A new Gallup poll found only 11 percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the country. Their top concerns are the state of the economy and “unemployment/jobs.”
There is no demographic breakdown but with black unemployment at depression levels, it’s safe to assume that black folks are not content with the situation.
Still, African Americans are reluctant to voice their discontent. But the code of silence is cracking. Social activist Marcia Dyson recently wrote:
The suggestion that such criticism is “hating” is ridiculous; surely we can make distinctions between bitter attacks and enlightened analysis. And the argument that publicly criticizing our first black president is an act of racial disloyalty is immature. We must be grown enough to know that politics at its best is about engaged citizenship, not tribal worship. You can love black people and do what’s best for the race without agreeing with everything the president does or says. If we don’t use our public platforms to encourage, solicit and push the president to do what we think is right, we’ve surrendered both our civic duty and our racial responsibility.
Former CBC Chair Elijah Cummings told CNN’s Candy Crowley the president needs to “fight harder” for African Americans:
Almost every African American I have talked to said they want him to fight and fight harder… Their attitude is that if the Republicans are not going to work with us, we’re just going to have to go it alone and stand up to them. Don’t back down, period.
