Apparently the Atlantic will be running articles in response to Coates' interview with Obama. This is the first of them. I don't really agree with all dude is saying, but I feel its worth discussion.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/12/how-barack-obama-failed-black-americans/511358/?utm_source=twb


______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

Even though they never intended to support their kids (at least for this example, they never intended to support their kids).

I halfway agree about Barrack. To me, his failure was in not trying.

even if they don't accept it. For those in positions of power it would seem they are beholden to principles in direct contrast with the natural order.

Especially when so many of us bullshitted during the midterms.

so the midterms and all of that are a distraction IMO. There would not have been much difference had they gone another way.

done to Black folks with the choices he makes.

>Especially when so many of us bullshitted during the
>midterms.


You really believe a Dems would do more if they controlled congress ?
They didn't even pass a healthcare plan from a Dem think tank when they had control.

That man couldn't change or maintain the status quo without help.

They called him a liar during the SOTU. Vowed to fight him on everything the day after he won. Michelle couldn't get kids to eat healthier without being called everything under the sun.

The expectations were unreal.

we gave him a pass.

>That man couldn't change or maintain the status quo without
>help.

He had help, Dems were in control before the midterms.

>They called him a liar during the SOTU. Vowed to fight him on
>everything the day after he won. Michelle couldn't get kids to
>eat healthier without being called everything under the sun.

He know all that coming in or he shouldn't be surprised that Republicans would Republican. Dems controlled Congress before the midterm and he wasted that on the Republican Healthcare Act.

>The expectations were unreal.

What expectations from who ? Anybody Black that even asked a question, would get the he is not the President of Black America line.

"We don’t put pressure on the president. Let me tell you why. We don’t put pressure on the president because y’all love the president. You love the president. You’re very proud . . . to have a black man . . . First time in the history of the United States of America. If we go after the president too hard, you’re going after us. . . . When you tell us it’s all right and you unleash us, and you tell us you're ready for us to have this conversation, we’re ready to have the conversation. . . . All I’m saying to you is, we’re politicians. We’re elected officials. We are trying to do the right thing an the best thing. When you let us know it is time to let go, we’ll let go." -Rep. Maxine Waters

If so then sure, I guess you could say Dems could have rammed a bunch of shit through in the first 2 years but that's unrealistic. Government has never moved fast yet somehow everyone believes Obama would get in and Black lives would instantly change. It's still America. Obama isn't Jesus.. lol.

>If so then sure, I guess you could say Dems could have rammed
>a bunch of shit through in the first 2 years but that's
>unrealistic. Government has never moved fast yet somehow
>everyone believes Obama would get in and Black lives would
>instantly change. It's still America. Obama isn't Jesus.. lol.
>
>

Black folk are not saying he had to do everything, just something. Does it take an act of God to help the people who voted for him ? LOL it as hard but he didn't have to walk on water.

http://www.harvestinstitute.org/PR__Indian_Web_Posting_photo_9-30-16.pdf

They rode a Black man to the White House, then when (oh shit!) he wins, they all play grab ass and CYA cause they knew what the backlash would be if they supported him too strongly.

He had control of Congress for 2 years out of 8, and it was tenuous control at that.
______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

he joined them when he gave Lieberman a pass and begged for Republican acceptance.

>They rode a Black man to the White House, then when (oh
>shit!) he wins, they all play grab ass and CYA cause they knew
>what the backlash would be if they supported him too strongly.
>

He went along with it, taking on Larry Summers, firing Shirley Sherrod and giving Republican stuff they didn't ask for in budget negotiations.

>He had control of Congress for 2 years out of 8, and it was
>tenuous control at that.

Yes it was short and rough but you can't put this

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/12/obamas-failure-to-mitigate-americas-foreclosure-crisis/510485/

"No Republican sign-off was necessary for Obama’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The Treasury Department alone decided to run it through mortgage companies that had financial incentives to foreclose rather than modify loans."

or this

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/12/obamas-faith-in-white-america/510503/

"That kind of empathy may be why Obama could look at years of pictures of his wife and children drawn as apes and decades of white backlash to perceived black socio-economic gains as racial, albeit not racist: “I’m careful not to attribute any particular resistance or slight or opposition to race."

on Republicans or Democrats.

>

But the biggest is here

"The Obama administration never gave serious consideration to aggressive transformative universal policies like a public-sector employment guarantee for all Americans, a federally financed trust fund for all newborn infants with amounts dictated by a child’s parents’ wealth position, or the provision of gifted-quality education for all children. These are universal programs that can have a significant “disproportionate impact and benefit for African Americans,” in the process of helping all Americans—unlike the types of universal programs endorsed by the president."

what boils my blood is that news spaces spew stuff like this and assume that they understand all the keynesian economics behind them as if they are wave-of-wand powers that a president posses. It's not that its a bad idea, it gives zero justice of the political and economic realities of it.

And this here:

>"The Obama administration never gave serious consideration to
>aggressive transformative universal policies like a
>public-sector employment guarantee for all Americans

Man, didn't they do this shit on House of Cards?

Really my man? Netflix policies?



______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

to downplay the mandate Obama had in 08, in an obvious attempt to pump up his legacy.

No Pres has a magic wand, but

Obama had a serious mandate for change. He could/should have been an almost FDR level of a President that implemented changes that could have benefited generations.

Instead, he bullsh!tted.

He wanted to be seen as pragmatic. In those first few years especially, he seemed more worried about proving Fox news wrong. When you are busy trying to show people you aren't a Muslim socialist dictator, not a lot gets done.

Obama and the Dems actually had the mandate that Trump and Republicans are now pretending to have.

But you know, Dems gonna Dem.

Obama ran to the middle, was timid, etc. Also, spent too much capital on ACA.

He could have came through his first year with public jobs bills, infrastructure spending, banking regulations and break-ups, tuition assistance, etc etc.

Populist stuff that could have pretty much guaranteed the mid-terms and an easy path to ACA.


But again, Democrats are horrible politicians.

>
>to downplay the mandate Obama had in 08, in an obvious attempt
>to pump up his legacy.
>
>No Pres has a magic wand, but
>
>Obama had a serious mandate for change. He could/should have
>been an almost FDR level of a President that implemented
>changes that could have benefited generations.
>
>Instead, he bullsh!tted.
>
>He wanted to be seen as pragmatic. In those first few years
>especially, he seemed more worried about proving Fox news
>wrong. When you are busy trying to show people you aren't a
>Muslim socialist dictator, not a lot gets done.
>
>Obama and the Dems actually had the mandate that Trump and
>Republicans are now pretending to have.
>
>But you know, Dems gonna Dem.
>
>Obama ran to the middle, was timid, etc. Also, spent too much
>capital on ACA.
>
>He could have came through his first year with public jobs
>bills, infrastructure spending, banking regulations and
>break-ups, tuition assistance, etc etc.
>
>Populist stuff that could have pretty much guaranteed the
>mid-terms and an easy path to ACA.
>
>
>But again, Democrats are horrible politicians.

Maybe but after the stimulus packages, it was hard to get more government spending (public jobs bills, infrastructure, tuition assistance)

i think they got what they could with Dodd-Frank (banking reg/break ups)

the majority in congress was narrow with a lot of conservative democrats, that were not that supportive or dependable.

ACA was a big deal, the public should've supported him more after that and He should've communicated better to his base,but it is what it is.

PLUS, he was the follow up to one of the most unpopular and disastrous admins, EVER. They really had a TON of power that they squandered

>Obama had a serious mandate for change. He could/should have
>been an almost FDR level of a President that implemented
>changes that could have benefited generations.
>
>Instead, he bullsh!tted.
>
>He wanted to be seen as pragmatic. In those first few years
>especially, he seemed more worried about proving Fox news
>wrong. When you are busy trying to show people you aren't a
>Muslim socialist dictator, not a lot gets done.
>
>Obama and the Dems actually had the mandate that Trump and
>Republicans are now pretending to have.
>
>But you know, Dems gonna Dem.
>
>Obama ran to the middle, was timid, etc. Also, spent too much
>capital on ACA.
>
>He could have came through his first year with public jobs
>bills, infrastructure spending, banking regulations and
>break-ups, tuition assistance, etc etc.
>
>Populist stuff that could have pretty much guaranteed the
>mid-terms and an easy path to ACA.
>
>
>But again, Democrats are horrible politicians.

unfortunately, Democratic means "not the Republican, still corporatist, still scared of white people who ain't shit" in many states.

he said it wouldn't be fair to other minorities O_O



http://dailycaller.com/2016/12/22/obama-i-cant-pursue-reparations-because-its-politically-infeasible/


President Barack Obama said in an interview published Wednesday that reparations payments for black Americans could be a good idea but simply aren’t politically feasible.

Speaking with The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates, Obama said that it’s easy to make an argument for reparations for black Americans because of past sins like slavery and Jim Crow laws.

“Theoretically, you can make, obviously, a powerful argument that centuries of slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination are the primary cause for all those gaps ,” Obama said in the interview. “That those were wrongs done to the black community as a whole, and black families specifically, and that in order to close that gap, a society has a moral obligation to make a large, aggressive investment, even if it’s not in the form of individual reparations checks, but in the form of a Marshall Plan, in order to close those gaps.”

Obama didn’t endorse reparations, but he didn’t reject them either. Other minorities in America, he said, would not find it fair to them.

“So the bottom line is that it’s hard to find a model in which you can practically administer and sustain political support for those kinds of efforts,” Obama explained.

The United Nations recently demanded America pay reparations to the black community. (RELATED:U.N. Demands U.S. Pay Reparations To African-Americans)

A report released by the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on African Descent accused the U.S. of having a racist history. The country’s history of slavery and current police shootings, the report argued, meant that America owes the black community reparations.

Meanwhile, Coates is also a high-profile advocate of black reparations, though he has avoided the specifics of what form those reparations should take.

But unfair to other minorities? Come the fuck on Barry.

paying trillions of dollars to everybody else is feasible enough.

that reparations are a good thing, post-Trump.

really even pre-Trump.

Coates even shows support for it
https://twitter.com/tanehisicoates/status/811993386014150656

there is some BS and reaches in there, sure, but it speaks to the fundamental oversights if he were to make black americans a high priority on his agenda (as they made him on theirs or at least something halfway close).

and online.

Besides reparations I really don't see how Obama could change Black lives in 8 years.

I

because he didn't promote policies that would benefit Black people.... but when he did, the program presumed a Black cultural deficiency so it was bad..

smh...

So all the auto industry jobs that were saved....none of them resulted in a Black person keeping their job?

Drastically reducing unemployment didn't result in any Black people getting or keeping their job?? I mean short of mandating the hiring of Black people, I'm not sure how else you could drastically reduced the Black unemployment rate by itself in only 8 years....but obviously there are Black people who benefit from an extremely improved job market....

The scores of people who were able to get health care....none of them were Black people right??

So none of the long list of accomplishments for President Obama..none of them benefited Black Americans..in fact...they were to Black people's detriment which is what some of these people try to claim?


WHO the President is, is extremely important to Black people (as some of these Negros who want to front on Obama, and the negroes who stayed home and didn't vote shall soon find out)..... who is in control of congress is important...as well as who holds state and local positions..

these things are very important....

as are the things people do in their personal lives...their communities...their families....their schools....

All of things are super important to Black people...


and at a time when BOTH of those areas were under direct attack from White Supremacy.... Far too many Black people sat on the sidelines and didn't do shit but talk..... and make excuses as to why all of this was some how because Obama didn't do enough...


Don't blame Obama from the sidelines when you didn't do shit to get in the game and impact your own life..your own community....

Now people will see what laying down will get you...

Obama basically pursued a rising-tide-raises-all-ships type of policy.

Which for some people was just not enough.

But I think if you read the tea leaves and were proactive as a Black person in this country, you could and should have made a come up during his presidency.
______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

he kept his foot in that door even when scores of adversaries were on the other side.

If you didn't see the opportunities to come up.....hey.

this idea that if folks didn't come up during Obama's presidency, then it's somehow their fault is poisonous.

if you sittin' waitin' on a savior that has more to do with your own worldview/ideology/pyschology than anything.

all yt ppl ain't tryna prosper they just cool by default.

all latinX "" they have a cultural infrastructure; I saw a borracho outside the likka sto the other day. dressed for work, paint all over his boots. his gente were comin out the store givin him DOLLAR BILLS.

some people just ain't gon do $hit but hang around on the fringes of society til Armageddon and start THERE.

If you were TRYING to 'get it in' over the last 8 years, he probably made it more feasible than it's ever been, combined with the help of your 'white friend from Williamsburg' who think he down with the cause.

idea being floated by the Dems. In other words, there are folks who were trying to get ahead and couldn't....they obviously missed the rising tide.

everyone SAYS they wanna be saved. shit I say that $hit all the time, but what do my ACTIONS say.

I don't have enough fingers to count all the blk folk PRESSING me abt voting for BHO, (I had planned to vote for him anyway, for my own reasons, but I played contrarian just to see what folks' angle was) whom I knew for a FACT weren't about to make any significant life-changes just on GP.

A lotta blk folk voted for him just cause he was blk. They were old, about to retire..not tryna open no business or go back to school..so how far was he supposed to lower the bar for THEM to get on the boat?

nah.

'cuz that mother effer is gonna run on some bull in order to get that group of "we", I spoke of earlier, back.

Folks always act as if voting for president is a cure all. Voting for president is the minimum you should be doing. After that you have to give the president the tools he needs to be successful. That includes voting (and running yourself) in local and statewide elections, voting in midterms, giving money where possible, and being informed on the issues. The people complaining the loudest have done none of these things.

when folks don't vote.

also, my point was that voting is the minimum, what else have you done in addition to voting.

>also, my point was that voting is the minimum, what else have you done in addition to voting.

Voting *and* holding elected officials accountable is the minimum. The minimum, by definition, should be sufficient. Otherwise, we need a new minimum. I agree with you in being knowledgeable on the issues is also required...but that really is dependent upon a free and unbiased press. Need I say more on that topic?

As far as holding our elected officials accountable...we can't even convince our own people that their issues are American issues. So on that front, we did fail. If I had a nickel for every time I heard "He's the President of America, not Black America..." those first couple of years of Obama's presidency. LBJ wasn't the President of Black America either, but we sure as hell pressured him and Congress to pass and sign the Civil Rights Act.

He was the FIRST Black POTUS. There were models for him to pattern his POTUS behavior on. There just weren't any previous examples for him to model is BLACK POTUS behavior.

You can only pass legislation by getting the vote of the 60th most liberal senator. Right now that's Rand Paul. And even in the first two years of Obama's presidency that meant that you'd have to get that 60th vote from Joe Lieberman or Susan Collins -- people who aren't at all committed to Black American causes.

And a lot of these complaints against Obama on black issues are about the symbolic stuff he did or didn't do, or stuff in his speeches he did or didn't say. I agree with some of the criticisms, but I think that stuff is trivial compared to the concrete ways that actual progressive legislation would help black people in this country. But again, that legislation has to go through the the 60th most liberal senator.

>And a lot of these complaints against Obama on black issues
>are about the symbolic stuff he did or didn't do, or stuff in
>his speeches he did or didn't say. I agree with some of the
>criticisms, but I think that stuff is trivial compared to the
>concrete ways that actual progressive legislation would help
>black people in this country. But again, that legislation has
>to go through the the 60th most liberal senator.


I feel like most of the criticism I see by Black folks about Obama have to do with his "respectability" politics and him "talking down to Black people", but almost never have anything to do with his actual policies. They don't actually talk about the good or bad his actual policies or decisions have done for Black folks. It's always, "He talked down to us!"

glad i don't have to add shit to this post

______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

and too satisfied with the pessimism of his outlook a lot of the time.

but ill read this later.