CNN reports that Rev. Al Sharpton, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous and National Urban League President Marc Morial sat down with President Obama to discuss a plan involving dedicating $150 billion of TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) money to under-served communities.
The plan, which involves hiring government workers to provide services to key urban areas, does not currently match with White House plans for any TARP money.
Despite the historic precedence of meeting with the nation’s first Black U.S. President, Sharpton noted that while “We do not seek any special kind of edict or special kind of thing from the president because he’s African-American . . . [we] expect to be included in the process.”
The plan also includes an expansion of the small business administration’s Community Express Loan Program; more attention on communities with high unemployment; $500 million investment for housing counselors to manage delinquent loans; an expansion of summer youth jobs programs by investing up to $7 billion to employ 5 million teenagers; Creation of 100 “urban job academies” to train the chronically unemployed.
TELL US: With Black unemployment reaching as high as 15 percent, do you think it’s time for President Obama to focus some money on the Black community?
Image Courtesy of Chicago Tribune
