Hope & Change ...... for the worst

Hope and change – Change for the worst.

96% of African Americans in 2008 overwhelmingly voted to elect the first African American President. Barrack Obama. President Obama was to usher in a new era of hope and change to the African American community. Now almost four years later President Obama has done nothing to improve the way of life among blacks as a whole. Statistics show life has regressed for African Americans under Mr. Obama.
As of June African American unemployment rate is a staggering 14.4 % with Latinos/Hispanics having a rate of about 11.0% , while the unemployment rate for whites is 7.4% , compared to the rates of December 2008 the month before Mr. Obama took office. Whites were unemployed at the rate of 6.6%  and Latinos/Hispanics were at a rate of 9.2% while blacks had an11.9% of unemployment basically one out of every seven African American is unemployed.

Under Obama, the African-American community has fewer jobs, with those who have jobs often making very little, and an increasing number of families with no place to live -- facts that should cause African-Americans to wonder what they voted for in 2008.

Were the economic catastrophe not enough, the first African-American president in the history of our nation has also failed miserably in using the bully pulpit of the presidency to help cure the social ills that are destroying the black community.  Some of those include:
Fewer than 40% of black children live with both parents.
Black children are seven times more likely to have a parent in prison.
Over 70% of black babies are born to unwed mothers.

During his nearly four years as president of the United States, Barack Obama could have used the bully pulpit of the presidency to make a real impact on the black community and address the underlying problems within it.  Obama appears to be a happily married man and is raising two young daughters.  He and his wife Michelle could have invested time and resources in helping to reverse the negative sociological trends present in the black community, and they may have had some success.  But they have done little.  If they would have spent time in black communities around the nation, imagine how young African-Americans could have been influenced and inspired not to have children out of wedlock and to remain married with their spouse.

Sadly, come November 6, Election Day, no doubt African-Americans will again cast nearly all their votes for a man with whom they share color but who has done nothing to help them economically or socially.  It is that which is even more disappointing than his presidency.

And yes, I voted for Mr. Obama back In 2008.