What African Americans Want From President Obama in 2014
- Details
- Category: Politics
- Published: Thursday, 09 January 2014 16:09
- Written by Roger Caldwell
by Roger Caldwell
In 2014, the African American community is divided into classes, and conflicted on the direction it should take this year. There is always in the country, a small percentage of folks who are wealthy, because of their job, business, career, or family bloodline. This is true in mainstream America and it is also true in the African American community.
The African American upper class operates from a different set of values and perceptions. Most upper class African Americans spends the majority of their working time managing their business or managing mainstream America's business. They understand the challenges of being Black in a white environment, but they live and navigate from a particular lifestyle and lens.
Related: Was 2013 A Bad Year For President Obama?
The next two classes for African Americans are always interchangeable, because the middle class is always two paychecks away from the lower class. The lower class is always a couple paychecks away from being middle class. There are extremes in both classes, and there are always some folks doing extremely well, and some doing extremely bad.
In 2014, African Americans want one, jobs, and two, justice from President Obama. African Americans have always understood that they were brought here to America as slaves to work for free until they died. But the plan back-fired
on white men, and now they are working for Black men who are heads of corporations and the President of the United States.
The illusion that African Americans live in a post racial society is a misnomer, because racism is well in the systemic under belly of America. White America tells us that things have changed, and there are more successful African Americans. But, there are still two societies in America one, White and the other Black and Brown, and there is still very little intermixing and exchange between the two. In the Black and Brown communities, the majority of residents are struggling between paying bills and eating, and at anytime they can be treated unfairly.
When George Zimmerman can shoot Trayvon Martin in cold blood and walk away free, there is something wrong with the fundamentals of the system. When police can shot unarmed Black men and be allowed to walk free, there is something wrong with the system. When there are more poor people in the country than ever before, and the government cuts unemployment, there is something wrong with the system.
Race matters in America, and it is no accident that the unemployment rate for African Americans is double compared to whites, and ages 16-19 the unemployment rate is 43%. In 2014, the African American community must present President Obama with a Black Agenda. The African American leadership must challenge the president to discuss the State of Black America publicly, and collectively develop a plan to improve the inner cities and African American communities.
Justice and jobs has been the mantra and generational imperative of the African American community since we came to America. As a productive community in the country, we must recognize that we have a collective destiny, and we must unify based around love, and the issue of being Black in America. It is critical to trust each other and speak with one voice.
Without jobs we cannot hold our heads up high and be respected as productive citizens in the country. Without justice we are treated as second class citizens, and thought as less than a man or a woman.
African Americans need a comprehensive plan in 2014, which is supported by our president and centers around jobs and justice. There is a need for a national discourse, where African Americans agree on a Black Agenda, and present the president with a plan that will transform our community. If other communities and races are receiving public support from the president, there is no reason; the president is not willing to support a Black Agenda.