By J. Zamgba Browne
Chief Correspondent
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus made it clear they weren’t going to remain mum as President Trump claimed credit in his State of the Union address for what his predecessor; Barack Obama did to boost the current employment figures among African-Americans.
A lying Trump made the following comment: “And something I am very proud of, African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded.” He was vigorously applauded by Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Members of the Caucus, many of whom were dressed in African kente cloth, didn’t appear to be moved by Trump’s comment. They sat there and gave the President a blank stare.
Their lack of enthusiasm is understandable. The White House hasn’t detailed which of the Trump administration’s policies are to thank for the drop in Black unemployment.
And many political pundits have noted that the unemployment rate began dropping well before Trump took office, during the Obama administration.
“It is not as if Black unemployment was 18 percent under Barack Obama and, as soon as Trump took office, it plummeted. Black unemployment fell fairly consistently from 2010 on, as did the rates for whites and Hispanics,” said Phillip Bump of the Washington Post.
“From January to December 2017,” according to Bump, “the unemployment rate among Black Americans fell 1 percentage point. During the same period in 2016, it fell the same amount.
In 2015, it fell 1. 9 points. The previous year, it fell 1.5 points. The year before that, it fell 1.8 points,” according to Bump.
In addition, experts say Black unemployment is still too high, the wage gap between Black and white workers is growing, and Trump only talks about Black people when it benefits him.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas invoked rapper Jay-Z’s recent comments that Trump was “missing the whole point.”
