Black Leaders Must Pressure the President to Address Unemployment and Poverty!

As reported on the Grio,

Sparks flew Tuesday during the Congressional Black Caucus "For the People Jobs Tour" town hall in Detroit, MI, as black caucus members told the mostly black audience to "unleash" them to confront President Barack Obama on the issue of jobs.

California Rep. Maxine Waters expressed her and other Black Caucus members' dilemma of having to walk a line. As representatives from communities that have had great love for President Barack Obama, it can be anywhere from difficult to impossible for Waters and the other members to be as critical of the president as she wanted to be.

"We don't put pressure on the president," said Waters. "Let me tell you why. We don't put pressure on the president because ya'll love the president. You love the president. You're very proud...to have a black man [in the White House] ...First time in the history of the United States of America. If we go after the president too hard, you're going after us."

"When you tell us it's alright and you unleash us and you tell us you're ready for us to have this conversation, we're ready to have the conversation. The Congressional Black Caucus loves the president too. We're supportive of the president but we're getting tired ya'll...we're getting tired. And so, what we want to do is...we want to give the president every opportunity to show what he can do and what he's prepared to lead on. We want to give him every opportunity...but our people are hurting. The unemployment is unconscionable. We don't know what the strategy is. We don't know why on this trip that he's in the United States now, he's not in any black community...we don't know that."

Unemployment and poverty are major problems in the African American community. Here are a few sobering statistics cited on The Poverty Tour website:

"Between 2008 and 2009, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic Whites (from 8.6 percent to 9.4 percent), for Blacks (from 24.7 percent to 25.8 percent), and for Hispanics (from 23.2 percent to 25.3 percent). For Asians, the 2009 poverty rate (12.5 percent) was not statistically different from the 2008 poverty rate.

In 2009, 43.6 million people were poor, up from 39.8 million in 2008 — the third consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty. The nation’s official poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008 — the second statistically significant annual increase in the poverty rate since 2004. (Census Bureau 2010a p.13)

The poverty rate in 2009 was the highest since 1994, but was 8.1 percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available. The number of people in poverty in 2009 is the largest number in the 51 years for which poverty estimates are available.(Census Bureau 2010a p.13)."

According to CBS News,

"While unemployment among the general population is about 9.1 percent, it's at 16.2 percent African Americans, and a bit higher still for African American males.

CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports that, historically, the unemployment rate for African Americans has always been higher than the national average. However, now it's at Depression-era levels. The most recent figures show African American joblessness at 16.2 percent. For black males, it's at 17.5 percent; And for black teens, it's nearly 41 percent."

It is a disgrace that many activists and elected leaders are afraid to pressure the President to address this crisis. Our people's cult like devotion to the President is even more disturbing.

I understand why our leaders are so hesitant to criticize the President. Look at what happened to respected scholar Dr. Cornel West and radio host Tavis Smiley. For attempting to hold the Obama Administration accountable, they have been vilified by black bloggers, activists and other segments of the African American community. Despite decades of proven commitment to the advancement and empowerment of black people, those brothers have been called poverty pimps and uncle toms.

They have become victims of group think. Frankly, I cannot understand how any rational person could actually believe that Dr. West and Mr. Smiley would conduct a nationwide poverty tour simply to settle a personal vendetta against the President. Dr. West is not raising this issue simply because he didn't get inauguration tickets. Mr. Smiley is not raising this issue simply because President Obama did not come to the State of Black America forum in 2008. Awake up people!

The election of Barack Obama was a major milestone in America history. It was a sign of major progress in race relations. It represented hope and change. A black man and his beautiful black family in the White House is powerful symbolism. The African American community is completely enamored by that symbolism. Unfortunately, that symbolism has become more important than substance. Protecting the symbol has become more important than protecting the interests of black people. The people are mesmerized by President Obama's larger than life cult of personality.

Anyone who legitimately criticizes the President's policies is blindly attacked and reduced to persona non grata. Ironically, while we push for racial commitment to the President, he fails to directly address the problem of disproportionate unemployment and poverty in the black community.

Sadly, too many of our politicians have exchanged their principles for access to the White House. Like a bunch of mindless groupies, our so-called leaders are content with just being in the presence of the President. Instead pressuring the President to address the issues facing poor and working class people, they just clamor for the opportunity to be seen with the President.

Real leaders don't ask the people to unleash them. Real leaders lead, inspire and motivate the masses. Real leaders like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. sacrificed their precious lives for our freedom. Surely, our politicians, if they are sincere, should be willing to face criticism from the Obamaholics. Our politicians should be willing to sacrifice their political careers for the love of the people. Our issues are too vital for them to do otherwise. Congressional Black Caucus, Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, keep up the pressure and turn up the heat! If you don't, nobody will.

This article is cross-posted on Jack and Jill Politics. Follow me on Twitter @AnsonAsaka.

Are Black Politicians More Corrupt than White Politicians?

African Americans marched, fought, bled, and died for the right to vote.  The struggle for the right to vote was a integral part of the larger civil rights struggle for equality, human dignity and respect.  As a result of that beautiful struggle, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

After the passage of the Act, Black Power was transformed from a slogan into a tangible reality.  Now, we have many African American mayors and members of Congress. We have black governors and one U.S. senator. Today, the most powerful man on earth is a black man, President Barack Hussein Obama.  It is undeniable.  In many ways, African Americans have made great progress.


However, that tremendous progress has been tarnished by recent political scandals involving African American politicians. This past Thursday, the House Ethics Committee convicted long time, legendary Congressman Charlie Rangel of 11 ethics violations and recommended censure. The Washington Post reported that:

"Rangel, 80, was found to have improperly used his congressional staff and official letterhead to solicit donations from corporate charities and chief executives for a college wing named in his honor, contributions that soared into six- and seven-figure range once he became chairman of the tax-writing committee. The committee also found that he violated New York City rules by housing his political committees in rent-controlled apartments in Harlem, did not pay taxes on a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic, and did not properly disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal financial assets."

I was saddening to see this accomplished 80 year old politician break down and start weeping like a baby. 

Unfortunately, Rangel is not the only African American accused of ethics violations.  Rep. Maxine Waters also faces ethics charges for improperly seeking to help a bank in which her husband owns stocks.  As AP reports, her trial has been postponed due to the discovery of an email affecting the charges.  The charges include: "violating a rule requiring lawmakers' conduct to reflect creditably on the House; violating the spirit and letter of a rule prohibiting receipt of benefits by exerting improper influence; and violating a government code of conduct that prohibits dispensing or receiving special favors."  Fortunately, at least for now, Rep. Jesse Jackson no longer faces an ethics investigation. 

Last week, Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife Leslie Johnson were arrested for taking bribes from an unidentified developer. To view the video of the arrest, click this link.  The Washington Post reports that the following events led to Johnson's arrest:

"Two FBI agents were at the front door of their two-story brick colonial in Mitchellville.

"Don't answer it," the county executive said, unaware that more agents were listening in.

Johnson ordered his wife to find and destroy a $100,000 check from a real estate developer that was hidden in a box of liquor.

"Do you want me to put it down the toilet?" Leslie Johnson asked.

"Yes, flush that," the county executive said.

But what about the cash? she asked - $79,600.

Put it in your underwear, the county executive told his wife.

She replied, "I have it in my bra" - which is where agents discovered the money after she answered the door.

That conversation, as documented in an FBI affidavit, led to the arrest Friday of Jack Johnson and his wife. Each was charged with evidence tampering and destroying evidence in a case the U.S. attorney called the "tip of the iceberg" in a broader corruption investigation in Prince George's."

This month, Leslie Johnson was elected to the Prince George's County Council. After her arrest, voters have launched online petition drive to prevent her from being sworn in.



The Jack Johnson situation reminds me of former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's conviction and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's conviction.

Early this year, as reported in the Baltimore Sun, Dixon entered an Alfred plea to perjury charges related to her failure to "disclose on her city ethics form lavish gifts from her then-boyfriend, Ronald H. Lipscomb, a developer who benefited from city tax breaks and contracts."  In December 2009, "a city jury found her guilty of stealing roughly $500 worth of retail gift cards intended for the needy."


Finally, the people of Detroit were proud of the improvements that Kwame Kilpatrick was making to the city until the text message scandal emerged.  In September 2008, Kilpatrick pled guilty to perjury charges.  He was sentenced to 4 months in jail and 5 years probation.

After serving his jail sentence, he violated his probation, lied in his affidavit and was sentenced to a maximum sentence of 5 years imprisonment.  To make matters worst, in June 2010, the Detroit Free Press reported that the feds indicted the former mayor on 19 mail fraud and tax charges.  Here is a break down of the charges and penalties:

"Mail and wire fraud: Kilpatrick faces 13 counts for allegedly using the mail and telephone to raise money for his tax-exempt Kilpatrick Civic Fund under the false assertion that it would be used for charitable purposes. Authorities allege he actually used fund money for personal and political expenses.

Penalty: Up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Filing false tax returns: Kilpatrick faces five counts for allegedly failing to report taxable income of $470,951 in the form of cash and private jet flights from unspecified sources, and personal expenses paid by the civic fund from 2003 to 2007.

Penalty: Up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Income tax evasion: Kilpatrick faces one count for allegedly failing to report $171,751 in income in the form of cash and private jet flights from unspecified sources, and personal expenses paid by the civic fund in 2008.

Penalty: Up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine."

All of these recent scandals create the impression that African American politicians are more corrupt than their white counterparts. Such scandals perpetuate the stereotype that black people are not fit to govern.  I refuse to accept those racist assertions.

John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton said, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  Many politicians, black and white, become intoxicated by power, develop an exaggerated sense of entitlement and compromise their integrity. They begin to believe that they are above the law.  These current investigations, prosecutions and convictions of black politicians may be another manifestation of institutional racism in the criminal justice system.

Bear with me for a second.  According to legal scholar Michelle Alexander, the so-called War on Drugs is waged almost exclusively in black communities even though studies consistently show that African Americans are no more likely to use or sell drugs than whites.

Similarly, it appears that the war against corruption is being waged almost exclusively against African American politicians. Legal scholars should conduct a comprehensive study of this issue. Apparently, prosecutors and ethics committees primarily focus on black officials.  Consequently, black officials are disproportionately investigated, indicted, arrested and convicted.

For example, as Joe Conason notes in his article Why Mitch McConnell is worst than Charles Rangel, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell has engaged in similar conduct as Rep. Rangel.  Conason writes, "like Rangel, McConnell has rewarded corporate donors to an academic center named after him -- and used earmarks for that purpose."  However, as far as I know, no one is investigating McConnell. 

Please do not get me wrong.  I refuse to defend any corrupt politicians. Corrupt African American leaders like Dixon and Kilpatrick betrayed the people and dishonored the struggle.  They got what they deserved.    All politicians must be held accountable for their actions. Everyone must obey the law.  However, laws must be equally and fairly enforced regardless of race.  Selective prosecution is unacceptable.

Day 1: CBC Legislative Conference

This is my first time attending the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Legislative Conference.  I was impressed.  I plan to return next year.  I attended the National Town Hall meeting, the Fatherhood panel, African American blogger panel and Crack/Powder Cocaine Sentencing disparity panel.  In addition, I saw a screening of the independent film "Justice for All". It is a compelling movie regarding injustice within the juvenile criminal justice system.  All of the discussions were informative and solutions oriented. 

I enjoyed the Fatherhood panel discussion.  As Valerie Jarrett's Chief of Staff Michael Strautmanis stated during his presentation, the problem of absent fathers is a structural and fundamental problem in the black community.  Prior to attending the panel, I did not know that President Barack Obama started the first White House mentoring program.  Under the program, twenty young men and twenty young women are paired with senior Obama Administration staff members.  In addition, Mr. Stautmanis discussed the President's new fatherhood initiative. 

Other panelists discussed similar fatherhood and mentoring programs.  In general, all of the programs focus on employment services, child support and father involvement.  One of the panelists, Isaac King discussed why he started his own fatherhood program. As a basketball coach, Mr. King noticed that only one or two fathers attended the games. Most of the game attendees were single mothers. For more information on these programs, please click the following links: Fatherhood and Fathering Court.

The next panel that I attended was U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush's blogger panel.  Panelists included Stacy Ferguson, Krystal High, Dave Stein, Natasha Eubanks and a few others.  The Congressman began the discussion with some words of wisdom.  Quoting a friend of his, Rep. Rush said, "You are a master of the words you don't use and a slave to the words you do use."  He predicted that many people will change their names to disassociate themselves from past, embarrassing online writings.  After listening to Mr. Rush, I am probably going to really think twice before posting anything online.

Although the bloggers panel was interesting, I did not learn anything new about blogging.  No, I take that back.  I did learn about the FTC rules regarding blogs and advertising.  Bottom line, if a company pays a blogger to promote a product, the blogger must disclose that fact.  Also, I found out about a couple of blogs such as http://www.theybf.com/, http://mamalaw.com/ and http://politic365.com/.  I look forward to reading them.  Since I am a political junkie, I will probably will add Politics 365 to my list.

Finally, the Judiciary Issues Forum was the last session that I attended.  The panelists included U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, Kemba Smith, Charles Ogletree, Nkechi Taifa, Julie Steward and others.  Professor Ogletree began the discussion by voicing support for Rep. Waters against the ethics charges, and many in the crowd stood up and applauded.  He offered to donate $1,000.00 to Ms. Waters' legal defense and encourage others to do so as well.  Throughout the program, many attendees voiced support for Ms. Waters and suggested that the ethics charges are based on race.  Ms. Waters reminded the attendees that the discussion should focus on the cocaine sentencing disparities.

The panelists discussed recent legislation reducing the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity from an 100 to 1 disparity to an 18 to 1 disparity.  Although the reduced disparity is a major bipartisan accomplishment, Professor Ogletree emphasized that the public must continue fighting to equalize sentencing for crack and powder cocaine.  He said that the public must push for "1 to 1 until it is done."  He stressed that the sentencing disparity is not based on any substantive facts.  Congress found that there is no legitimate basis for distinguishing between crack and powder cocaine.  Ogletree said that disparity is still discriminatory.  The sentencing disparity has a disproportionately impact on African Americans.

Julie Steward argued that the public should lobby Congress to make the law retroactive. The current law only affects those who are convicted after its enactment.  The people sentenced under the old law are still subjected to the 100 to 1 sentencing disparity.  To match Ogletree's catchy slogan, Nkechi Taifi said, "We must have some electricity around retro activity!"  Everyone started laughing.

I look forward to Day 2 of the CBC Legislative Conference.

No More Compromise

Earlier in his political career, Barack Obama supported single payer health care. A single payer system would provide free, universal and quality health care for all citizens. Every major industrialized democracy has some form of single payer health care.

It is a national disgrace that over 47 million Americans have no health insurance. Private health insurance companies’ primary objective is maximizing profits for shareholders. They actually increase profits by denying coverage. Many health insurance companies refuse to sell or renew policies due to a person’s health status. In addition, they deny coverage for treatment of certain pre-existing conditions. Moreover, due to escalating premium costs, fewer employees will be able to afford health insurance in the near future. According to a new Commonwealth Fund report, health insurance premiums increased “119 percent between 1999 and 2008, and could increase another 94 percent to an average of $23,842 per family by 2020 if cost growth continues on its current course.” [1]

To build a census to address this crisis, President Obama embraced a pragmatic approach. He has rejected the proposal of U.S. Representatives John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich for single payer legislation, United States National Health Care Act H.R. 676. In attempt to reach a compromise, the private companies would continue to provide health care insurance. However, under America’s Affordable Health Choices Act H.R. 3200, citizens would have an option to enroll in a public insurance program. H.R. 3200 would prevent companies from refusing to provide coverage based on an individual’s health status or pre-existing conditions. The legislation includes “new data collection efforts to identify and address racial health disparities.” Finally, people will receive credits to purchase private or public insurance.

Despite efforts to develop a bipartisan compromise, most Republicans and the Blue Dog Democrats continue to oppose the President’s health care plan. The right wing critics have called President Obama a socialist. A lunatic fringe has even compared him to Adolf Hitler. Instead serving as a medium to convey a clear message to the American people, the town hall meetings have degenerated into chaos. Consequently, the President’s poll numbers are declining.

Under intense pressure, the Obama Administration has expressed a willingness to eliminate the public option, the cornerstone of any progressive legislation. The public option was designed to create competition in the market place. As the summary of H.R. 3200 states, the public option "will be a new choice in many areas of our country dominated by one or two private insurers today."

Eliminating the public option will allow insurance companies to continue to raise costs. Their monopoly over the market and the political process must be brought to an end. The President has already compromised by rejecting a single payer system and by proposing to establish credits to enable more citizens to purchase in private insurance.

U.S. Representative Maxine Waters[2] is correct. The time for bipartisan cooperation is over, no more compromise. The Obama Administration needs to enforce party discipline and start twisting arms to bring the Blue Dog Democrats in line with the President’s agenda. The President and progressive members of Congress should reject any proposal that does not include a public option and they should support the Kucinich Amendment. That amendment would allow states to establish their own state based single payer health care plans. Surrender is not an option.

[1] Commonwealth Fund, New Report: Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Premiums Increase 119 Percent from 1999-2008; Project to Double Again by 2020 (August 20, 2009). http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/News/News-Releases/2009/Aug/Employer-Sponsored-Health-Insurance-Premiums-Increase-119-Percent.aspx

[2] Rong-Gong Lin II. “Rep. Maxine Water a hard liner for public health care option.” Los Angeles Times. 23 August 2009.