Peter Franklin wrote an interesting article for ConservativeHome titled “Heresy of the week: Black Americans don’t have much to thank Barack Obama for”.
Franklin stated the “change” many black Americans who voted for Obama had hoped for has failed to materialise and that in fact the Obama presidency has harmed many black Americans.
He pointed to an article for the Financial Times by Edward Luce which sets out some astonishing facts:
“African-American wealth has fallen further under Barack Obama than under any president since the Depression…“
“As a whole, median incomes fell by five per cent. But by the more telling measure of net wealth – assets minus liabilities – the numbers offer a more troubling story.
“The median non-white family today has a net worth of just $18,100 – almost a fifth lower than it was when Mr Obama took office. White median wealth, on the other hand, has inched up by one per cent to $142,000. In 2009, white households were seven times richer than their black counterparts. That gap is now eightfold. Both in relative and absolute terms, blacks are doing worse under Mr Obama.”
Franklin also pointed to that fact that under President Obama, 95 per cent of all the income gains accrued since the US economy returned to growth have gone to the richest one per cent of households.
I agree with Franklin’s assertions that the Obama presidency has been bad for African-Americans, and that Obama should have made more of an effort to promote marriage as that would make a real difference to the life chances of many underprivileged groups.
When Obama announced his scheme called ‘My Brother’s Keeper’, Crystal Wright, who blogs under the name ‘Conservative Black Chick’, rightly pointed out in an article for The Guardian, Obama has ignored the fundamental collapse of the black American family: that this new scheme was yet another big government wheeze that fails to get to the root cause of the problem, which is the breakdown of the black family.
The marriage rate among black Britons is also low and many black British children are born to single mothers. The reason why Asians are doing so well in Britain is because of their commitment to marriage as the best environment for bringing up children.
Where I disagree with Franklin is in his assertion that the Democrats can afford to be complacent because the Republicans have failed to reach out to African-Americans in any meaningful way.
Rand Paul, in particular, has openly advocated engaging with black voters and a recent poll showed Rand Paul leading Hillary Clinton in the state of Kentucky, with 29 per cent of the black vote.
The GOP has some fantastic black spokespersons such as Orlando Watson, Communications Director for Black Media at the Republican National Committee, great young conservative activists such as Markeece Young, and fantastic black candidates such as Mia Love, who is Republican candidate for Utah’s 4th congressional district and has the support of Mitt Romney.
Darius Foster is candidate for the Alabama House of Representatives, District 56 and his introductory video entitled “in a box” was voted the best political ad of the year in Time Magazine. There are many more fantastic GOP spokespersons, activists and candidates actively attempting to promote GOP principles and policies in inner-city areas and beyond.
GOP US Senate candidate Jim Oberweis recently opened a campaign office in the south side of Chicago, which gained the support of many black pastors. Results matter and recently Ohio’s oldest/largest African-American weekly newspaper, Call & Post, endorsed Republican John Kasich for governor.
Dr Alveda King – the niece of Martin Luther King Jr – said in a recent interview that there is a “moral bankruptcy” that’s settled into the leadership of America in the White House and throughout Washington DC. Writing in Breitbart, Matthew Boyle says that “Dr King is part of a project called ‘Restore The Dream 2014’ to be announced publicly early next week by various conservative black, Hispanic and Tea Party leaders to reach out to the black community and get them engaged in an effort to help urban centres reject big government in favour of smaller, limited government.”
Competition in politics is the only way to maintain a healthy political environment and culture, which will allow the electorate to force meaningful change, stop politicians from becoming arrogant and aloof, and ensure that politicians remain accountable. The GOP is making huge efforts to actively engage black voters and the days when the Democrats could take the black vote for granted are quickly coming to an end.
