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Virginia's first black governor says Obama ignored blacks
By PAUL BEDARD • 10/5/15 12:01 AM
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Virginia's first and only African-American governor says President Obama left blacks in the dust and built an administration that "turned its back on core supporters in favor of holding hands with its enemies."
L. Douglas Wilder, in his new autobiography Son of Virginia, expressed deep disappointment with America's first black president, calling him "aloof" and "tone deaf" to blacks' needs, leaving African-Americans to ask, "When is our time coming?"
Wilder, governor from 2005-09, and who served twice as mayor of Richmond, wrote, "This was not the 'hope and change' president we had expected."
Worse, in his otherwise inspirational book about growing up the grandson of slaves in the cradle of the Confederacy, Wilder charged that black America is worse off under Obama. Describing what voters told him during Obama's reelection campaign, Wilder wrote, "I was distressed by the deep well of unhappiness I felt as voters repeatedly described the ways in which they were worse off than they'd been at the beginning of President Obama's term."
He recalled a 2012 meeting at Washington's historically black Howard University where blacks discussed the lack of programs aimed at them. "Nowhere was the promise of his election more deeply felt than in our community. Yet in the fourth year of the president's term, they were left wondering, 'How long?'"
Even Joe Biden takes a hit in the book, with Wilder slapping the vice president's charge that 2012 GOP challenger Mitt Romney would "put y'all back in chains." Said Wilder, "I got criticized myself when I said Biden was a tar baby that Obama was stuck with. I made no apologies. Unfortunately, it was true."
His book is a richly detailed story of life in "Old Virginny," and how he overcame constant racism to get to the top, always guided by the words of his mother: "Know you're right, then proceed."
But it is his criticism of Obama that stands out, especially his characterization that the president was afraid of appearing preferential to blacks.
"In his history, Obama had been thoughtful and even profound on social issues, and it's the main reason he was elected president. But like so many politicians, he became a tool of his advisers as they tried to sway in cadence with the political winds. Too often, he was a president whose main goal seemed to be not making anyone mad. And as a result, he achieved the opposite."
Virginia's first black governor says Obama ignored blacks
By PAUL BEDARD • 10/5/15 12:01 AM
Share
Tweet
Digg
More
Virginia's first and only African-American governor says President Obama left blacks in the dust and built an administration that "turned its back on core supporters in favor of holding hands with its enemies."
L. Douglas Wilder, in his new autobiography Son of Virginia, expressed deep disappointment with America's first black president, calling him "aloof" and "tone deaf" to blacks' needs, leaving African-Americans to ask, "When is our time coming?"
Wilder, governor from 2005-09, and who served twice as mayor of Richmond, wrote, "This was not the 'hope and change' president we had expected."
Worse, in his otherwise inspirational book about growing up the grandson of slaves in the cradle of the Confederacy, Wilder charged that black America is worse off under Obama. Describing what voters told him during Obama's reelection campaign, Wilder wrote, "I was distressed by the deep well of unhappiness I felt as voters repeatedly described the ways in which they were worse off than they'd been at the beginning of President Obama's term."
He recalled a 2012 meeting at Washington's historically black Howard University where blacks discussed the lack of programs aimed at them. "Nowhere was the promise of his election more deeply felt than in our community. Yet in the fourth year of the president's term, they were left wondering, 'How long?'"
Even Joe Biden takes a hit in the book, with Wilder slapping the vice president's charge that 2012 GOP challenger Mitt Romney would "put y'all back in chains." Said Wilder, "I got criticized myself when I said Biden was a tar baby that Obama was stuck with. I made no apologies. Unfortunately, it was true."
His book is a richly detailed story of life in "Old Virginny," and how he overcame constant racism to get to the top, always guided by the words of his mother: "Know you're right, then proceed."
But it is his criticism of Obama that stands out, especially his characterization that the president was afraid of appearing preferential to blacks.
"In his history, Obama had been thoughtful and even profound on social issues, and it's the main reason he was elected president. But like so many politicians, he became a tool of his advisers as they tried to sway in cadence with the political winds. Too often, he was a president whose main goal seemed to be not making anyone mad. And as a result, he achieved the opposite."
Virginia's first black governor says Obama ignored blacks
