How African-Americans Shaped the Reelection of Barack Obama and What Happens Next

"The day I take the oath of office,... The world will look at us differently. And millions of kids across this country will look at themselves differently. That alone is something." President Barack Obama

I watched the election from California, a Democratic state, and while I am unable to vote as a felon on parole my support went behind President Barack Obama. This election marked an important decision between poor and rich in a way we had not seen in prior elections. In one article I read it compared the two candidates by saying Obama looked to strengthen the social safety net, while Romney looked to overhaul the program. While I don't agree with every decision Obama has made in his first term, I do believe he has the interest of the working family at heart. My call to Obama and his administration focuses more specifically on African Americans who turned out in higher number than in 2008 in many areas, and carried him into the White House as part of larger coalitions. There are around 43 million African Americans and we accounted for a large block of the votes that got Obama a second term in office. According to ABC polls, 96 percent of African American voters were predicted to vote for Obama. These African American votes came at very low political and marketing cost, with no direct promises to Black America. The black votes were based on our faith for something more in the second term. This allowed Obama to focus on other votes that did require promises, and not be spread thin. Obama has energized the streets to take part in politics, leading gang members, drug dealers and hip hop stars to turnout to the polls in hopes of something better to come in the future in ways we had not seen prior.

But this comes despite a statement by ABC News that, "On Election Day, nearly 1.4 million voting-age black men -- more than one in eight -- will be ineligible to cast ballots because of state laws that strip felons of the right to vote."

The policies that create these inequities should be addressed by President Obama in this second term. While I recognize his struggle as clearly stated by the Washington Post in their recent piece, "Obama struggles to balance African Americans' hopes with country's as a whole." The support shown by African Americans should be reciprocated with focused efforts toward their needs in the new term.

According to Gary Young of the Guardian,

Obama should do more for black people - not because he is black but because black people are the citizens suffering most. Black people have every right to make demands on Obama - not because they're black but because they gave him a greater percentage of their votes than any other group, and he owes his presidency to them. Like any president, he should be constantly pressured to put the issue of racial injustice front and centre and if black people aren't going to apply that pressure then nobody else will.

I missed the '08 election in federal prison and watching this election I see the difference in the belief in the political process by African American's when compared to the 1980s. There is a new energy and excitement that was lost in Reagonmics, particularly amongst the youth.

While this has been great to see, my call would be for there to be more action by President Obama for all African Americans in his second term. As a group our forefathers built the United States through free labor, and we now as a result of longstanding policy and disadvantage see little of the fruits of that labor as descendants. According to most reviews, the black wealth inequity has not changed for the positive in the last four years ". . . the ascent of America's first black president has coincided with the one of the steepest descents of the economic fortunes of black Americans since the second world war both in real terms and relative to whites." The growth of African Americans on welfare lines does not fulfill the hope that led black America to the polls this election. Black America deserves to be a primary focus in this term with targeted social and economic programs in their communities. This does not say President Obama should only pay attention to the needs of African Americans, but it does focus in and say many core issues of Black America should be addressed in 2013.

A few being:

§ Building economic development centers in inner-city areas that have high minority populations
§ More attention & visits by President Barack Obama to African American groups such as the NAACP, Urban League and others during his second term
§ Focused government efforts on unemployment of black youth, particularly in high crime urban centers
§ College loan and grant assistance for those in college, in addition loan forgiveness or aid for those that complete college
§ A highly focused look at the War on Drugs, and the unfair application of crack cocaine sentencing disparities

Congratulations Mr President on winning your second term!

Pete Souza / Official White House photos
I believe Barack Obama represents the hope of our nation to be better today than its own written history. Lets work together to fufill that hope through action!

Freeway Rick Ross

 

Follow Freeway Rick Ross on Twitter: www.twitter.com/FreewayRicky

Comments

[ProfEmerPete]

10:05 PM on 12/31/2012

WRONG! 96% of blacks voted for Obama in 2008, but 81% voted for him in 2012.

[cyfan2000]

09:55 AM on 12/06/2012

We just witnessed the greatest insult to Martin Luther King's dream. Obama got re-elected simply because he's black and the black population voted for him. We have now solidified the shame the black community should feel at getting somewhere not because of character or worth as Dr. King had hoped, but on the color of one's skin.

[cyfan2000]

09:50 AM on 12/06/2012

96% of blacks voted for a black man and the author feels like the injustice is that felons couldn't vote?

[Steve Racilis]

01:08 AM on 11/24/2012

Note that African Americans were emancipated by President Lincoln in 1863 to be forever free and Plessy v. Ferguson an 1890 statute that provided for segregated “separate but equal” railroad accommodations, hence Balcks using facilities not designated for their race were criminally liable under the statute was found unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education and note that two Civil Rights Laws were passed by President Johnson and Affirmative Action made up for past educational discrimation but to this day, Blacks are continuously showing revenge in the way they vote. It is unconscionable, shockingly unjust that Blacks voted 96% for Obama, however, Whites gave 40% of their votes to Obama.. "Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a blindfold. The blindfold represents objectivity, in that justice is or should be meted out objectively, without fear or favour, regardless of identity, money, power, or weakness; blind justice and impartiality" Not how Blacks voted in 2008 and 2012 elections. Why? Time to ask Congressman Allen West and former Secretary of State Condolizz Rice to keep that blindforld among all Blacks to be objective and not vote according to color but by the content of the candidate's character as espoused by MLK. The movement must be to stop States from ever thinking to Secede from the Union.. .

[adr13]

10:43 AM on 11/23/2012

You wrote an intelligent article, but when you note voting for someone for their race rather than character and productivity, you lose my respect.

[ddribeira]

11:43 AM on 11/21/2012

Barack Obama won by a small difference of individual votes. This demonstrates dissatisfaction with his rule of almost half of the American people. I'm hoping, however, for Obama to take the reins of the economy, because U.S. growth produces positive effects in Brazil and much of the world.

Thank you,
Dedetizadora
http://www.ddribeira.com.br

[Mark Neil]

12:31 PM on 11/27/2012

Unsurprisingly, this discrepancy is dismissed as racist white old men and so, unimportant.

[bobpinz]

09:33 PM on 11/08/2012

Lyndon Johnson, in 1964, won the popular vote by 60.2%, the highest in the history of modern elections. How can any candidate expect to receive a significantly higher percentage from any race, religion, or creed? Any vote in a higher percentage is simple prejudice. 2008 and 2012 are examples of this prejudice. You know who you are. This is no way to get America back on track. The BEST MAN should win! We will see, for our children's sake, I hope he did. Our next president will be Michelle Obama. You read it here first. She runs, she cannot lose in today's America.

[msubear77]

07:57 PM on 11/08/2012

Basically the Black community doesn't judge Obama based on issues that voters tend to evaluate candidates on. What a sick community.

[Steve Aspen]

06:15 PM on 11/08/2012

The statements about responsibility are disrespectful to the legacy of African American slavery and Jim Crow. People need to understand the median black family has 5,000 in assets, the median white family has 113,000 in assets that isnt a result of choice it is legacy at work. 1 in 10000 black men go to prison the highest rate of any modern society for any group recorded. These realities are not individual choice at work. Be respectful of recent history and modern realities!

[Mark Neil]

12:43 PM on 11/27/2012

What does that have to do with who one votes for? Obama wasn't seeking to address those things any more than Romney was. And gender plays a far more consistent role in sentencing disparity than race does, meaning Obama's gender policies are actually likely to hurt black men further. Poverty plays a pivotal role in who goes to jail, and Obama's policies, while beneficial to women, actually denies men help. Mothers on state assistance aren't allowed benefits if a man, in the babydaddy, are living in the house. This pushes men onto the streets, then child support is assigned and collected aggressively, under threat of jail. This leaves men with nothing, so long as they play by the system, leaving crime as the only avenue to any degree of success. And under Obama, who refused to implement a white house council of boys to men, despite his eagerness to implement a similar women and girls council, none of this will change, only get worst. So while I can understand black women voting Obama, what's the excuse for black men?

[blaclogic]

04:33 PM on 11/08/2012

I think that Obama's reelection shoots a hole in the Gop assertion that he was incompetent. I always perceived a racial aspect in that view. With this being his second term he can overtly support black specific issues without repercussion.

[Mark Neil]

12:49 PM on 11/27/2012

I suspect you're going to be disappointed. His policies will push women's interests, and will benefit minority women, but the black man will suffer the repercussions of those policies right alongside the universally hated white man. Remember, feminism's patriarchy theory blames men, not white men specifically. Some feminists have stated women were more oppressed, historically, than blacks. So when it comes to feminist policy, your skin is the same as ours, IE male.

[Hertford Williams]

03:48 PM on 11/08/2012

It is time for people to take responsibility for themselves. Just to touch upon those who
have been in jail and / or prison and lose the privilege to vote. It is time to stop making
excuses for those who have been incarcerated. With choices come consequences.
Stop looking to someone else to think for you. The past presidents and the newly
reelected one do not have these concerns on the top of their to do list. Afterall the
reelected president did not even have to court the black vote and received 95%.
That is some serious commentary that people need to think about!

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

05:42 PM on 11/08/2012

So much for the notion of having "done one's time."
Would you say the same if the numbers weren't disproportionally black?
Note the disparate conviction rate for blacks and whites up for the same crime.

[Free2774]

08:34 PM on 11/12/2012

At one time in history it was mostly whites in prison. They couldn't vote either. No excuses.

[guthrum]

09:28 PM on 11/07/2012

It is time for the citizens of this country to unite as one and reject the current attitude of many politicians that they can buy votes with handouts. My parents would shudder and turn in shame if they were around today to see the shameless government giveaway programs in which power hungry politicians try to get people hooked. What became of self reliance and "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". Now it's "ask what you can get from your government that other people paid for".

[missleelee]

12:34 PM on 11/08/2012

I agree but I want to take everybody in on this, the idea that we are all lolling in the safety net while the rich are taking care of us through gov. programs is only part of it, first of all the rich don't take care of the needy, the majority of the working class do through our taxes we pay, but we are also taking care of the rich by allowing them the tax breaks and loopholes that end up giving them thousands and even millions of extra dollars so lets all agree that we start looking at ways for everyone to contribute and partake of the good this country has to offer through the beauty there is in this country and it is maintained by all of the taxpayers. ALL OF US!

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

05:41 PM on 11/08/2012

Ya mean handouts to the Fortune 500? Guess how many don't pay federal income (profit) tax?

[Steve Aspen]

02:04 PM on 11/07/2012

Most powerful line on how this thing broke Obama's was because of African Americans: "96 percent of African American voters were predicted to vote for Obama. These African American votes came at very low political and marketing cost, with no direct promises to Black America. The black votes were based on our faith for something more in the second term. This allowed Obama to focus on other votes that did require promises, and not be spread thin."

[BiggpussJr]

08:35 AM on 11/08/2012

"Our faith" kept our ancestors in chains......We need more action and less fantasy.

[Steve Racilis]

01:34 AM on 11/24/2012

Steve A, What you posted is one of the biggest fear that Americans should be thinking and planning strategies to prevent Michelle Obama from even thinking of running for President. Note that after Obama took his oath of office in 2009, she took off on trips to campaign for Obama's reelection, made trips to Latino countries. If she runs, she'll probably state what point in time in her adult life that her level of pratriotism went up one notch. .

[Steve Aspen]

12:53 PM on 11/07/2012

The gravity of what this article is saying, and the reality of race as a result of American history of slavery is being shown in peoples comments. Blacks votes at 96% clip for Obama with No Promises. This allowed him to promise the Dream Act, and side with Gay marriage very extreme positions. He spent no political capital on the black vote despite this crazy level of support and turnout a record 13% of the entire voting pool was black, made few visits to black community members and had to do no targeted Adds. These are the votes that elected him, because they were the only free votes he had essentially allowing him to then promise things to everyone else.

[BiggpussJr]

08:37 AM on 11/08/2012

The Dream act allows illegals to get jobs, at who's expense? It would be safe to bet that since Black unemployment is over 14% it will get worse with the "Dream Act".......

[No Agenda]

03:27 PM on 11/08/2012

Thank you.

[Milrepa]

12:28 PM on 11/07/2012

The election of Pres. Obama to a second term is yet another mandate for his tenure, and OF COURSE the entire black community would vote for him, and I don't blame you. But once the Democrats get what they want, they drop you like a hot potato. So diversify once again, this time into the Republican party. We won't drop you, and we will provide everything on that list of yours, if only to convince you of good intentions (not just votes). Talk to us! Communication is everything.

[VSHUGHES]

10:57 PM on 11/07/2012

Not with people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Fox News as representatives of the Republican Party. You will never get Black support.

[BiggpussJr]

08:51 AM on 11/08/2012

This election marks the "death" of the "Ole GOP" and that is good. It allows it to rise from ashes better, more diverse, more inclusive and hopefully a greater force for change. And after 4 more years of a President who DOES take us for granted, we will all see the need for other choices.