JBHE: Barack Obama Is The Superior Choice For African American Voters

And no…not because he’s black…because of his detailed policy proposals.

Just this morning as I was brushing my teeth, I was lamenting the lack of serious discussion in the black community about the upcoming election aside from tired discussions of “Is Obama black enough?” and “Can a black man be elected President?” Surely, I thought, we have many more important questions to be discussing than those.

Well, I am so happy to see that the Journal of Blacks In Higher Education has written a wonderful comparison of the policy proposals of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (h/t Prometheus 6).

JBHE writes:

Now let’s turn to the platform of Senator Obama. His campaign Web site, published on the Internet for all to see, bears down hard on all of the major issues of concern to blacks. These include fighting poverty, improving our schools, voting rights and election reform. Unlike Clinton, he outlines a comprehensive program to reduce poverty, revitalize America’s urban areas, and empower black Americans.

Here in more detail are the Obama proposals as outlined in his campaign position paper:

• Increased funding for the Community Development Block Grant program which provides housing, job training, and other services to impoverished urban areas.

• A $1 billion, five-year expansion in job and career training programs for low-income Americans.

• The creation of a series of “Promise Neighborhoods” across America patterned after the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City. Low-income families in these promise neighborhoods will be offered parent counseling, childcare, job training, healthcare, financial advice, afterschool programs, technology training and other services to help them escape the cycle of poverty.

• An expansion of the Head Start program for preschool children in high-poverty areas.

• An increase in the maximum Pell Grant award for low-income college students.

• Expansion of the Nurse-Family Partnership where nurses visit low-income expectant mothers at home to ensure that they receive proper prenatal care.

• An increase in the earned income tax credit which will allow low-income working families to keep more of the money they earn.

• A proposal to increase funding for the Jobs Access and Reverse Commute program so that low-income workers can get to their jobs at a reduced cost and the children of these workers can receive free public transportation to childcare facilities.

• The establishment of an affordable housing trust fund that will produce 14,000 new units of affordable housing for low-income families each year.

• Increased access to capital for blacks and other minorities through Small Business Administration programs.

• Job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling, and employment opportunities for people who have been incarcerated. Since blacks are five times as likely as whites to have been in prison, these programs will disproportionately benefit African Americans.

• To further raise the minimum wage rate and the child tax credit.

Obama has put a lot on the table, maybe too much. Nevertheless, announced here on the Obama Web site is an elaborate and unqualified proposal to use presidential power to deal with some of the most severe problems of African Americans and other minorities. There are no politically expedient bows to the hardships of America’s white middle class. In his declaration of a concrete program for blacks and others who have had a difficult time, there is no doublespeak or ambiguous language. Senator Obama deals with racial issues head on. He enters the arena of race with his six-shooters blazing.

Senator Clinton, on the other hand, ducks, straddles, changes the subject, or remains silent. Her evasive strategy on issues of race was revealed in an early August appearance at a convention of African-American journalists. Hillary Clinton was asked whether she was “black enough” to hold the allegiance of African-American voters. Sidestepping the question, Clinton replied that she was proud of her party for having a black, a woman, and a Latino competing for its nomination.

The case I make for Obama rests primarily on the strength of his campaign proposals for black America. His platform becomes compelling when contrasted with the Clinton program that offers nothing.

Read more.

The only thing the article doesn’t get into is Obama’s record which is also superior to other candidates for addressing issues facing African Americans. Hopefully, we’ll see that come out in the discussion soon as well.