What Obama Did For Black America

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For all those who were jaded with the former President’s track record, here is a list of some of the accomplishments that the former President Obama did for black people, and why people shouldn’t be flinging the type, and number, of insults that people hurl at him.

First, a little political background. The elections for the House and Senate are conducted every two years meaning, if the presidential election is conducted during the 2008 year, then the elections for Senator and House of Representatives are elected in 2008 and 2010, and every two years onward. During President Obama’s time, the Senate held a Democratic majority until 2014, while the House was changed much earlier, in 2010. This means that during a majority of his presidency, he had one of the other two branches of government against him, except for his first two years in office, which hardly gives him the leverage necessary to make sweeping changes.

But, even with that, here are the accomplishments of President Barack Obama, someone who black people claim did nothing for him:

Note: All of these facts are viewable here (all stats are from October 2016):

Progress of the African American Community During Obama's Presidency

The Community Voice: What Obama Did For Black America

  1. Labor Market, Income and Poverty

    • The unemployment rate for African Americans peaked at 16.8 percent in March 2010, after experiencing a larger percentage-point increase from its pre-recession average to its peak than the overall unemployment rate did.Since then, the African-American unemployment rate has seen a larger percentage-point decline in the recovery, falling much faster than the overall unemployment rate over the last year.

    • The real median (average) income of black households increased by 4.1 percent between 2014 and 2015.

    • The President enacted permanent expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, which together now provide about 2 million African-American working families with an average tax cut of about $1,000 each.

    • A recent report from the Census Bureau shows the remarkable progress that American families have made as the recovery continues to strengthen. Real median household income grew 5.2 percent from 2014 to 2015, the fastest annual growth on record. Income grew for households across the income distribution, with the fastest growth among lower- and middle-income households. The number of people in poverty fell by 3.5 million, leading the poverty rate to fall from 14.8 percent to 13.5 percent, the largest one-year drop since 1968, with even larger improvements including for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and children.

  2. Education

    • The high school graduation rate for African-American students is at its highest point in history. In the 2013-2014 academic year, 72.5 percent of African-American public high school students graduated within four years.

    • Since the President took office, over one million more black and Hispanic students enrolled in college, on average.

    • Among African-Americans and Hispanic students 25 and older, high school completion is higher than ever before.  As of 2015, 88 percent of the African-American population 25 and older had at least a high school degree and 23 percent had at least a Bachelor’s degree.

  3. Support for HBCUs

    • The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is responsible for funding more than $4 billion for HBCUs each year.

    • Pell Grant funding for HBCU students increased significantly between 2007 and 2014, growing from $523 million to $824 million.

    • The President’s FY 2017 budget request proposes a new, $30 million competitive grant program, called the HBCU and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) Innovation for Completion Fund, designed to support innovative and evidence-based, student-centered strategies and interventions to increase the number of low-income students completing degree programs at HBCUs and MSIs.

    • The First in the World (FITW) program provided unique opportunities for HBCUs to compete for grants focused on innovation to drive student success.

  4. Criminal Justice

    • The incarceration rates for African-American men and women fell during each year of the Obama Administration and are at their lowest points in over two decades. 

    • The number of juveniles in secure detention has been reduced dramatically over the last decade.  The number of juveniles committed or detained, a disproportionate number of whom are African American, fell more than 30% between 2007 and 2013

    • The President has ordered the Justice Department to ban the use of solitary confinement for juveniles held in federal custody.

  5. Small Business 

    • There are 8 million minority-owned firms in the U.S.—a 38% increase since 2007.

    • In fiscal year 2015, underserved markets received 32,563 loans totaling $13 billion, compared with 25,799 loans and $10.47 billion in fiscal year 2014, an increase of 26 percent in number of loans and 24 percent in dollar amount.

  6. My Brother’s Keeper

    • President Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) initiative on February 27, 2014 to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color and ensure that all young people can reach their full potential.

    • Nearly 250 communities in all 50 states, 19 Tribal Nations, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico have accepted the President’s My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge to dedicate resources and execute their own strategic plans to ensure all young people can reach their full potential.

    • Inspired by the President’s call to action, philanthropic and other private organizations have committed to provide more than $600 million in grants and in-kind resources and $1 billion in low-interest financing to expand opportunity for young people – more than tripling the initial private sector investment since 2014.

    • In May 2014, the MBK Task Force gave President Obama nearly 80 recommendations to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by young people, including boys and young men of color. Agencies have been working individually and collectively since to respond to recommendations with federal policy initiatives, grant programs, and guidance. Today, more than 80% of MBK Task Force Recommendations are complete or on track.

  7. Civil Rights Division

    • The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division continued to enforce federal law. Over the last eight years, the Division has vigorously protected the civil rights of individuals in housing, lending, employment, voting, education, and disability rights and through hate crimes and law enforcement misconduct prosecutions and law enforcement pattern and practice cases.

  8. African-American Judicial Appointees

    • President Obama has made 62 lifetime appointments of African Americans to serve on the federal bench.

    • This includes 9 African-American circuit court judges.

    • It also includes the appointment of 53 African American district court judges—including 26 African-American women appointed to the federal court, which is more African-American women appointed by any President in history.

    • In total, 19% of the President’s confirmed judges have been African American, compared to 16% under President Bill Clinton and 7% under President George W. Bush.

Phillip Barnes