Though they vowed to show a united front behind President Barack Obama, at least publicly, the Congressional Black Caucus recently broke ranks and publicly harpooned the president because they believe he has ignored concerns relevant to the black community. And the showdown is fiercest in the area of unemployment and job creation.
“Since last September, we have continuously voted for bailout and reform for the very institutions that created this devastation, without properly protecting the African American community or small business[es],” California Congresswoman Maxine Waters said. “That stops today.”
The U.S. Labor Department lists unemployment in the African American community at a 28-year high of 15.7 percent, with young black men between the ages of 18-24 holding steady at an astronomical 35 percent. Hispanics are close at 13.2 percent.
CBC leaders are demanding that Obama appropriate more resources to aid this beleaguered and increasingly disenfranchised community.
William Boone, a political professor at Clark Atlanta University, said he wouldn’t necessarily call the Black Caucus’ actions “a war.”
“I think that they [are] really seeing that [they have to] get their agenda on the table and front and center, and cannot be constrained by the notion that Obama is the president of all the people,” says Boone. He calls the CBC’s stance no different than the Catholic Church advancing their agenda and interests. For example, he said, Catholics strenuously objected to the inclusion of abortion coverage in the health care reform bill.
Recently, 10 members of the CBC boycotted a crucial vote for financial reform legislation, accusing Obama of spending little or no time addressing the needs of the black community and other historically oppressed minority demographics. Boone says the CBC went public after numerous behind-the-scene talks failed to produce satisfactory progress. They also feel the president’s advisers are stonewalling them.
“So now they believe they need to talk to their base because the country is at a critical point … on the job question,” professor Boone says. “And they want to be able to frame their job question in a way that would benefit black folk and not resume the old status quo. The old status quo is that we would have double the unemployment rate no matter what the unemployment rate is.”
Boone said the development benefits both sides in this contentious issue. The CBC benefits because they are seen as fighting for the interests of their constituency, mainly African Americans. And President Obama benefits because he’s publicly showing that special interest groups are not influencing him.
–terry shropshire
