President Barack Obama has quietly solicited guidance from a group of African-American professionals who meet regularly with senior White House advisors to discuss issues of concern to the black community. President Obama joined a White House meeting on Tuesday with his senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett, and the National Policy Alliance, a partnership of 10 organizations representing African-American elected officials and their constituents.
The group discussed a range of policy issues that affect millions of black Americans, including job creation, health care, judicial appointments, education and economic growth.
The NPA meeting at the White House comes as the black unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 15.3 percent, which has resulted in criticism of Obama by some black lawmakers who say Obama has not done enough to reverse the trend. But now, in the second half of President Obama’s four-year term, the president appears more receptive to reaching out to get unfiltered and diverse perspectives from black Americans outside of Washington D.C.
It’s a refreshing departure from the ongoing perception that Obama doesn‘t want to appear too black, fearing that he would alienate some white voters by talking too much about black issues. President Obama, correctly, says consistently that he’s the president for all Americans, but there are still many faithful black voters who have hoped that Obama – as America’s first black commander-in-chief - would create policies specifically to uplift black African-Americans and help improve the quality of their lives.
Since the NPA meetings are taking place at the White House – a public record – it’s clear that President Obama is embracing the notion of gathering Black minds to get the benefit of their wisdom. It makes for good politics, and it’s also a sound policy. The President needs to re-energize the African-American base after a low turnout in the November mid-term elections when the Republicans took control of the House.
For a Black president, who Maureen Dowd of The New York Times accused of having an inner circle that is “too Wwhite,” the NPA sessions perhaps reflect a sea change in the West Wing. Tuesday’s meeting with NPA officials also included Georgia state Rep. Calvin Smyre, president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. “We feel it was a great exchange of ideas on policy and critical issues that extend beyond the beltway,” Smyre said in a statement. “President Obama appreciated hearing the views and perspectives of communities represented by state and local elected officials on such issues as the Job Creation Act of 2010 and how it affects local government in terms of job creation and the economy.”
Smyre’s group, NBCSL, is a membership association representing over 600 African-American state legislators from .....
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Posted By: Jen Fad
Thursday, December 16th 2010 at 4:55PM
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