Black Caucus Tells Obama You’ve Done Too Little for African Americans

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members on Wednesday criticized the Obama administration for not doing enough to help African-Americans through the bleak economy.

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Waters [Maxine Waters] said on Wednesday that the CBC is meeting with the heads of the nation’s financial regulatory agencies on foreclosure and lending issues. She emphasized members were lining up meetings with President Barack Obama’s advisers to exert their power.

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The Black Caucus is also working on a proposal to create jobs that it hopes will become part of an effort under discussion among House leaders to bolster the economy.

The CBC efforts underscore the deep anxiety lawmakers have as they face an economy witnessing the highest national unemployment rate in a generation. The unemployment rate for African-Americans is 15.7 percent, compared to the national rate of 10.2 percent.

The CBC members laid out a series of policies they would like to see enacted: efforts to reduce foreclosures, including through principal write-downs; better access to credit for African-American-owned auto dealerships; more aid to small and community banks that lend to African-Americans; and more federal money going to support ad buys in minority radio stations and newspapers.

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