THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S IMPACT ON THE
AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
President Obama is focused on creating jobs and restoring economic security for African Americans
and all Americans. He understands that too many African Americans have been hurt by a decade of
declining wages and unemployment and he’s fought for policies that give everyone a fair shot and the
opportunity to succeed. That’s why he’s pushing for job training and education reforms, ending health
disparities and cracking down on credit card and mortgage abuses by the biggest banks. He knows
that the American people live up to their responsibilities each and every day and it’s time that their
leaders in Washington live up to theirs.
ECONOMIC ISSUES
Since his first days in office, President Obama has fought to restore the economic security that has been
eroding for America’s families for a decade.
• Through the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the Obama administration helped
African-American clients secure more than $929 million in contracts and financing in 2009 and $2.4
billion in 2010, that’s helped businesses create and save jobs for African Americans.
• When President Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 it put more capital into the hands
of minority-owned businesses, supporting more than $12 billion in small business lending.
• A 21 Percent share of Jobs Act loans went to minority-owned businesses, according to data from the
Small Business Administration.
• President Obama established the interagency task force on federal contracting opportunities for small
businesses to help ensure that that minority-owned businesses have a fair shot at securing work (doing
what kind of work to improve the country and communities…)
• President Obama’s White House Business Council launched a series of Urban Entrepreneurship Forums
aimed at connecting local entrepreneurs to public and private resources to help them expand, grow and
create jobs.
President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to get the economy moving
again, create jobs, and make historic investments in our country’s transportation infrastructure to benefit
African Americans and all Americans.
• The Recovery Act that President Obama signed into law kept 1.4 million African Americans out of poverty
through tax credits, improvements in unemployment insurance, an increase in food stamps, and relief for
retirees, veterans, and people with disabilities. More than one billion dollars for job training and summer
jobs programs for urban youth were provided through the Obama administration’s Recovery Act.
• The President’s Recovery Act allotted $1.25 billion in funding to help re-train the unemployed so they
could find work.
PAID FOR BY OBAMA FOR AMERICA
• The Recovery Act provided $750 million in funding for specialized worker training in growing industries like
clean energy.
• $250 Million in Recovery Act funds were utilized to build and improve career training centers.
• The Recovery Act also provides earned income and child tax credits that will help an estimated 2.2 million
African-American families and 4.7 million African-American children by allowing working Americans to
keep more of what they earn.
EDUCATION
President Obama has called education equality the “civil rights issue of our time” and has made it a priority
in his administration. He’s pushed for changes to improve our nation’s schools in order to put an outstanding
education within reach of every American.
• The Recovery Act included $5 billion for early learning programs, such as Head Start, Early Head Start,
child care, and programs for children with special needs.
• The Obama administration launched Race to the Top, an initiative that allows schools to compete for $4.35
billion in federal school improvement money after they lift barriers to charter schools.
• Charter schools are an important investment, and currently educate 31 percent African-American students.
President Obama has focused on higher education opportunities benefiting the African American community.
• President Obama’s policies will benefit the significant number of African-American students who apply for
Pell grants, by providing 820,000 more grants by 2020.
• 46 Percent of African Americans in undergraduate programs received Pell grants—higher than any other group.
• The President also secured a $2.55 billion investment in HBCUs and minority-serving institutions across ten
years to ensure more African Americans have access to higher education.
• Loan Forgiveness and Income-Based Repayment Programs will help all students make school more affordable.
HEALTH CARE
President Obama pushed for and signed the Affordable Care Act, which improved access to health care for
all Americans, because access to quality, affordable health care is at the very heart of a family’s security
and well-being. The Affordable Care Act also provides free access to preventive care for people with new
insurance plans.
• Expanded access to preventive care will reduce health disparities for 41 Million African Americans, by helping
to prevent and treat many diseases and conditions that affect African Americans at a higher death rate,
such as: heart disease, stroke, cancer, asthma, influenza, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.
• Under the Act, nearly a quarter of African Americans will no longer be denied access to health insurance
because of pre-existing conditions.
• The Affordable Care Act raises Medicaid eligibility, giving four million more African Americans access to
health insurance coverage.
• President Obama’s agenda provides $11 billion for infrastructure enhancements to community health
centers, which will allow them to provide access and treatment to 40 million patients by 2019.
PAID FOR BY OBAMA FOR AMERICA
URBAN POLICIES
President Obama has shown from day one a commitment to revitalizing urban communities around the country.
• The President launched the first ever White House Office on Urban Affairs.
• The Obama administration has provided nearly $150 Million, the largest single round of Community
Development Financial Institution Fund awards, to go directly to financial institutions in urban and rural
communities for the purpose of increasing lending for low-income Americans and expanding access to
affordable financial products and services.
• The Obama administration launched the “Strong Cities, Strong Communities” pilot program focused on
Three Key Elements to Enhance Local-Federal Relationships.
- Improving the way federal government does business, by cutting through red tape to ease local
governments’ interactions with federal agencies and programs.
- Providing assistance and support by working with local communities to find ground up, not top down
solutions tailored to local government needs.
- Developing critical partnerships with key local and regional stakeholders that encompass not only
municipal and state governments, but also new partnerships with the business community, and other
public, private, and philanthropic leaders.
• The Obama Administration is implementing the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, to combat poverty
in American cities.
- Critical to this venture are the Choice Neighborhood Program, which seeks to revitalize public housing,
and the Promise Neighborhood Program, which looks to strengthen educational opportunities in
distressed communities.
JUSTICE AND CRIME PREVENTION
From his days as a community organizer to his time as a civil rights lawyer, President Obama has a consistent
record of fighting for fairness for all Americans. That commitment continues in his actions as President.
• President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act into law, narrowing the disparity between those convicted
of possessing crack cocaine and powered cocaine.
• The President also released the administration’s national drug control strategy to cut drug use among
youths, and decrease drug-induced death by 15 percent over five years.
• The Obama administration announced the settlement of the longstanding Pigford II litigation and signed a
bill providing funding for African Americans who were discriminated against by the USDA.
