Study: Black Americans Feel Less Empowered Under Obama Than They Once Did

[buffalo]

One of the sad ironies of the subprime housing bust is that it has hurt black Americans the most. Our government decided to try a social experiment. They wanted more Americans own homes, particularly minorities. Wall Street was happy to help out. The worst part is that those hurt the most from the resulting housing bubble that popped has been black Americans.

“Black and Blue: Subprime Crisis Hurts Blacks Worst”

blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/07/09/black-and-blue-subprime-crisis-hurts-blacks-worst/

excerpt from Walter Russell Mead’s sight:

History could be repeating. The administration didn’t learn from the housing bust of 2008. Our attorney general has been suing banks that do not loan more often to minorities - whether the person can afford the house or not.

“Justice Department Determined to Make a Sequel to the Housing Crisis”

dougpowers.com/2011/07/09/justice-department-housing-crisis/

snippet from Doug Power’s article:

Social engineering gone bust.

 

[Jeanne_S]

I would love to see if other groups feel less empowered under Obama than they did before.

female,married,Catholic conservative, count me in

 

[estesbob]

The govt empowers no one.

 

[SuperLuigi]

So here we’ve got a lot of white people commenting upon the life experiences of black people. Interesting.

Who are you calling white? Or do you just assume that every Catholic is white?

I used to live in DC and Detroit, and I grew up next to a Native American Reservation.

White people can comment about it all they like because it’s not just African-Americans who hurting with this administration’s failed policies.

 

[SuperLuigi]

i am commenting on the study that was done. i would assume that many african americans in the middle class have been feeling the economic problems of the past 4 years as has everyone else in the middle class. maybe because of Obama’ magical powers they have not suffered from high unemployment, job losses and higher gas prices like the rest of us.

They are, and it’s one reason why Romney is pulling more African-American voters away from Obama.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

i am commenting on the study that was done. i would assume that many african americans in the middle class have been feeling the economic problems of the past 4 years as has everyone else in the middle class. maybe because of Obama’ magical powers they have not suffered from high unemployment, job losses and higher gas prices like the rest of us.

Yeah but to be fair, it’s not as if the economic collapse began under Obama’s watch. It started before that.

 

[7_Sorrows]

Yeah but to be fair, it’s not as if the economic collapse began under Obama’s watch. It started before that.

name one policy he has put in place that has helped to turn things around. maybe the economic collapse began before he became president, but he has had 4 years to work hard to help the middle class with the housing crisis, jobs, unemployment, gas prices. he has shown no leadership. as a member of the middle class i have never felt so abandoned by someone who is supposed to be president of our country and trying to help the country and its people move forward.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

name one policy he has put in place that has helped to turn things around.

I can’t.

maybe the economic collapse began before he became president,

No, not maybe. Not maybe. Definitely.

 

[Schmoo]

:clapping:

Who are you calling white? Or do you just assume that every Catholic is white?

I used to live in DC and Detroit, and I grew up next to a Native American Reservation.

White people can comment about it all they like because it’s not just African-Americans who hurting with this administration’s failed policies.

 

[Schmoo]

And to be fair obama made it MUCH worse.

Yeah but to be fair, it’s not as if the economic collapse began under Obama’s watch. It started before that.

 

[TimeEntrance]

name one policy he has put in place that has helped to turn things around. maybe the economic collapse began before he became president, but he has had 4 years to work hard to help the middle class with the housing crisis, jobs, unemployment, gas prices. he has shown no leadership. as a member of the middle class i have never felt so abandoned by someone who is supposed to be president of our country and trying to help the country and its people move forward.

I’m pretty sure most the irrational comments in dislike of Obama arise out of personal racism. There are plenty of developed nations on this earth economically struggling. The United States under Obama is not the only one. And what the U.S. is going through is rather sissified compared to what many developing nations went through for decades during the 1980’s.

And the government attempting to stimulate the economy was something many nations across the world did - including China and Brazil - and in theory it should have worked according to Keynesian economics. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics

But I had an economics teacher (He was Black-American by the way) many years ago that predicted none of our current economic theories would pull us out of this situation. That new theories or a new theory would have to eventually emerge. For him, he thought it was very interesting times for an economist to live in.

Black-Americans have not done better under Obama. But they did not do any better under George Bush Jr.

I suspect their sense of feeling less empowered than they did when he first was elected might be explained more in understanding the average mean background of Black-Americans in educational attainment, annual income, and being under some form of criminal supervision by the state (i.e., prison, jail, probation, parole). They incorrectly assumed having a black President meant more for them in more tangible terms than it does. I voted for Obama but I told black people right away that Obama was not going to be able to do anything for them. They took this as me hating on Obama.

Every U.S. President has advisers - they make up their cabinet - as they should. When it comes to economic matters the Presidents have to listen to economists because just about all U.S. politicians and Presidents are lawyers by educational and professional background.

And White-Americans (percentage wise) are not nearly going through what Black-Americans (percentage wise) have gone through since at least the 1980’s non-stop. Black-Americans were already in a Great Depression for decades when the Great Recession hit White-America.

Keynesian economics (play /ˈkeɪnziən/ KAYN-zee-ən; also called Keynesianism and Keynesian theory) are the group of macroeconomic schools of thought based on the ideas of 20th-century economist John Maynard Keynes. Keynesian economists believe that in the short run, productive activity is influenced by aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) and that aggregate demand does not necessarily equal aggregate supply (the total productive capacity of the economy). Instead it is influenced by a host of factors and sometimes behaves erratically, affecting production, employment and inflation.[1]

Advocates of Keynesian economics argue that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes which require active policy responses by the public sector, particularly monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the government to stabilize output over the business cycle.[2] The theories forming the basis of Keynesian economics were first presented by Keynes in his book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936. The interpretations of Keynes are contentious and several schools of thought claim his legacy.

Keynesian economics advocates a mixed economy – predominantly private sector, but with a role of for government intervention during recessions – and in the USA served as the standard economic model during the later part of the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war economic expansion (1945–1973), though it lost some influence following the tax surcharge in 1968 and the stagflation of the 1970s.[3] The advent of the global financial crisis in 2008 has caused a resurgence in Keynesian thought.[4]

 

[TimeEntrance]

And to be fair obama made it MUCH worse.

And to be fair: no he didn’t.

Obama may have prevented the collapse of America. Kind of like someone being rushed into the ER in critical condition with major skeletal and tissue damage can be worked on by surgeons - saved - but not turned into Superman. Rather, the surgeons save you from death and slow recovery might be underway depending on the extent of your injuries.

 

[7_Sorrows]

I’m pretty sure most the irrational comments in dislike of Obama arise out of personal racism. There are plenty of developed nations on this earth economically struggling. The United States under Obama is not the only one. And what the U.S. is going through is rather sissified compared to what many developing nations went through for decades during the 1980’s.

And the government attempting to stimulate the economy was something many nations across the world did - including China and Brazil - and in theory it should have worked according to Keynesian economics. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics

But I had an economics teacher (He was Black-American by the way) many years ago that predicted none of our current economic theories would pull us out of this situation. That new theories or a new theory would have to eventually emerge. For him, he thought it was very interesting times for an economist to live in.

Black-Americans have not done better under Obama. But they did not do any better under George Bush Jr.

I suspect their sense of feeling less empowered than they did when he first was elected might be explained more in understanding the average mean background of Black-Americans in educational attainment, annual income, and being under some form of criminal supervision by the state (i.e., prison, jail, probation, parole). They incorrectly assumed having a black President meant more for them in more tangible terms than it does. I voted for Obama but I told black people right away that Obama was not going to be able to do anything for them. They took this as me hating on Obama.

Every U.S. President has advisers - they make up their cabinet - as they should. When it comes to economic matters the Presidents have to listen to economists because just about all U.S. politicians and Presidents are lawyers by educational and professional background.

And White-Americans (percentage wise) are not nearly going through what Black-Americans (percentage wise) have gone through since at least the 1980’s non-stop. Black-Americans were already in a Great Depression for decades when the Great Recession hit White-America.

when you don’t have a good argument, the next best thing to do is to call someone a racist because of their dislike of Obama? please! how many times has that word been used here on CAF and in general just because someone doesn’t like Obama? i am not a racist. i consider myself a smart enough person to know that you vote for someone based on their abilities and not their skin color. i vote on reason, not emotion.

black americans were not in a great depression when the economic problems began 5 years ago. many were comfortable middle class and upper class citizens and also business owners.

 

[Tampa_Dave]

White people played a major role in electing Obama. Liberals love this group.

White people who voted for McCain, or who support Romney, are broadly labeled as racists. Liberals, of course, hate this group.

Approximately 97% of the black electorate supports Obama, yet no one dares label this group racially motivated. Liberals find this perfectly acceptable. Have you heard any complain?

 

[Rich_Olszewski]

White people played a major role in electing Obama. Liberals love this group.

White people who voted for McCain, or who support Romney, are broadly labeled as racists. Liberals, of course, hate this group.

Approximately 97% of the black electorate supports Obama, yet no one dares label this group racially motivated. Liberals find this perfectly acceptable. Have you heard any complain?

Generalizations, generalizations.

 

[mary_bobo]

Yeah but to be fair, it’s not as if the economic collapse began under Obama’s watch. It started before that.

And in saying that, please do not forget the help of Dodd and Frank. I say they had a major effect on what is going on now.

 

[rlg94086]

And to be fair: no he didn’t.

Obama may have prevented the collapse of America. Kind of like someone being rushed into the ER in critical condition with major skeletal and tissue damage can be worked on by surgeons - saved - but not turned into Superman. Rather, the surgeons save you from death and slow recovery might be underway depending on the extent of your injuries.

“May have.” That is a dubious assumption. It is the easiest thing for a failure to claim, i.e. “it would have been worse.” There is no way to prove that or prove the contrary. The failure gets to claim victory without evidence.

 

[TimeEntrance]

when you don’t have a good argument, the next best thing to do is to call someone a racist because of their dislike of Obama? please! how many times has that word been used here on CAF and in general just because someone doesn’t like Obama? i am not a racist. i consider myself a smart enough person to know that you vote for someone based on their abilities and not their skin color. i vote on reason, not emotion.

Is the time where I’m suppose to respond, “When you don’t have a good argument, next best thing is to claim your bias and exaggerations do not stem from racism?”

black americans were not in a great depression when the economic problems began 5 years ago…

I’m sorry but you are completely wrong. The largest black city in the United States is Detroit. If unemployment figures for White-Americans nationally suggest a economic recession then black Detroit has been in a economic depression for several decades. The largest black city in the United States with less than 100,000 people is Gary, Indiana. Again, economic depression that existed long before Obama got in office.

Then lets look at Washington D.C. About 50% of the black male population was under the supervision of the criminal justice system before Obama was ever elected President. Which seems slightly akin to my own experience in the City of Milwaukee. Most black males in my age range I know have felonies. Around half the black male population of workable age are unemployed.

Okay, 50% of the workable age of White-American males are not unemployed in the United States as a nation. I doubt at the micro level of city that there is any city in the United States with a population of 100,000 or more where working age, white, male unemployment exceeds 20%. Frankly it would not surprise me if none of it exceeds 10%.

…many were comfortable middle class and upper class citizens and also business owners.

Yes many were. But the term “many” does not carry an exact quantitative figure. So, “many” today under Obama (both black and white) are middle-class, upper-class, and also business owners.

And to be quite honest what the United States is going through economically today is quite meager compared to what many Latin American nations and developing nations went through in the 1980’s with right-wing, pro Washington D.C. policy friendly regimes. It boggles my mind how middle-class and poor Brazilians ever survived in some of the insane levels of inflation rates of the 1980’s they went through.

Inflation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_Brazil#Stagnation.2C_inflation.2C_and_crisis.2C_1981-93

Brazil.

The 1980s became known as the “lost decade,” and its problems spilled over into the 1990s. Despite the stagnation of the 1981-92 period, inflation remained a major problem (see stagflation). It stayed in the 100% level until the mid-80’s and then grew to more than 1000% a year, reaching a record 5000% in 1993.

Hyper Inflation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation

High Inflation in the United States, Civil War era: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation#Examples_of_high_inflation

Washington D.C.'s blacks: ndsn.org/sepoct97/blackmen.html

1990’s.

Nearly fifty percent of black males between the ages of 18-35 in the District of Columbia are under Criminal Justice supervision according to a study by the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA) (Eric R. Lotke, “Hobbling a Generation,” National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, August 1997; Cheryl Thompson, “Washington D.C., Young Blacks Entangled in Legal System,” Washington Post, August 26, 1997, p. B1).

In 1990, the NCIA discovered that 42% of black males between the ages of 18-35 in Washington, D.C. were either in prison or jail, probation or parole, out on bond or being sought on an arrest warrant. Today that percentage has reached 50%.

The overall situation in the United States - especially for the vast majority of white people - is no where as dire as some on here make it out to be.

I suspect why the confidence of Black-Americans has dropped as the study in the original post beginning this thread shows, can find some explanation in the average mean educational attainment of Black-Americans and the degree they understand how politics works. My personal opinion - being ethnically Black-American myself - is that Black-Americans tend to place too much trust and hope in political parties.

As in the case of some of these black, Protestant, pastors… they sensing and feeling betrayed by the Democratic Party similar to how some Catholics began feeling a few decades ago over abortion being legalized.

Religion is popular in the political culture of the United States - especially among Black-Americans - and Obama like more than one politician before him, uses religion (for him Protestant) while being secular and pushing secular and anti-Christian goals.