In a striking turnabout for a president who has rewritten American racial history, Obama finds himself the target of criticism from the black cultural and political elite that has, for the most part, been leery of airing its disappointment.
The president is reportedly angry that African-American leaders aren’t crediting him for his hard-bought achievements that will especially help communities of color, including health care reform, aid to cities, student aid and protecting Medicaid.
“The whole thing is bull-sh-t… We have met with [black leaders] more than any other group and we are increasing our outreach,” said a person close to Obama.
Here's where we were in February of 2010.
President Barack Obama met for nearly an hour amid Wednesday’s blizzard with three civil rights leaders, who made the case for more investment in jobs, particularly in hard-hit communities. The president replied that his initiatives are aimed at helping all Americans in need, they said.
While the national unemployment rate was down a bit to 9.7% last month, African-American unemployment was still 16.5%. “This was part of our effort to raise our voices and raise the level of concern about the jobs crisis,” said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League.
Black unemployment was at 15.9% last month. Better, but not enough better. It's important to remember that this isn't about people losing their jobs for a few months and then finding another one, this is about people experiencing long term unemployment, getting chucked out of their homes and apartments, burning through what little savings they have and cashing out their retirement accounts at great penalty. This is, you know, a bad fucking situation.