Jack & Jill Politics

Hey — I was interviewed for this story over at BlackAmericaWeb.com: “What’s Black America’s Grade 100 Days into Obama’s Term?” by Tonya Pendleton (shoutout!) which is connected to the Tom Joyner Morning Show. I think that’s an important question to ask ourselves — while Barack Obama is the president of the entire nation, the challenges America is facing today are hitting Black America harder than most communities. As the saying goes, when Wall Street gets a cold, Harlem gets the swine flu. So, lay it on me in the comments — how do you think Obama’s agenda is impacting Black America and are you on board with the direction he’s taking the country? What’s your grade of Obama after 100 days? And what more could he be doing (if anything) to help Black America with our unique challenges rooted in our nation’s troubled history?

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Barack Obama celebrates his 100th day as President today. He and even his wife, Michelle, have been scrutinized thoroughly to see if they’ve passed muster thus far. The process is familiar to anyone who’s experienced the 90-day probation period that determines whether or not a new employee is going to work out.

President Obama has assuredly passed his probation period with flying colors. But how is black America doing after these first 100 days? Obama’s historic election and emotion-filled inauguration saw the black community united like never before. But given the challenges we face in our daily lives and the recession that has compounded them, have black people been able to hold onto hope? And has the historic nature of Obama’s election inspired the black community to create any real and lasting changes and/or growth? […]

“There’s a lot of pride around the positive symbolism of a black First Family,” says Dominque Apollon, research director of the Applied Research Center in Oakland, California, the largest think tank on race in America. They recently did a study of who benefited most and least from Obama’s 100-day old presidency.

“We love the First Lady and those two little girls, and it’s too early to tell how great an impact the first family will have on the self-image of black Americans, but it could be a truly powerful force in our society,” said Appolon. “Still, the many barriers that block or slow the progress of far too many black Americans are institutional. They are structural. Some of the barriers we’ve been paying attention to and investigating lately at ARC are in early childhood education, incarceration, employment and wealth, including homeownership.”