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Obama seeking ideas on how to reduce black unemployment
“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.
Increases in spending on college grant loans, making sure children with pre-existing conditions can get health care, tax credits and education improvements were among the many things mentioned.
Obama, who popped by the summit in a detour from the agenda, trumpeted elements of his jobs bill, which he noted is still pending in Congress, and said his plan is the only one out there that will put people back to work.
He also mentioned that his administration has sped up payments to government vendors so they are paid in 15-day rather than 30-day increments.
“This is something that can benefit folks right away, and we can start seeing a difference in our communities,” Obama said.
Michael Eric Dyson, an author and sociology professor at Georgetown University, has criticized Obama for de-emphasizing race and called on him to craft policies more targeted to the black unemployment issue. He said the White House message on Wednesday showed that the White House had listened to some of the criticism that Obama was not talking enough about race.
“I’m glad they are sensitive to that need,” said Dyson, who is black. “This is a chance to embrace what they have done.”
The House is in recess this week so most members of the Congressional Black Caucus were not in Washington for the summit.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
