Michael Fauntroy, Huffington Post
- A spat has developed among some prominent black leaders about the extent to which President Barack Obama should be pushed to give special attention to African American issues. Some believe that holding the president’s feet to the fire is not necessary (or potentially politically perilous for him) and that some of the unique issues facing black people can be addressed within the context of larger solutions.
They, in supporting their position, have erected a ridiculous straw man to under-gird their position: President Obama is not the President of black America and should not be held to that standard. This straw man that, if unchecked, will get in the way of addressing some of the crushing issues facing African Americans. For me, it’s perfectly acceptable for groups of Americans to push the government to deal with their causes, so black leaders who want to go easy on this president because he is black are failing their constituents and need to reverse course — now.
I believe this argument is a straw man because I have yet to hear one reasonable, credible person argue that Obama should be the President of Black America or solely any other segment of the nation. But that doesn’t mean that issues of particular importance to different constituencies should not be given extra attention. Special problems require special attention. Need proof? Consider what has happened with Wall Street. A massive problem — created by Wall Street’s own greed left to run amok in a deregulated environment — resulted in taxpayers convulsing more than ONE TRILLION DOLLARS to attempt to fix the problem.
