 |
Story by Terry Shropshire and Amir Shaw
Images Courtesy: The Official White House Photostream’s photostream
| Monday, July 20 marked President Barack Obama’s sixth month in office. From the beginning, Obama demonstrated unequivocally that he was running on the promise to help all Americans. He has, for the most part, deftly sidestepped the racial landmines ever-present on the American sociopolitical landscape.
Perhaps because of the realization that Obama inherited an economic and political quagmire of historic proportions, a majority of Americans have given the president an extended honeymoon. According to the Marist Poll, 56 percent of registered U.S. voters approve of Obama’s performance. Unfortunately, the same poll revealed that just under half believe the direction Obama is taking the country in is the right one. Not surprisingly, the president fares far better with African Americans. A CNN/Essence/Opinion Research Corporation Poll says that 96 percent of African Americans approve of the president’s handling of his job. Compare that with 58 percent of whites. Blacks overwhelmingly support the president despite the fact that blacks are negatively impacted by unemployment, foreclosures and health care issues. The same CNN/Essence poll said that only 51 percent of African Americans feel sufficiently secure enough to provide for their children, compared to 69 percent of whites. The disparity in the numbers along racial lines, as it pertains to the president’s agenda, begs the question: ECONOMY
President Obama’s Agenda: There are certain economic factors that have contributed to the fiscal diagnosis and prognosis being worse than the president’s advisers had originally predicted. Widespread corporate corruption and the government bailout of the auto, banking and mortgage industries have cost taxpayers untold billions. The president tried to patch the sinking economic ship by offering a variety of measures, including appropriating funds for infrastructure, expanding unemployment benefits and allocating billions of dollars for job training. Still, unemployment has risen substantially higher than the White House believed it would, resting at 9.5 percent, according to U.S. News and World Report, and the stimulus package has failed to prevent employers from cutting jobs. The Black Agenda: “His first 100 days, in terms of public policy — cool. In terms of foreign and domestic policy [and] in terms of the economy, I give him an ‘A’ for effort. He’s trying to fix the economy … he’s doing a great job in trying to turn this country around,” Dyson said. The president needs to continue to provide the economic tools that will put liquidity back into the markets and spur market growth. If anything, the Obama administration underestimated the depths the country has sunk to in the fiscal quicksand. Obama needs to buffer states that are struggling to meet the extended unemployment benefit and should provide additional funding for job training and development of green jobs. EDUCATION
President Obama’s Agenda: But as the nation’s unemployment numbers continue to rise, President Obama has focused on promoting the importance of community colleges. In June, the president proposed to grant $12 billion to community colleges with a goal of producing five million community college graduates by 2020. “I’m announcing the most significant down payment yet on reaching the goal of having the highest college graduation rate of any nation in the world,” Obama said during a recent speech at Macomb Community College. “We’re going to achieve this in the next 10 years. And it’s called the American Graduation Initiative. It will reform and strengthen community colleges from coast to coast so they get the resources that students [and] schools need — and the results workers and businesses demand.” The Black Agenda: Another pressing issue is the decline of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The Associated Press reported that only 37 percent of black students attending HBCUs graduate within six years and only 29 percent of males graduate within that same period. The president recently endured criticism after announcing cutbacks in a program that allocated $85 million to HBCUs over the past two years. Although many HBCUs have been weakened by internal mismanagement, the Obama administration must ensure that HBCUs survive.
HEALTH CARE
President Obama’s Agenda: One of the Obama administration’s top priorities is reform of the health care system. Under his 10-year, $634 billion health care plan, President Obama seeks to: help small businesses provide affordable health insurance to their employees; lower insurance premiums; and cover the 46 million Americans who are uninsured. “This is not a problem we can wait to fix,” Obama said. “This is not something we can keep putting off indefinitely. This is about who we are as a country. And that’s why we’re not going to pass health care reform 10 years from now, or five years from now, or even one year from now. The United States of America will have health care reform in 2009. We will get it done.” The Black Agenda: The Obama administration’s health care reform plan should allow more poor and uninsured blacks to receive medical care. However, there should be a greater emphasis on encouraging healthy lifestyles within the black community. There must also be greater accountability for how blacks are treated when diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. Equal access and equal care are the only things that will remedy health care disparities. FOREIGN POLICY
President Obama’s Agenda: In the first few months of office, Obama symbolically placed ice on bruised European egos and feelings that had been injured and trampled upon by Bush. Perhaps criticizing his country more than any other president while standing on foreign soil, Obama told Europeans: “There have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive,” and that America has “…failed to recognize Europe’s leading role in the world.” Pundits said the presidential mea culpa went a long way toward reconciliation in Europe. It also helped to douse the growing inferno of hate that had been raging unabated in the Middle East and North Korea throughout the Bush years. Obama also went a step further and kept a campaign promise to visit Middle Eastern countries in the first months of his term. The Black Agenda: He needs to continue to promote the peace process among the Israelis and Palestinians. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Obama’s political predecessor as the 1984 and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate, told rolling out that Obama’s performance on the international stage has been the most impressive aspect of his administration thus far. “I think as a president, Barack Obama has been very smart and very measured in indentifying with these protests for democracy, and yet not align[ing] himself with it, because in his position he must ultimately deal with whoever wins.” |
According to recently released polls, the all-inclusive stance has not hurt Obama’s standings with the overall African American population. Yet, there is a small but growing pocket of dissenting voices taking umbrage with Obama’s unwillingness to address issues of particular concern to urbanites.
In an effort to reverse the nation’s perilous economic spiral, President Obama signed into law an economic stimulus package totaling nearly a trillion dollars in February. Unfortunately, the economy is still mired in a financial malaise with bleak immediate forecasts from pundits — and it may require another colossal spending package.
When the U.S. Congress approved the $787 billion economic stimulus bill in February, the president allocated $100 billion for education with each state receiving funds for early childhood education, after-school programs, professional development and school staffing.
As unemployment rises and insurance premiums continue to increase, many Americans have inadequate or no health insurance. These Americans are not visiting the doctor on a regular basis and are less likely to undergo important health screenings that could detect diseases or prevent illnesses.
President Obama has appropriated considerable time and resources rebuilding the bridges of mutuality, respect and political discourse that had been detonated in the previous administration. When President George W. Bush entered office, the world was at his beck and call following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. By the time Bush retreated into obscurity in 2009, the world community practically threw a party to commemorate his exit.
