Obama, Liberal Policies Increase Black Unemployment

JUNE 21, 2011 BY STEVEN

Under President Obama black unemployment is 16%. If you’re a black man it’s even worse, 17.5% are unemployed. If you’re a black teenager it’s worse still, 41% of black teenagers are unemployed. These numbers are, obviously, higher than the general American population. They are the result of generations of failed government policies and of the current administration who, like most Democrats, takes black votes for granted.

During the 1920′s black unemployment was no higher than white unemployment. It took union laws, passed by liberal New Deal Democrats, to ensure that blacks had less access to jobs than whites. It’s no secret that FDR’s union bills were meant to keep poor working class blacks out of the marketplace and thus out of competition with white union labor. Since these bills black unemployment has always been higher than white unemployment. It’s only recently that said black unemployment has moved more than a couple points ahead of general American unemployment.

Looking at the current situation there are two clear problems for blacks in the marketplace today. Both problems are created by government. The first to address is the minimum wage. The most recent minimum wage hike was signed into law by President Bush. There are those in the Obama administration who want to see the wage go up to $10 per hour. With 41% of black teenagers unemployed (nationwide the number is cut in half) it is clear that the minimum wage is set higher than the value of labor in the market today. If the wage were lower, more teens would have access to jobs and the unemployment rate would drop.

Having 41% of black teenagers unemployed doesn’t just hurt these kids today. It hurts them for years to come. Having a job as a teenager isn’t just about bringing home a little bit of spending money. It’s about learning how to be employed. It’s about learning to come to work on time, to do the tasks a boss asks, to do tasks in a professional manner. It’s also about gaining employment experience to put on a resume for future, higher paying jobs. With the minimum wage set as high as it is right now, teenagers of all races, particularly blacks, are being denied the ability to learn job skills that will last them a lifetime.

The second major government action that has hurt blacks in the job marketplace is the massive, progressively run, government school system. For generations all Americans have been lied to about government schools. The progressive “experts” have told us to trust them, they know how to best educate children. Rather than educating them, the government schools spend more time indoctrinating them. Test scores are horrible across the board at government schools. They’re even worse in the inner cities, which are predominately black or other minorities. You can’t even use funding as an excuse, these schools generally spend more per child than most rural and suburban schools.

With government education so poor in the inner cities, young blacks are left with an inadequate education thanks to the government. That makes their lives more difficult and increases black unemployment. Worse, it keeps blacks dependent on the government whether it’s in the form of direct welfare or other programs such as food stamps, medicaid, section 8 etc. With a proper education, blacks would not be dependant on government welfare programs. Unfortunately, they’re never going to get a proper education from progressive government schools.

President Obama has done absolutely nothing to help black unemployment. Since his policies have caused unemployment to rise in the general population, there is little doubt that his policies have caused black unemployment to rise. Like most Democrats, Obama won’t do anything to alleviate the problem other than token gestures like reopening the civil rights division at the Justice Department. With current unemployment so high and with conditions never improving after generations of government programs created by progressive Democrats, one wonders why black Americans continue to vote for Democrats.