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Identity Politics Harmed Black Americans

Stephen Moore, writing for The Hill notes that “Barack Obama, our first black president, won well over 90 percent of the black vote, yet from an economic perspective he delivered poor results. Black incomes from 2009 to 2014 fell more for blacks than any other racial or ethnic group.”

Moore was not alone in his observation.  Deroy Murdock, writing in 2016 for National Review reported that “Based on the Obama administration’s own latest-available statistics by the most basic economic-performance metrics — with one key exception — black Americans are worse off now than when Obama was sworn in on January 20, 2009. During Obama’s tenure, the percentage of black Americans struggling below the poverty line has advanced, according to the most recent Census Bureau data, from 25.8 in 2009 to 26.2 in 2014 — up 1.6 percent. Real median income among black households during those years, according to the Census Bureau, sank from $35,954 to $35,398 — down 1.5 percent. RELATED: Obama’s Legacy Is Already Collapsing The number of black food-stamp participants exploded across that time frame from 7,393,000 to 11,699,000, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports — up 58.2 percent. Also, from Obama’s oath of office through the fourth quarter of 2015, the percentage of black Americans who own homes foundered from 46.1 percent to 41.9 percent, according to the Census — down 9.1 percent.”

As a whole, “Identity politics,” voting for a candidate because he shares racial or ethnic background with a voter, has not produced desired results. Jason Riley writes in the New York Post  “The proliferation of black politicians in recent decades — which now includes a twice-elected black president — has done little to narrow racial gaps in employment, income, homeownership, academic achievement and other areas.”

One specific example has been provided by the left-wing website Black Agenda Report , written during the Obama Administration.  “President Obama’s economic stimulus was very kind to the general category of education. But Black higher education got the butt end of his budget, with a net of $73 million in cuts, while traditionally Hispanic schools got an increase in funding. “It would be difficult to find anyplace in the federal budget where $73 million has a more concentrated impact on the fortunes of a particular ethnic group.” Even southern Republican lawmakers are wondering aloud about Obama’s priorities.”
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Clearly, President Obama’s delivery of poor results for Black Americans was not an intentional move.  It was the result of policy errors, the same policy errors that prevented the United States from adequately recovering from the Great Recession. Moore also writes: “Just as an example of good intentions run amok: policies like raising the minimum wage increases had a statistically significant negative effect on black teenage labor force participation rates. I would argue that two factors hold back economic progress for blacks: a lack of jobs in inner cities and poor educational opportunities.” In contrast, Moore reports, “On both of these, Trump is delivering positive results. The black unemployment rate has fallen by a full percentage point in the last year, black labor force participation is up, and the number of black Americans with a job has risen by 600,000 from last year. Preliminary data show black wages and incomes up since the election.It’s early for sure, but so far Trump has done more for black economic progress in six months than Obama did in eight years. The other issue that is critically important to black and Hispanic economic progress is good schools. No president has done more to advance school choice so that every child can attend a quality school public or private.”

The assessment that the Black community is faring better after Obama’s departure  is the focus of a statement by the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Project 21.

According to the organization,  “Recently released unemployment statistics showing black unemployment at a 17-year low are being applauded by members of the Project 21 black leadership network as a triumph of the ‘commonsense’ policies and economic confidence brought about by the Trump Administration…In its most recent report on employment statistics, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics set black unemployment for September 2017 at 7.0 percent – down from 8.3 percent a year ago.  It is down from a modern high of 16.8 percent in March 2010…’With the black unemployment rate falling to its lowest point since April 2000, and considering the persistently high levels of double-digit employment that existed during most of the previous administration, this news should really be garnering more attention,’ said Project 21 member Dr. Derryck Green, who has written extensively on black unemployment and the economy.  ‘This should be a source of economic optimism because the job market is expanding and improving overall – particularly among American blacks who were hit hard during the sluggish, so-called economic ‘recovery’ touted by our previous president.  It bears remembering that the black unemployment rate at that point had skyrocketed.  It was at or near 15 percent on nine occasions, and near or above 16 percent 24 other times.  While still too high for my liking at seven percent, the black unemployment rate has significantly improved since the days of double digits.’ The overall new low black unemployment rate isn’t the only good news.  Largely unreported is the fact that black teen unemployment fell even more precipitously – from 28.1 percent in September 2016 to 22.4 percent last month.  The ‘unemployment gap’ between black and white workers has also been steadily decreasing.”