Obama Meets With Civil Rights Leaders

Obama meets with black leaders

At a time when an increasing numbers of blacks in leadership are grumbling about a lack of attention the White House is paying to the economic ills of urban America, President Barack Obama met with civil rights leaders to discuss job development Wednesday.

National Urban League President Marc Morial, NAACP Director Benjamin Jealous and the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network met with President Obama for almost an hour, after requesting the meeting late last year.

Dorothy Height of the National Council of Negro Women had also been expected to attend but couldn't due to the snow storm that hit Washington D.C.

The meeting centered on what the federal government can do to aid minority communities that have been hardest hit in the economic downturn. It is President Obama's first meeting with an audience solely comprised of civil rights leaders.

While portions of the populace are starting to see some small improvement in their economic picture, black America continues to lag. The black unemployment rate in January rose to 16.5 percent while the overall rate dropped slightly to 9.7 percent.

The issue of how to help the minority community, and blacks specifically, has been a thorny issue for America's first president of African descent.

Some blacks, especially members of the Congressional Black Caucus, have been respectful yet critical of White House efforts to help raise black people during the recovery.

They argue that the overwhelming support the black community gave Obama during his run for the White House should translate in to concrete programs for black America.

President Obama, however, using the "A rising tide lifts all boats" mind-set, has responded that as president of the entire country, not just black America, he must find solutions for the general populace that will, in turn, benefit blacks.

Absent from the meeting was the Rev. Jesse Jackson who for more than three decades has been the country's most prominent civil rights voice.

Jackson and President Obama, who share a political base of Chicago, have a rocky history.

In one published report during the Democratic primary run-up, Jackson was quoted as saying Obama was "acting like he's white" in his response to racially prejudicial treatment by local government officials in Jena, La.

Then Jackson was caught on an open microphone during a FOX News interview accusing Obama of "talking down to black people" and adding "I want to cut his nuts off."

Jackson later apologized for the comments.