Tavis Smiley and Cornel West are being pilloried and made out to be pariahs by Black disc jockeys because of they’ve made negative comments of Obama’s presidential performance. 

But Black American DJs seem to be dodging the fact that America’s economy is in freefall; the country’s deficits, debt and government spending are at a record high, and our credit rating has been downgraded for the first time in history.

Won’t admit the truth

In spite of these obvious presidential shortcomings, urban contemporary broadcasters continue "praising Caesar" and pummeling his critics. As other American groups lament America’s economic plight, Black Americans, whose lifestyles and conditions are the worst of all, still defend Obama’s lackluster job performance. Nobody on Black radio seems willing to admit the sad shape America is in, or that Blacks are the worst off in the country.  

The issue that’s getting attention is the DJs’ view that Smiley and West’s "Poverty Tour" to low-income areas of America is another "attempt to criticize President Obama." It all goes back to April 2008 when Smiley resigned from the Tom Joyner Morning Show program because of the audience’s overwhelmingly negative response to his criticisms of candidate Obama.

When Obama was elected, many believed that the numerous maladies in the Black community would cease to exist.  But Blacks’ problems continue with the acquiescence of the media and those who view Obama as a symbol of achievement. 

Bows to Wall Street

Under Obama, the Oval Office’s traditional deference toward Wall Street oligarchs continues.  Obama’s signature legislation is the passage of a gargantuan stimulus plan "to fix the economy."  Few African-American pundits acknowledge that Black unemployment and joblessness have remained constant before and after the $790 billion stimulus package.  Who among us demanded the government target Black youth and adult jobs programs when almost a trillion dollars was being doled out?

"He’s doing all he can under the circumstances" is a lame retort.  Intellectually honest people must look at Obama’s demonstrable disregard for Black issues and come to the unavoidable conclusion that our issues and interests are low on Obama’s list of concerns.

Obama has failed to articulate any policy that would deal with the betterment of Blacks and Urban America. Yet Obama sycophants write off all criticism, such as Cornel West’s depiction of Obama as a "puppet of Wall Street" as "crazy rants."

It’s a tragedy the way Obama loyalists have accepted the diminution of Black issues, and that the only way he could become president was by distancing himself from race. 

Black voters snookered

He became president with 95 percent of the African-American vote and support from the vast majority of people of color, young voters and White liberals claiming that America was entering a "post-racial" era as well as a post-partisan one.  Though this theme carried enormous appeal and Black voters fell for it, it was never completely true.

Do the Blacks who influence public and political policy want to improve our plight? Will they bring attention to ongoing injustice and repression occurring against us?  Instead of using air time to throw Cornel and Tavis under the bus, when can we expect Black broadcasters and media to objectively relate challenges Blacks face in the U.S. within the contexts of education, housing, employment, poverty, crime and the legal system – and ways to combat them?

It’s time Black Americans give President Obama a realistic rating regarding his attention to – or lack of – issues important to us.

Contact William Reed via www.BlackPressInternational.com. He is available for speaking/seminar projects via BaileyGroup.org.