Obama fails to keep his promise on jobs

Opinion: March 2, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By ANNETTE JOHN-HALL

I’m sure this may come as a surprise to folks who think all African-Americans must all march in lockstep with President Obama because 97 percent voted for him.

I mean, who could blame us? Who wouldn’t want to vote for history, for change, for the hope that this president would meet the needs of all citizens, given the sorry state that country is in?

Still, after a year in office, the president is starting to hear more and more criticism about his policies from more and more of the folks who voted for him.

Or, to put it more accurately, his lack of policies.

The problem, of course, is jobs.

Though we’ve seen a slight uptick is seasonal employment, joblessness remains grim. Last month, national overall unemployment was at 9.7, as bleak as Philly in February.

But for African-Americans, whose joblessness rates had already far eclipsed those of whites long before the recession, the national unemployment rate has increased from 12.8 percent to 16.5 percent since Obama has taken office.

Not surprising, considering everybody is fighting for the same jobs these days.

And for black males, who disproportionately suffer from poverty, lack of education, and the absence of blue-collar jobs, the rate is worse — a staggering 19.0 percent.

Recently, the president met with a group of black leaders — the Rev. Al Sharpton, NAACP president Benjamin Jealous, and National Urban League president Marc Morial among them — to address epidemic job disparities for African-Americans.

But with no legislators at the table, some critics wonder whether the president was just talking the talk. (Although given the way our politicians are paralyzed in Congress, I’m not sure it would make much difference.)

“It’s like a black comedy that black people are reeling like this under a black president,” says my pal Rashod Ollison, 32, who’s been laid off for the last eight months as music critic for the Baltimore Sun. “And black people act like they’re scared to criticize him.”

Still, some, like Anthony James, 36, believe the criticism of the president is unwarranted.

James remains supportive of Obama and hopeful that the economy will improve — which isn’t easy given his unusual circumstance.

James is black and unemployed. But unlike so many ex-offenders, he has a college degree. The Cheyney University graduate was released last June after doing seven years for assault with a deadly weapon.

“I was young and I allowed my financial situation to get the better part of my intellect,” says James, a married father of two, in explaining his incarceration. “I wasn’t directly involved, but I was guilty by association.”

Buddy’s newsstand

The only work James has been able to muster is helping man a buddy’s newsstand. But the less-than-minimum wage he gets there “isn’t enough to put a meal on the table for my kids,” he says.

It’s no mystery why James’ job search has been derailed — the poor economy, and the deal-breaker, his criminal record.

He recently interviewed for a $7.50 an hour job at Kmart “and it was like interviewing for a Fortune 500 company, there were so many people there,” he says.

Not to mention that when he explains the seven-year break in his job history, interviews are usually ended with an abrupt “We’ll call you.”

“There are people out there like myself who are trying but are met with so much resistance because of things that happened in the past,” he says. “Nobody wants to take a chance.”

As dire as his situation looks, James is refreshingly optimistic. And as easy as it would be to blame the president, he’s realistic about his expectation for the country — and himself.

“As opposed to talking about what the president isn’t doing, people need to understand what the man inherited. He’s one man. I don’t expect him to change my circumstance.

“I take full responsibility where I am at this particular point, and I’m willing to do what’s necessary to progress. ... It’s just hard.”

X Annette John-Hall is a columnist for Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune.