Did President Obama do anything to help Black America?

Did President Obama do anything to help Black America?

By Don Valentine

Prior to engaging into discussion of this question one central fact has to be acknowledged. The President is not the President of White America, Hispanic America, Asian American or Black America. He is the President of all of America. Neither of the Bush Presidencies or Reagan Presidencies just represented the 57% of white America. They too led all of America.

It is clear that the vast majority of things that the President did to benefit African Americans also benefited all Americans! There are a few isolated incidents where his commentary exclusively illuminated on Black American issues, for instance, the plethora of unarmed Black shootings by police.

The President has accomplished a number of goals that benefitted all of America, and African Americans specifically.  This administration has cut the unemployment rate by 60% since taking office in ‘08.  Unemployment is now hovering around 4.6%, a far leap from the nearly 11% rate when Bush left office. According to the White House, American businesses have added over 14 million jobs. This job growth has helped cut the African American unemployment rate from 16.8% in March 2010 to 4.8% in December 2016.

The President directed the black Attorney General he nominated to aggressively pursue predatory vocational schools.  This caused several “For – Profit” schools to go out of business. More than 13% of these schools’ populations were African American.  He also put in an executive order to increase Pell Grants by up to $1,000, making it easier for underprivileged minorities [Blacks] to go to college.

Moreover, I take issue with some of the esteemed academicians like Eddie Glaude Jr., who teaches at Princeton, or Columbia professor Frederick Harris, who has written books on the premise that the current President has ignored his own race.  That ilk’s argument is easily proven specious, when you contrast the cabinet nominations of President Elect Trump to the sitting President. When reviewed from the macro analysis, it is not arguable that the President has not impacted African Americans in a positive manner.