Did you just ask me how the most powerful man in the world was supposed to help black people? Here's seven things off the top my head.
1. Education reform: With a 47 percent inner-city high school dropout rate (Baltimore alone is 59 percent), we need education reform. He could have invested more capital and resources to educate our children so that they are prepared to achieve a college-level education.
a. Hire African American college students to tutor pre-K through 12. This will help provide much needed jobs and educate our children at the same time.
b. Issue American education bonds that pay a tax-free yield. The bonds will help educate our children and the tax-free yield will incentivize the $15 trillion in cash liquidity that Americans have to invest.
2. Ensure access to non-predatory home loans: U.S. taxpayers invested approximately $475 billion to bail out the banks and other large corporations. Audit the banks and mandate that they make home loans to all Americans - especially African-Americans, the furthest left behind - so that the African-American community can close the large home-ownership gap.
3. Audit the banks and mandate that they make business loans to African-American owned businesses: This is very important because 60 percent of the employment in America is provided by small businesses, and African-Americans are not able to employ people in our communities without the necessary capital.
4. Make the Internet more accessible: or at the very least more affordable. Create an initiative for computer companies to provide every poverty stricken household with a computer. Without the Internet and access to information, poverty-stricken households will never catch up to households above the poverty line - throwing the African-American community deeper into the stone ages. This is also in the best interest of homeland security. Every American should have access to real time information at affordable prices.
5. Equality in justice: Former Attorney General Eric Holder told the world that with all things being equal, African-American males receive 20 percent longer sentences than white males committing the same crime. He could have launched massive civil rights investigations to correct this and threatened to withhold funding from any local or state government who's civil servants denied
6. Government economic inclusion: He could have made sure that 100 percent African-American owned media participates in his annual $2 billion advertising budget such as “Join the Army,” “Join the Navy,” “Join the Marines,” et cetera and This ad support would have provided much needed capital to create jobs and help to ensure that all of our voices are heard and widely distributed - which is the very definition of a true democracy and having more African Americans in positions of power would bolster the black community overnight.
7. Access to capital: President Obama controlled approximately $1 trillion in government worker pension fund money. None of that capital is managed by people in the African-American community or invested with entrepreneurs from the African-American community. This access to capital and investments will provide much needed jobs and opportunities in our communities.
With all due respect, he's done a lot of what you're asking. I can understand criticizing him for not going far enough in some aspects, but I just can't agree that he's done nothing.
Under President Obama’s watch there was an emphasis on black males. In February 2014, the president introduced My Brother’s Keeper, to specifically focus on improving the lives of young African American males. The initiative is encouraging nonprofits to raise $200 million in five years for programs focused on young men of color. Though My Brother’s Keeper is not a federally-funded government program, no such effort has existed before under any American president. President Obama is said to be planning to make My Brother’s Keeper a major policy before he leaves office.
African American and white political pundits alike, continue to attack President Obama’s record, regardless of discriminatory practices, by pointing to the high school dropout rate, poverty rate, and high unemployment rate among African Americans. The Administration admits more work remains to further improve economic outcomes for African Americans and fight to rid the nation of the long-term disparities that have put the African American community at a disadvantage.
Still and all, this Administration’s notable record includes:
Education -- There has been major progress underPresident Obama in education with regard to high school dropout rates.
According to the Department of Education, High School dropout rates are at a historic low, with the greatest progress seen among African Americans and Hispanics. Overall the national high school graduation rate hit an all time high in 2013 of 81.4 percent.
Between 2010-11 and 2012-13, graduation rates for Hispanic students increased by over four percentage points from 71 percent to 75.2 percent, and Black students increased by nearly four percentage points from 67 percent to 70.7 percent.
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics.
Helping Americans Keep Their Homes: African American families were particularly hard-hit by the housing crisis and were the victims of predatory lending. The president took action to help homeowners, including expanding access to refinancing – allowing responsible borrowers to save an average of $3,000 per year. The Administration also took measures to allow homeowners behind on their payments to modify their mortgages to avoid foreclosure – with more than 1.5 million borrowers having received permanent modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), the Administration’s cornerstone foreclosure prevention program, and millions more receiving private modifications that were modeled off of HAMP.
Making Owning a Home More Affordable: The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has long been an important source of financing for African American families seeking to buy their first home. In recent years, nearly half of African American home buyers used FHA to get a mortgage. Recently, the president announced a major new step to make buying a home more affordable and accessible for creditworthy families. The FHA reduced its annual mortgage insurance premiums by half a percentage point. For the typical homebuyer, this reduction translates into a $900 reduction in their annual mortgage payment. Existing homeowners who refinance into an FHA mortgage will see similar reductions to their mortgage payments as well. Following the reduction in 2015 the number of African American borrowers (new purchase or refinance) with an FHA loan increased by nearly 50%.
Protecting Families from Financial Abuses, Hidden Fees, and Deceptive Practices: To prevent mortgage companies, credit card lenders, and payday loan companies from exploiting consumers with hidden fees and other deceptive practices, President Obama fought to pass the most far-reaching Wall Street reform in history, which created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB, which works to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans, is also charged with enforcing fair lending laws to protect against discriminatory lending practices.
Promoting Entrepreneurship as a Path to Success: In 2013, the Administration announced it would set fees on Small Business Administration loans to zero, encouraging more lenders, particularly community banks, to provide vital access to capital for entrepreneurs. Changes to the microloan program have also increased access to loans under $50,000 for justice-involved individuals. The SBA has increased outreach to the African American community with the launch of the Business Smart Toolkit, a business basics and lender-readiness resource in partnership with the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders. Additionally, SBA partnered with national organizations such as U.S. Black Chambers Inc. and 100 Black Men of America, to reach more entrepreneurs. SBA launched the My Brother’s Keeper Millennial Entrepreneurs Initiative, partnering with HBCUs and community colleges to promote entrepreneurship across college campuses, and MBK Millennial Entrepreneur Champion Mike Muse to encourage entrepreneurship among young people of color and other youth.
Narrowing the Digital Divide: In July 2015, President Obama announced ConnectHome , which is a new initiative with 27 communities, one tribal nation, the private-sector, and federal government to expand high-speed broadband to more families across the country. ConnectHome will initially reach up to 200,000 children in low-income households living in public housing with the support they need to access the Internet at home. Through public and private partnership, ConnectHome communities will offer technical training, digital literacy programs, and devices to help narrow the digital divide.
Championing Criminal Justice Reform and Fair Policing: President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act in 2010. This narrowed the penalty between crack and powder cocaine from 1:10 to 1:18. In 2014, President Obama
established a task force on policing and in 2015, he rolled back the use of certain military equipment by local police –a Black Lives Matter related demand. During the Obama presidency, the Department of Justice has investigated several police departments, including Ferguson, Cleveland, and Philadelphia, under former Attorney General Eric Holder and current Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Obama administration cracks down on police abuse, draws challenges
Obama Administration Increases Contract Opportunities for Minority Businesses | The Network Journal
President Obama's Positive Track Record For Helping African Americans
