A HAND UP INSTEAD OF A HAND OUT:

Black History, Bush Style (Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, 2/10/05, The Black Commentator)

While there is a stark need for a plan of action addressing race-based income and health disparities, of surprise to many is that President Bush and prominent members of the Republican Party have introduced this conversation.

After all, these are the people who have spent the last four years providing tax relief for the wealthiest Americans while laying the groundwork for dismantling the very programs that have helped blacks mitigate the effects of centuries of deprivation.

Among the health and wealth creation vehicles on the President’s chopping block are Affirmative Action, Perkins loans, Community Development Block Grants, empowerment and enterprise zones, Section 8 and Hope VI federal housing subsidies, minority health disparities research, and Medicaid. Each of these policies have been important for elevating the socio-economic condition of African Americans in the post-Civil Rights era, yet they have been challenged, seriously curtailed, or eliminated under the Bush Administration.

Now, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, African Americans are expected to take the GOP’s newfound interest in their socio-economic security at face value. This exercise in suspended disbelief, however, has been made extremely difficult because of the myopic nature of the arguments being put forth.

In exchange for ditching the programs that bred black dependency the President has given them housing vouchers, public school vouchers, HSAs and now SS accounts. Indeed, no president has done more to empower black America since Lincoln.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 14, 2005 12:06 PM