Congressional Black Caucus Member: Obama Disrespects Blacks

AP

Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) accused President Barack Obama of ignoring and disrespecting black groups that were crucial to his winning re-election in November, including the Congressional Black Caucus, black newspapers and historically black colleges.

The 76-year-old lawmaker said the Congressional Black Caucus sent a number of qualified names to the White House as possible cabinet picks but was ignored. The Obama administration has been criticized, particularly in recent weeks, for a lack of diversity in key posts.

“The black caucus of Congress then sent 61 names to the White House,” Hastings told the National Newspaper Publishers Association last week. “Time went by. Not one of that 61 was selected – not one.”

Hastings said the Congressional Black Caucus also had to pressure the Obama campaign to advertise more with black newspapers. Of the $1 billion the campaign raised, just $1 million was spent on black newspapers -- and that was up from the initial plan of $650,000, he said.

“If I was president of the United States, there is no way in hell that I would raise a billion dollars and don’t spend but a million dollars with people who probably had as much to do with my becoming president as anybody,” Hastings charged.

He accused Obama of not spending enough money on historically black colleges, and said it took nearly a year before he appointed a single historically black college graduate to his administration.

“It was nine months into the administration before he appointed a single person, not just at the cabinet level...none in his first nine months of his administration was from a historically black college," Hastings said.

(h/t Weasel Zippers)