Obama jobs plan heartens frustrated blacks
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President Barack Obama gestures during a speech on his jobs bill at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Va., Friday, Sept. 9, 2011. Obama is urging voters to get behind his new jobs bill and pressure lawmakers to pass it, delivering the message on the home turf of one of his chief GOP antagonists.
ATLANTA — President Barack Obama's jobs pitch is already playing well with blacks, who had grown plenty irked with him over what they perceived as his indifference to their needs.
A day after Obama laid out before Congress his plan to kick-start job growth, many blacks hoped it would translate into reduced misery for them over the coming months. While the country's unemployment rate stands at 9.1 percent, black unemployment has hit 16.7 percent, the highest since 1984. Unemployment among male blacks is at 18 percent, and black teens are unemployed at a rate of 46.5 percent.
The early signs of their reaction were positive.
Social media sites were abuzz with highlights from the president's plan. Amid the comments were excited responses to the proposal, especially from the black community. Twitter was full of similar bursts of excitement over the plan, with some black Tweeters defending the president and applauding his message. One user tweeted: "Taking a sharp tone 'cause the NumbersDontLie! Pass this bill and put America back to work."
Prominent African-Americans like Kenneth Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express and Michael Nutter, mayor of Philadelphia, quickly applauded the plan. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has been one of the most vocal advocates for dealing more effectively with black unemployment, but she was enthusiastic.
For the president, it was a welcome change in tone after a steady drumbeat of criticism from members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who held their own job fairs and town hall meetings while protesting that Obama's jobs tour across America last month bypassed black communities.
The caucus' urban blitz cleared a path for the country's first black president to act, Waters said.
"I can see that our handprint is all over it," Waters said of Obama's plan. "We upped the ante a little bit by pushing, being a bit more vocal. This was not done in a way to threaten the president but to make it easier for him. We think we helped him to be able to formulate a response."
The jobs plan was praised by Ralph Everett, president and chief executive of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonpartisan black think tank.
Although the president did not specifically mention high unemployment among blacks, black people "are sophisticated enough to understand" how their communities will benefit, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Friday.
"Obviously there is a debate raging, saying that we should come out and say this expressly for the black and Latino community," Kirk said. "But this president got elected spectacularly on his premise that we are not a black America, a brown America, a white America. We are one America."
The White House moved quickly to capitalize politically on the good will, emailing an extraordinary blast of supportive statements from elected officials, union leaders and interest groups within minutes after Obama spoke Thursday night.
On Friday, while the president pushed his American Jobs Act in Richmond, Va., his aides promoted targeted relief to Hispanics, teachers, police officers, construction workers, small businesses and others.
Administration officials said the plan would extend unemployment benefits and provide support for 1.4 million blacks who have been unemployed six months or longer. It also would provide summer and subsidized jobs for youth, help boost the paychecks of 20 million black workers through an extension and expansion of the payroll tax, and benefit, in some way, more than 100,000 black-owned small businesses.
"With over 16 percent of African-Americans out of work and over 1 million African-Americans out of work over six months, I think the president believes this is a serious problem and the onus is on us to do everything we can to tackle this," Danielle Gray, deputy director of the National Economic Council, told reporters.
White House adviser Valerie Jarrett promoted Obama's plan on Steve Harvey's syndicated morning radio show, saying it would help "every part of our country, but particularly those who are the most vulnerable, who have been struggling the hardest, who have been trying to make ends meet and all they need is a little help from their government."
A factor in the early enthusiasm in Obama's plan with blacks is that most accept that, as the country's first black president, there are limits to what he can do about their specific problems — especially as he heads into the 2012 campaign.
"Do I think he's doing everything he can? Yes, of course," said Tonia Thomas, 44, a divorced Atlanta mother who was unemployed for more than a year before taking a $30,000 pay cut to work as a hotel clerk. "A lot of what's going on is being used to exclude people of color in general. I don't know what he can do."
The president has to be careful in targeting his efforts, some say.
"The more he talks about race, the more votes he loses," said Randall Kennedy, author of a new book exploring racial politics and the Obama presidency. "Barack Obama had to overcome his blackness to become president ... and he's going to have to overcome it to be re-elected."
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, an Obama supporter who engaged in damage control for the president this week, said black Americans "need to burst this false notion" that the president should put black unemployment on par with overall unemployment.
"If leaders in our community want to push him to lay out a black agenda, I believe that will end up disserving the black community and help elect people who certainly don't have a past history about caring about the interests of the African-American community," Reed said after Obama's speech. "This debate is weakening the president and puts him in a political position where he has to do something to confirm his blackness."
Sep 12, 2011 at 6:04 a.m.
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Hey mouse... the funny thing about that is I saw Al Sharpton call Herman Cain an Uncle Tom. He added that any black that would not only vote for a republican, but ran for office as one, was a disgrace to his race. Race is a huge issue. Especially when people like Al Sharpton are afforded national exposure. Everything that comes out of his mouth is a racial issue. What would happen if a white person said some of those same things? Maybe I will look for one of his rants and reverse the black with white comments. I bet the Gazette removes that post within minutes.
Sep 11, 2011 at 1:22 p.m.
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Diogenes said, "Today the Democrat party is the party keeping racism ginned up as a tool to divide and manipulate the electorate."
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They have a very simple task judging from some of the comments, including a couple from you and RAF that the Gazette staff wisely deleted.
Sep 11, 2011 at 12:23 p.m.
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vatoloco said, "Black Americans have gained a lot of political power in many cities and districts. Those who keep suffering keep electing Black Politicians based on race and not on results."
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And vatoloco, all I hear from you neocons and teabaggers every day is how badly America is doing, but hey, guess what?!?! You keep electing overwhelmingly WHITE majorities to the house and senate. Please explain your logic! You expect blacks to elect whites as a solution to their problem? When at the same time you holler all day about the predicament white politicians have gotten us in? Haha, yeah right, not racist at all.
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And RAF, you're just another angry old white man who sees your comfortable angry old white man majority dwindling into the sunset. Too bad you aren't 40 years younger and able to embrace change instead of fight it.
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haveconcerns, brilliant posts.
Sep 11, 2011 at 9:19 a.m.
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Seabee...excellent post!
Sep 11, 2011 at 8:15 a.m.
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I don't care about his race NVgrf... sadly, I voted for the guy. Let's face it, he stinks.
Sep 10, 2011 at 9:17 p.m.
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You talking about "rich white men" are being assinine.....there are poor white men in the same position as poor black men and the same corruption is affecting them all........working-class people are working class people ...QUIT with the "race" nonsense.
Preident ZerO wants to waste another half-trillion dollars that will do nothing for working class jobs.
VERY few people care what the president's "race" is.
STOP it.
Sep 10, 2011 at 7:21 p.m.
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NVgrf claims that "This legislation is a rising tide that will lift all boats". Really? This legislation is what? 400 billion? Am I to believe that the 1 trillion stimulus would have worked if only they had spent another 400 billion?
As far as the race thing goes, I don't argue any of the percentages in this story. However, lets dig a little deeper. How have african americans done academically? Whats the percentages on broken homes, drug/alcohol abuse? Where do the majority of african americans live? Take a real hard look at any big city. Who runs the schools? Democrats, who runs the cities? Democrats. Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Cleveland, L.A, You name it. And who keeps getting re-elected? Democrats. Seems to me the Democrat party has done more to ensure a dependent voting bloc than actually doing something to give people real opportunity. So, blame the tea party all you want. Last I checked we've been around for a couple years, Democrats have been enslaving minorities for my entire life.
Sep 10, 2011 at 5:18 p.m.
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haveconcerns your ignorance runs deep, very deep. My first 1st and 2nd comments in this section were directed to a specific poster, not you. If you wish you discuss the issues of race at least start from an informed starting position and drop the faulty declarations and exaggerations.
Sep 10, 2011 at 5:06 p.m.
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Retired white guy: It is probably much easier to insult the person, rather than defend your position. I understand. You feel uncomfortable. The facts are not on your side. There is an issue of race in our country. The rich white men are trying their gosh darndest to make sure no one notices and upsets the status quo; hence, voter ID requirement and other efforts to maintain the institutional racism/sexism/hetersexism/classism (I could go on and on) that we have going in our society. Calm down though. You can rest assured that the problem will not be set right in our lifetimes. There is too much money and power keeping things just the way you need it to be to feel comfortable and secure.
Sep 10, 2011 at 5:04 p.m.
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And now we have 2 1/2 years, almost 3 years of Obama's failed record.
Sep 10, 2011 at 5 p.m.
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haveconcerns if you can't read the comments I am not sure there is much help for you.
Sep 10, 2011 at 4:54 p.m.
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We had 8 years of failed record when Bush was in.
Sep 10, 2011 at 4:40 p.m.
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RetiredAirForce: Who are you calling a loon? I think anyone who would even refer to a "race" card is a loon. With African American unemployment rates almost double the national average, the best card race can possibly equal is maybe a 2 of spades. Numbers don't lie. You can sit back in your white, Christian, male, heterosexual position and claim everyone is on an equal playing field; but in my estimation, that shows what a loon you are.
Sep 10, 2011 at 4:29 p.m.
Sep 10, 2011 at 3:59 p.m.
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How can you NOT see the race issue here?! Did you not read the difference in the overall unemployment rate versus the unemployment rate of black Americans? How do you explain that other than a problem with institutional racism? My guess is ALL of the bloggers that asked, "Why bring up race?" are white; and that is your privilege speaking. You don't have to think about race if you don't want to. It is easier to ignore the problem than to fix it I guess.
Sep 10, 2011 at 3:19 p.m.
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Back to the sidewalk, Diogenes!
Sep 10, 2011 at 12:35 p.m.
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Mr. on the government pension teat RAF.....The "race card" talk is a bit old. Sort of like blonde jokes. It's like having pocket ducks, when you're extremely short stacked. And with that Republican sideshow of goofballs, you folks are extremely short stacked. Accusing others of playing the race card is definitely an "all in" by the desperate. I'd like to think that the non-tea baggers in the Republican Party will help pass the American Jobs Act. The short stacked far rigties like yourself are near the end of their short run!
Sep 10, 2011 at 11:16 a.m.
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With no other way to support the president based on the failed record to date all there is left to do is play the race card.
Sep 10, 2011 at 10:34 a.m.
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This legislation is a rising tide that will lift all boats. But of course the cons on the right will criticize anything this President attempts. C'mon guys, admit it...doesn't his skin color and ancestory play a teencie weencie roll in your hatred of this man? At least be stand up enough to admit it.
Sep 10, 2011 at 9:05 a.m.
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The same sinking boat
Sep 10, 2011 at 8:36 a.m.
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Because some of our politicians in this country want it that way.
Sep 10, 2011 at 8:33 a.m.
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I agree! All races are in the same boat.
Sep 10, 2011 at 8:11 a.m.
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Why does it always have to come down to a "Race" thing?
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