An increasing number of blacks appear to finally be getting angry with Obama. It’s just too bad it took four years and voting for Obama a second time for blacks to realize the president doesn’t care about their interests. Immigration and the president’s determination to get legislation passed granting amnesty to an estimated 11-20 million illegal aliens seems to be the straw that broke black liberals’ backs.
Recently some Black Americans have been calling into black talk radio shows like “Keeping it Real with Al Sharpton, complaining immigration is not an important issue to them. This is despite Al Sharpton’s plea to a caller that amnesty isn’t just a Latino issue. But according to a 2009 Migration Institute report, blacks only accounted for 9% of US immigrants.
With black unemployment at 13.8% almost twice the national rate of 7.9%, granting amnesty to more than 11 million illegal immigrant threatens to make jobs even more scare for blacks. As black radio host Earl Ingram noted his “listenership is anti-immigration” because they are angry illegals are here taking jobs from them because they are willing to work for less than minimum wage. A Pew Hispanic poll found during the height of the economic downturn 2009-2011 Hispanic employment grew by 6.5% while black employment grew by a minuscule 1%.
After giving Obama over 95% of their vote twice, blacks want to know when the first black president will focus on issues impacting blacks like: rising poverty, unemployment and incarceration rates, growing education gap and economic decline the breakdown of the black family?
When I tweeted about this lack of love blacks are feeling for their blind support of Obama a second time around, a black person replied: “Obama has always made it clear that he is the POTUS not the President of Black America.”
Indeed Obama is “president of all Americans” but Obama has made gay marriage a priority and less than 5% of the population is gay. He’s also made illegal immigration a priority because 71% of Hispanics voted for him but only make up 14% of the population. These two groups don’t look like the face of “All Americans.” But Obama won’t even give blacks a crumb. He has yet to name one black person to fill a cabinet position in his second term.
It may be too late for blacks to influence Obama because he doesn’t have an election hanging over his head. But blacks should take a hard look at the gang of “Blacktivists” like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and organizations like NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus purporting to fight for what’s good for blacks and ask them what have they done for blacks?
Blacks also need to question the Congressional Black Caucus about its agenda. In its press release outlining its plan for the 113th Congress, the CBC states “For more than four decades, the Congressional Black Caucus policy agenda has promoted and advocated for legislation that supports social and economic progress . . . for African Americans.”
If this is true, why is it blacks have been on an economic and family decline since 1971 when the caucus was formed? Today more black babies are born out of wedlock, 73%, than to married homes compared to 30% of white babies. And the above mentioned statistics show government policies pushed by the Democrat CBC haven’t helped improve the plight of the black man.
Why is immigration reform a key item in the CBC’s agenda? “Advancing legislation and policies that lead to comprehensive immigration reform” will do nothing to improve the economic situation for blacks. Allowing a flood of illegals into the country will only exacerbate the unemployment situation for blacks.
Blacks also need to demand their “black groups” and so called “black spokespersons” reject comparisons to criminals crossing into our country to the civil rights movement or slavery. Blacks were brought to America in 1619 against their will, treated like property, worked like animals and violated sexually. The least America could do in 1964 was to grant blacks equal rights to whites. Illegal immigrants chose to voluntarily break laws to enter, work and remain in the US illegally. America owes them an enforcement of our laws along with the employers who illegally employ them.
If black liberals are really angry at the lack of attention Obama is giving them, perhaps they should use this as a lesson. Instead of voting for candidates based on race or party, perhaps black Americans should try giving candidates a thorough vetting before going to the polls and hold politicians accountable to records in exchange for votes. Maybe then blacks would start getting something in return other than the status quo.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member