
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The United States gives new work permits to 1.5 million immigrants and other foreign workers each year--not including the illegal aliens. When our nation is trillions in debt and has a shortage of millions of jobs, there is simply no way to justify these numbers. Taxpayers end up subsidizing the Americans who lose their jobs because of immigration.
The Governor got booed because the audience did not like the idea of Romney as president repealing the Alternative Care Act known as ObamaCare. You can't get anymore partisan than that. This is the problem in Washington and the problem addressing the minority communities but when someone identifies it they are scorned because of partisanship and loyalty to the Democratic Party..
Keynes would Laugh. Something de Nada !
Stop swallowing the nonsense spewed by those using partisanship as as excuse.
One need only to review the meeting Obama had with the Republicans wherin he stated "I won the election".
Subsequently the Affordable Health Care Act was molded and passed with democratic party input ONLY, was that partisanship?
What is significant is that the problem is NOT partisanship, but rather the present way political campaigns are financed which make the politicians beholden to those that finance their campaigns.
In order to assure this allegiance is ONLY to the constituents it is time PUBLIC FINANCING of all political campaigns becomes part of any campaign finance reform talk.
Such reform cannot be left to the politicians to do, it MUST be undertaken by the electorate if we are to have government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Every Democrat who voted for the Altenative Care Act should be thrown out of office.
They like it like this and once in power will likely raise the rate higher in an effort to destroy public sector unions once and for all and lower wages to improve profits. We are re-entering the gilded age of oligarchs abusing the public. Can compnay 'housing' and 'company' stores be far behind when a detached, laissez-faire aristocrat like Romney is in power??
2012 Obama: Raising taxes hurts a weak economy, but I prefer to play politics and try to tank the economy.
Obama used infrastructure and shovel ready jobs as a major selling point to pass the stimulus package in 2009. So we fixed that already didn't we? Or was that just another deception? You don't have to answer... I already know.
I will say it again it is time for Americans to chose America or party. If you chose party you get more of the same BS if you are willing to chose America we can make a new future!