Sunday, April 28, 2013

Is Obama afraid to Hire Blacks?

Is President Obama afraid to hire Blacks? During  Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, comedian Conan O’Brien joked that the president’s hair was “so white, it could be a member of your Cabinet." Apparently, this joke touched a raw nerve because the President immediately returned to the White House and leaked that Anthony Foxx, the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, is to become the next Transportation Secretary of The United States.

Is that how to get thing done in an Obama administration? Make a joke at a public function and  get results. Say Mr. President, unemployment is higher than Snoop on Weed or gun violence in Chicago is so bad that the cops are borrowing bullets or The US is so broke, Treasury Secretary Lew can't pay attention.

President Obama's record of hiring African Americans is horrible compared to previous Presidents Clinton and Bush.


In 1993 when President Clinton took office, he appointed five African Americans to his cabinet in his first term He appointed: Mike Espy as Secretary of Agriculture; Ron Brown as Secretary of Commerce; Hazel O’Leary as Secretary of Energy; Jesse Brown as Secretary of Veteran Affairs; and Lee Brown as his Drug Czar. The Drug Czar is no longer a Cabinet position.

Over eight years, President Clinton would appoint four more African Americans to his cabinet. He appointed: Alexis Herman as Secretary of Labor; Rod Slater as Secretary of Transportation; and Togo West as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  Clinton also appointed Franklin Raines as the director of Office of Management and Budget. Franklin Raines would later lead FANNIE MAE. Clinton also appointed Eric Holder as Deputy Attorney General. In total, President Clinton appointed nine African Americans to the top positions in his Administration before leaving office. Only one, Eric Holder, would make it into President Obama's cabinet.

In 2001, when George W. Bush took office, he appointed three African Americans to his Cabinet in his first term.  He nominated the first African American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and the first African American National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice. President Bush also appointed Rod Paige as his Education Secretary and Alphonso Jackson as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs.  Over eight years, President Bush appointed six Blacks to top positions in his cabinet.

Now, after being publicly humiliated at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, The President rushes the appointment of  African American Anthony Foxx for Transportation Secretary. This is only the second cabinet appointment of an African American by an African American. The problem is that President Obama has shown his true colors. If not for a joke by Conan O'Brian, President Obama would not have hired another African American cabinet member. He has shown that African Americans are not an important part of his cabinet, and  his departments in Washington have been white washed. African American employment in Washington DC at senior positions is at an all time low. Its not the Republicans that need an outreach program, It's President Obama and I an sure he will return to the whites only hiring policy for his next cabinet picks. The evidence is in, President Obama is afraid to hire Blacks.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yes. Proof Positive that President Obama reads my blog. The hiring of Anthony Foxx and Melvin Watt