Channing Kennedy

Rinku Sen at Jack & Jill Politics: Will the Recovery Help People of Color?

Rinku Sen has her first post up at Jack and Jill Politics, and it’s kicked off quite a discussion around the Recovery Act’s addressing (or lack of addressing) of longstanding racial economic disparities.

From commenter RiPPA:

In these economic times nothing specifically has been said with reference as to how the recovery act will impact the Black community. Hell, I know he has Van Jones on the payroll now, but I’d like to hear some talk about Green Jobs in the hood.

from commenter EarthTone:

There is a need for grass-roots activism among the black poor, where they can speak for themselves, help set the agenda, and do things to address their issues. But low income black folks tend to be the least educated, the least organized, and more significantly, the most stressed and troubled of all social groups in the country.

So there’s a conundrum there. We need change from the bottom-up, but all the decsions are being made in a top-down fashion.

From commenter Guns300:

Obama and the Democratic machine doesn’t have to do anything for their black constituency because they know that blacks will vote for them in 90 percentile range. The majority of blacks have decided the Republicans are not an option and understandingly so but blacks don’t make Democrats work for their votes. Why would the Democrats take blacks seriously when then know they are going to get their vote. Obama is actively courting Latinos(supreme court pick) because he knows they will vote either way. Don’t expect more or less from Obama because he father was a black man. He is not God or MLK he is a politician that will do what he has to do to get reelected. If blacks make it hard for Obama they will get more traction on their issues because he political life would depend on it.

So what do you think? Do the solutions that ARC’s Race and Recession report lay out do enough to address discriminatory economic patterns? Make your voice heard and engage the debate in the comments.

Posted at 3:21 PM, Jun 10, 2009 in Race and Recession | Permalink | View Comments