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VOLUME 88 - NUMBER 10
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2009
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE; 30
President’s Economic Strategy
Considers Needs of Struggling
Blacks, Say Aides
By Dorothy Rowley
Special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspapers
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - President Barack Obama told supporters in
the waning weeks of his election campaign that once he got to the White
House he would hit the ground running in order to stabilize the economy
and put the nation back on solid footing. ,
He also said he was all about bringing people together and engaging
them in the process of restoring the country "s reputation as a super power,
while eradicating longtime partisan differences.
Not only has Obama kept his word, says Valerie Jarrett. a senior adviser
and assistant to the president, but he is the only president in recent memory
to accomplish as mucli as he did last week. .
All totaled, the president tackled eight priorities, she said.
■•|t's been an exciting time . . . it's been a busy week." Jarrett told re
porters during a media teleconference March 6. before rattling off a list of
activities in which the president was involved.
The list included a fiscal summit, followed by meetings with national
security teams of Afghanistan and Pakistan governments and a highly suc
cessful healthcare summit that engaged people from across the country and
several walks of life.
However, since assuming the leadership helm six weeks ago. Obama,
in addition to dealing with the mounting deficit, also inherited two wars
as well as ongoing issues involving housing, health care, public educa
tion and energy - all of which have had a disparate impact on the African-
American community. Many of the concerns were denied funding in previ
ous administrations.
Jarrett noted, in particular, that while the unemploy ment rate has sky
rocketed. African-Americans have been most affected.
•Today, we saw that the unemployment rate has generally gone up 8.1
percent." she said. "However, before today, the African-American un
employment rate was 12.6 percent." Further, "over 95 percent of public
‘school kids are African-American, so focusing on public education is [just
as] critical." •
An Ebony magazine reporter queried Jarrett on what policies the ad
ministration has in place to help African-Americans "come out of a hole."
' Jarrett responded that since the bidk of the African-American popiila-
*tion can be found in cities, a large portion of stimulus funding, such as the
■S800 million earmarked for Washington. D.(2. - which is more than 90
percent Black - would be directed for that purpose.
Job Losses Continue to Soar,
■ Blacks at 13.4 Percent
^ By. Dorothy Rowley
Special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspapers
^ WASHINGTON (NNPA) - "Asloiindinu" is how Presi(jent Obama.
(speaking March 6 in Columbus. Ohio, characterized the nation’s new Un*
|einplo\ment figures - a staggering 8.1 peitent. the highest since I983 as
I emplo\ers pick up the pace of la\ offs. I
i Just as disconcerting is the sharp rise in Mnemployment among African-
i’ Americans - a whopping !3.4 percent in F^bruar>. The last time the Black
3 monthly unemployment rate was so high w'as in February 1994. as the na-
? tion was digging out of a recession, according to the Labor Depailment.
I The latest figures continue to show job losses are large and w idespread
S across nearly all major industn sectors.’ In Januar>. the overall national
i unemployment rate was 7.6 percent. For Blacks, it was 12.6 percent.
Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate the Black unemplo\ment rate has
traditionally far exceeded that of other ethnic groups, especially Whiles
whose joblessness is normally half that of African-Americans.
Reasons for the dispariix cited by experts include a gap in education be
tween Blacks and Whites, marginal ties by African-American households
- to the labor market and a failure by polic\-makers to equate Black unem-
’ plo\ment to a crisis needing urgent attention.
^ The BLS Web site, which maintains Black unemployment data dating
H back to 1972. also slates that the Black joblejss rate reached its lowest level
a on record in April 2000. w hen it dropped to 7.0 percent.
I While the agenc\'s latest figures highlight a growing gender gap be-
tween Black men and women in the workforce, it also shows that the un-
.HmploN’ment rate for Black men in Februan was 16.3 percent compared to
^ 10.8 percent for Black women.
The Washington. D.C.-based Economic. Policy Institute’s Race. Eth-
niciU’ and Economy Program reported recent!) that Blacks are t\pically
\ impacted by recessions and that it comes ps no surprise that there is a sig-
ijnificant increase in Black unemployment jduring such times.
1 Program Director Algernon Austin offered in a recent Chicago Sun ar-
tide that lack of job opportunities for Btecks ultimately trickles down to
Jteens, making it doubly hard for them to find work, particular!) with sum-
Hner on the horizon. I
? "We really want teens to work." Aus^tin said. "Getting job experience
f now real!) helps people in their employment."
2 The jobless rate for teens in general is just over 21 percent.
4 However. Austin noted that the rate among Black teens has alread) sur-
• passed 38 percent and that the figure could be as high as 44 percent for
i teens still looking for work.
* "The really sad and troubling part of this is most likely these aren't the
peak numbers," Austin says in the artiefe. suggesting that the peak will
come in a year's time, "unless the stimulus cojues in and works."
The latest figures continue to show job losses are widespread across
nearly all major industry sectors. Construction and manufacturing jobs
have been among the hardest hit. a continuing concern for such groups as
the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
The organization periodically blasted the Bush era. saying unemploy-
jwent among African-Americans had become so.dismal during his admin-
Jtsiration that it was well on its way to becoming a socially explosive issue,
mainly because a growing segment of the Black community, including its
youtli. frad begun to feel permanently disconnected from the economy.
Now. with President Obama at the helm, his administration maintains
'he has made a considerable thrust at providing job training programs in
inner cities where the largest populatiofis of African-Americans tend to
reside, as well an increase in government jobs through the recently enacted
^787 billion economic recovery plan.
"The president is going to do his job but needs to get the word out [to
city and state agency heads about] how high the stakes are.*' Obama senior
adviser Valerie Jarrett said last week durjng a teleconference with Black
loiirnalists. I
The Durham United Negro College Fund Steering Committee was joined by Miss Black North Carolina,
Nefertitti Byrd, a Shaw University student, at its Evening of Stars and Taping and Silent Auction March 7,
at Hayti Heritage Center. Miss Byrd take a moment at the event with Mrs. Juanita Massenburg. Related
Photos on naQ‘‘ •!. (Photo Bv LawsonI
National Drug Arrests Skewed by Race
Special toTne NNPA from the Indianapolis Recorder
(NNPA) - Blacks have been arrested nationw tde on drug charges at higher rates than Whites for nearly three
decades, even though the) engage in drug offenses at comparable rates. Human Rights Watch said in a report
released last week.
Using data obtained from the FBI. the report reveals the extent and persistence of racial disparities in US drug-
law enforcement. The data also show that most drug arrests arc for nothing more serious than possession.
The 20-page report. "Decades of Disparit): Drug Arrests and Race in the United States." sa) s that adult Afri
can-Americans were arrested on drug charges at rates that were 2.8 to 5..^ limes as high as those of white adults in
even )ear from 1980 through 2007. the last )ear for which complete data were available. About one in three of
the more than 2.''.4 million adult drug arrestees during that period was African-American.
"Jim Crow ma) be dead, but the drug war has never been color-blind." said Jamie Feliner. senior counsel w ith
Human Rights Watch’s U.S. Program and author of the report. "Although whites and Blacks use and sell drugs,
the heav) hand of the law is more like!) to fall on Black shoulders."
The report also sa)s that arrests for drug possession have great!) exceeded arrests for drug sales even year
since 1980. Indeed, the proportion of drug arrests for possession has been increasing, amounting to 80 percent or
more annuall) since 1999. Marijuana possession accounts for a large proportion of drug arrests: in the years 2000
through 2007. the proportion of all drug arrests that was for marijuana possession ranged from 37.7 percent to
42.1 percent. The report is the latest b) Human Rights Watch exploring human rights violations, including racial
discrimination, in the context of the "war on drugs."
"Hauling hundreds of thousands of people down to the station-house each year because the) have some weed
or a rock of crack cocaine in their pocket has had I title impact on drug use." said Fellner. "But the stigma of a drug
arrest, especial!) if followed b) a conviction, limits emplovment. education and housing opportunities. A more
effective, less destructive drug polic) would prioritize treatment, education, and positive social investments in
poor communities over arrest and incarceration."
Obama gently departs from Holder’s race comment
WASHINGTcSn (AP) - President Barack Obama sa\s he would not have used the same language that Eric
Holder did last month « hen the attornex general declared that the United States is a nation of cowards on matters
of race.
"We've made enormous progress and we shouldn't lose sight of that." Obama told The New York Times in an
interview posted on tlie newspaper's Web site Marclt 7.
fhe president said lie understood Holder to be saxing the countrx often is uncomfortable talking about race
until there's a racial flare-up or conflict and that the nation probable could be more constructive in facing up to
slavery and discrimination.
The first U.S. black president gently departed from the tone of the comments by the country's first black at-
tornex general.
The president said he is not someone who believes that constanllx talking about race can solve racial tensions.
To address that problem, it will mean fixing the economy, putting people to work, making sure that people have
health care and ensuring that children are learning. Obama said.
"I think if we do that, then we'll probably have more fruitful conversations." Obama said in the interview
March 7 aboard Air Force One.
In a speech to Justice Department employees marking Black History Month. Holder said that while the country
has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot. "in things racial we have always been and I believe continue
to be. in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."
Jazz saxophonist Marsalis lobbies Legislature
RALEIGH (AP) - Jazz great and Nonh Carolina resident Branford Marsalis wanted to lobby the state Legisla
ture, but he couldn't stay out of the spotlight.
The Grammy-winning Durham resident said he visited the General Assembly on March 5 to lobby on behalf
of the North Carolina Symphony. He is a member of the symphony's Board of Trustees.
Senate leaders invited Marsalis to join them on the legislative floor, where he was given a North Carolina flag
and posed for photos w ith lawmakers.
Marsalis said he would have brought his saxophone to the Legislature if he'd known he would be in front of
a microphone.
Court refuses to
expand minority
voting rights
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
Supreme Court ruled March
9 in a case from North Caro
lina that electoral districts must
have a majority of African-
Americans or other minorities
to be protected bx a provision
i .-'(he Voting Rights Act.
The 5-4 decision, with the
court's conservatives in the
majority, could make it harder
for southern Democrats to draw
friendly boundaries after the
2010 Census.
The court declined to e.xpand
protections of the landmark
civil rights law to take in elec
toral districts where the minor
ity population is less than 50
percent of the total, but strong
enough to effectively determine
the outcome of elections.
in 2007. the North Carolina
Supreme Court struck down
a state legislative district in
which blacks made up only
about 39 percent of the voting
age population. The court said
the Voting Rights Act applies
only to districts with a niimeri-
cai majority of minority voters.
Justice Anthony Kennedy,
announcing the court's judg
ment. said that requiring mi
norities to represent more than
half the population "draws clear
lines for courts and legislatures
alike. The same cannot be said
of a less exacting standard."
Chief Justice John Roberts
and Justice Samuel Alito sinned
onto Kennedy 's opinion. Jus
tices Antonin Scalia and Clar
ence TItomas agreed xxith the
outcome of the case.
The four liberal justices dis
sented. A district like the one
in North Carolina should be
protected by federal law "so
long as a cohesive minority
population is large enough to
elect its chosen candidate when
combined with a reliable num
ber of crossover voters from an
otherw ise polarized majority."
Justice David Souter wrote for
himself and Justices Stephen
Breyer. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
and John Paul Stevens.
The decision complicates
matters for southern Democrats
who will redo political bound
aries after the next census.
Democrats have sought to
create districts in which Afri
can-Americans. though not a
majority, still were numerous
enough to determine the out
come of elections with the help
of small numbers of like-mind
ed white voters. Those districts
could be challenged under the
March 9 decision.
in another election-related
case, the court let stand an ap
peals court decision that invali
dated state laws regulating the
ways independent presidential
candidates can get on state bal
lots.
Arizona, joined by 13 other
states, asked the court to hear
its challenge to a ruling throw
ing out its residency require
ment for petition circulators
and a June deadline for submit
ting signatures for independent
candidates in the November
presidential elections.
Independent presidential
candi ' ite Ralph Nader sued
and on a favorable ruling
from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of App, is in San Francisco.