Obama Seeks Ideas on Reducing Black Joblessness

In a shift in White House tactics on the cusp of an election year, President Barack Obama isn’t shying away these days from saying that many of his policies were designed with African-Americans in mind.

Until now, the nation’s first black president has carefully avoided putting any emphasis on race, ascribing to a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats approach to governing. {snip}

But on Wednesday, the White House convened a gathering of black business, political and community leaders to share a report on the multiple ways the president’s agenda has benefited African-Americans. The president made a direct appeal for help on proposals “where we don’t have to wait for Congress” to act. And he asked for initiatives he can pursue administratively “that would make a difference in the communities that all of you represent.”

Obama acknowledged that black Americans have faced “enormous challenges,” especially with unemployment, on his watch. He told the African-American Policy Agenda Conference that his three years of accomplishments have “lessened the severity” of the economic crisis for millions of people, made sure millions have health care and unemployment benefits and kept millions out of poverty.

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The current 15.1 percent unemployment rate among blacks is “way too high,” the president said, and various other problems that plagued black communities before he took office, such as housing and education, have worsened.

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“Since Day One, the president has fought for the policies that matter to the African-American community,” as senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett told reporters leading up to the summit.

The summit’s first two panels, which featured Cabinet members, high-level White House advisers and deputy secretaries, gave laundry lists of the programs they said had benefited African-Americans. The lists mentioned a crackdown on states that have done a poor job of enrolling people who qualify for food stamps, bailing out the auto industry and helping community colleges to work with local businesses.

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