Black Jobs?

The country is recovering from one of the
worst recessions in history yet blacks seem
to be going under more and more. President
Obama needs to do more to assure that blacks
get a fair shake in this recovery. Do you
agree?





Reporting from Washington - Amid signs that black Americans are not sharing in the nation's fledgling economic recovery, President Obama on Wednesday met at the White House with African American leaders, who urged him to adopt a new approach more tightly focused on chronically depressed communities.

While the unemployment rate in January dropped below 10% for the first time in five months, joblessness among blacks increased slightly, to 16.5%.

"We're not looking for race-based programs but, like the president, we want to make sure that everyone is included," the Rev. Al Sharpton said after the meeting. "We need to make sure that those efforts to spur job creation are equally and fairly distributed so that, when the rubber meets the road, we're all in the car."

The meeting came at a time when some black leaders have faulted Obama for not pursuing policies more targeted on the economic woes of their community.

Sharpton and the two other leaders in the meeting -- NAACP President Benjamin T. Jealous and National Urban League CEO Marc H. Morial -- have been supportive of Obama in the face of those complaints.

Obama remains supremely popular among African Americans. David Bositis, a political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, recently surveyed blacks in four states and found that 80% approved of the job he was doing as president.

But even Obama's supporters want to be sure that the jobs legislation being drafted in Congress will be effective in minority-dominated communities with high unemployment.

"More must be done," said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) after the January unemployment report was released. "As lawmakers, we must not shy away from targeted public policy that seeks to address the specific and unique issues facing minority communities."

The House in December passed a $154-billion jobs bill that included several provisions sought by the Congressional Black Caucus, such as a $500-million summer jobs program and a $1-billion fund for affordable housing. It also included $26.7 billion to help state and local governments maintain public service jobs -- workforces in which minorities are well represented.




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