Structural Inequality: News Not Fit to Print?

Last
week President Obama spoke boldly about persistent racial
discrimination and criticized the "structural inequality" that presents
"the steepest barrier" to African-American equality in the 21st century.

Speaking before a crowd at the centennial convention of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, he highlighted the
need for government action to help tear down these barriers.

So it was a surprise to see this headline on the New York Times story covering the event: "Obama Tells Fellow Blacks: 'No Excuses' for Failure."

Somehow the Times
saw fit to dismiss Obama's meaningful acknowledgement of continued
discrimination and, instead, portray his speech as a dose of "tough
love" to Black America.

The Times was not alone, though. The Huffington Post, a purportedly more liberal outlet, titled its article "Your destiny is in your hands...'No excuses.'"

It is true that President Obama borrowed a page from the book of Black
leaders as diverse as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Rev. Al
Sharpton, and Minister Louis Farrakhan in outlining the need for Black
self-empowerment. But it was a damaging oversight to ignore the
president's recognition of systemic inequality and the policy solutions
he laid out to reform these systems.

By addressing the living
legacy of white supremacy, African-American socioeconomic
disenfranchisement, President Obama advanced the discussion of racial
inequality.

The president pointed out that the
African-American community still suffers from discrimination and is
disproportionately hurt by a recession and the boom/bust economy that
has broadened economic inequality throughout the country. He included
policy proposals ranging from changes to tax policy, health care,
education and housing to improve the condition of African Americans.

One of the most repeated themes in Obama's address was that the
nation's racial inequality is not an African-American problem, but
rather a problem of our entire nation. Yet if you read The New York Times, you'd think the president was simply scolding African Americans for failing to live up to their potential.

I had hoped for more from the leading newspaper in the country. Not only should The Times
have reported on what Obama actually said, but as is done concerning
other important policy matters, it should have also examined whether
Obama's prescriptions were adequate for the ongoing racial economic
divide.

As someone who studies the racial economic divide --
particularly between Blacks and Whites -- my strongest criticism of the
address is that Obama's policy solutions are not strong enough to
overcome the structural inequality suffered by African Americans.

African Americans have only 10% of the wealth of White Americans and
they are segregated into the most disenfranchised communities. On top
of that, their job loss rate has been far higher than the rest of
American's during our current economic crisis.

When I first
read President Obama's address to the NAACP, I had a mixed reaction. I
was glad to have a president who saw government responsibility for the
structural inequality developed through decades of discrimination. At
the same time, I found myself disappointed that he did not advocate for
stronger measures, like an equity assessment of all future federal
spending to ensure that government funds do not solidify the racial
economic divide. Yet after reading news coverage of President Obama's
address, I realized that his discussion of structural inequality is
beyond what most Americans are prepared to deal with, or at least
beyond what The New York Times sees as news that's fit to print.