Black Quality of Life under Trump vs. Obama
Politics is often defined by its myths - narratives that shape our beliefs and guide our actions. Nevertheless, what happens when these myths are not based on facts? In a time dominated by social media and online news, the rise of misinformation and fake news is at an all-time high. What is very important, especially in the rising adults (ages 18-29) who in America are responsible for 23.6% or 36.5 million votes in the 2020 election, is knowing the partisan truth rather than following slogans or information that they get from social media accounts not qualified to be considered a reliable font of information on the matter. A study by the University of Colorado Boulder shows that both sides of the political spectrum are responsible for over 43.5% of fake news on Facebook and 48.2% on Twitter. In 2020 before the elections, one of the most viewed Facebook fake posts against the conservative party claimed that "Trump's dad was a member of the KKK." On the other hand, an example of fake news being spread against the liberal party stated that "AOC proposed a ban against motorcycles." To anyone with a basic level of intellect, both are outlandish claims, but then again, this is America, and you will find people who believe anything. One of the most prominent issues in American society is the remaining percentages of fake news being spread by politicians disguised as educating you and people with much influence.
It is no secret that racism remains a persistent issue in the United States, and black Americans have historically been the most affected by it. However, it is essential to recognize that the conservative party and the liberal party perpetuate misinformation and harmful stereotypes about black people. Some of the most insidious myths about black people have been propagated by liberal politicians and media outlets, often under the guise of progressive ideals. Even if you do not follow politics as closely as you should, I am sure you have heard about the police pulling over more black people than white or unemployment rates being significantly higher than their equal white counterparts. Alternatively, white people have over a 30% greater chance of owning a house in America than black people. Alternatively, even certain police officers may be inclined to pull over black people more than white people. While all those observations are accurate and frankly terrible, all of those injustices occur in liberal states more than in conservative states. The issue with this is that the negative impact caused by the left is often disguised as a helping hand when they genuinely do not care and are pursuing their agenda.
Compare and Contrast
While America is riddled with countless issues, it's quintessential to recognize the blessing every US citizen has to live in a free country like ours, something that not everybody can take for granted. One of the issues that affected the US the most is racism. From the terrible past riddled with slavery, the Jim Crow Laws, and segregation, we all aim to move to a future where inequality is nonexistent. The most important thing to do to combat this injustice is to elect a leader who will not just say they will make it better, but they actually will. As US citizens, we hold a responsibility to vote for someone who will push for a more perfect America. But nothing is ever perfect, and while we shouldn't strive for perfection, we should strive for progress.
Problem 1: Black Homeownership Rates
One of perhaps the most prominent issues, especially recently, is the black housing crisis. Starting in 2008, when President Barack Hussein Obama was elected as the 44th President of the US, a Global financial crisis occurred. In September 2008, the global financial system was shaken by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, a central investment bank. This triggered a global financial crisis and led to a severe economic downturn.
While there is no doubt that starting a presidency this way is not the easiest, it is not about how you start but about how you finish; unfortunately for President Obama, concerning the black community in contrast to the white, or just overall, objectively, not much changed.
From 2008-2016 black homeownership rates collapsed from 49% to the lowest point in the last 50 years (aside from the start of the pandemic where homeownership rates fell regardless of race) to a disastrous 40%. Nothing changed over eight years and countless blank promises; if it did, it was for the worse. An example of an empty promise:
"We need to do more to address the housing crisis and provide relief to families, particularly those in communities of color who have been hit hardest by the economic downturn." - Barack Obama, May 2011
After saying that and motivating the crowd at his press conference, he did nothing, if not objectively making it worse, resulting in a negative trend from 46% to 42% from 2011-2016.
Right after this absolute disaster comes President Trump, who raises the rates back to 48% in just four years. To be clear, Trump did not inherit this from Obama in any way, shape, or form.
As this graph shows, the slope during Obama was constantly negative; meanwhile, when Trump was elected in January 2017, the slope instantly shifted into a consistent, positive slope. In 2019, when they dropped to 40.6, the lowest they'd ever been, President Trump took action and raised it to 48%.
Source: US Department of the Treasury
Problem 2: Black Unemployment Rates
Black unemployment issues are also significant, as this graph shows, and are greatly affected by the President. Under Obama's first term from 2008-2012, black unemployment rates rose from 10.1% to 15.8%, while white unemployment rates decreased from 8.5% to 7.2%. Without a doubt, the financial crisis affected these numbers, but countless Black people were found without jobs. In contrast, white people were not affected nearly as much, and little to no reparations were done by President Obama to balance this out.
Meanwhile, under Trump's four years of power from 2017-2021, black unemployment rates fell to the lowest in American history at a legendary amount of 6.1%, and white unemployment rates also decreased to at the time the lowest they've ever been in the last fifty years of history. Under Trump, over seven million new jobs were made, which was three times what unbiased projectors initially expected. One hundred sixty million total Americans reported being employed, a country record. Most importantly, the difference between white and black unemployment rates was the closest they've been in the last fifty years.
Problem 3: Median household income of black private households
The median household income of black private households also collapsed under Obama, falling from $44,427 to $39,393 in 2016. Meanwhile, the median income of white private households barely decreased, only changing by $3,000 from $70,049 to $67,397. The change in the percentage of income for black families was an 11.33% decrease, while in white families, it was only a 3.78% decrease. On the other hand, from 2016-2020, the income rose to $48,175 for black people and $78,912 for white people. Under Trump, black homeownership increased from 41.7 percent to 46.4 percent.
As seen in the graph above that shows the Median income of black private households in eight years of the presidency, the actual income ended up being the same; meanwhile, under Trump, the numbers had an ending positive slope.
This graph, on the other hand, shows the median income of white private households. We can see that while the number fell after the financial crisis, it rose to a significantly higher value of $73,433 from the original value of $68,490. So to clear it up, Black people saw a change of $95 in eight years, while white people saw an increase of almost $5,000 over the same period.
While it could be straightforward to say what Trump did to help black Americans and whether he inherited a system that was already improving, I have compiled a list of all the major bills passed by President Trump to improve the quality of life. Starting with one of the essential acts, The Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 lowered the highest possible percentage of individual taxes from 39.6% to 37%, and for businesses, this was lowered from 35% to 21%. The left heavily criticized this, stating that the rich would get richer while the poor would get poorer, once again far from the truth. The Tax Cut and Jobs Act established over 9,000 opportunity zones where long-term investments were exempt from taxation. To qualify, the area needed a poverty rate of at least 20% or a median income below 80% of the state's median income. The selected opportunity zones almost all had a very high percentage of black people and had an average poverty rate of almost twice that of more prosperous communities in the state.
President Trump did another crucial thing to promote equal education and limit the race inequality disparity: The Federal Historically Black Colleges and Universities Initiative. The Federal HBCU's initiative was to increase funding, expand research opportunities, strengthen partnerships, and primarily forgive over $330 million of student debt exclusively for HBCU students.
President Trump passed the FUTURE Act ( Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education) on December 19, 2019, guaranteed permanent funding to HBCUs and TCUs, and MSIs amassing over $255 million annually. 30% of that total money was used for strengthening infrastructure on the campus, which included improving the physical infrastructure of these institutions and enhancing campus facilities and technology. The funding can be used to improve the physical infrastructure of these institutions, including campus facilities and technology.
The black community appreciated these great acts and bills proposed and passed by Trump to the point where over twice the amount of support from Black women and over 20% of black men voted for Trump in 2020, the highest out of any Republican candidate of all time. 22% of black men with a bachelor's degree voted for Trump in 2020, again the highest of all time.
Let me put it in unambiguous terms; one President is called "the most racist president in modern history" by the Washington Post, while the other is venerated for being one of the strongest pushers of equality. Friendly reminder: there is a monumental difference between saying we need change to come and doing something about it.
Obama was correct about one thing, though, when he said, "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time," in his speech in February of 2008. How hypocritical, because black people had to wait eight years before seeing an actual change in their lives. Many people do not like President Trump because of tik tok videos of Twitter posts made by people without anything to do with their day other than take things out of context. However, it is undeniable that the quality of black life under Trump was light-years better than that under Obama.
Believe whatever you want; make sure it is worth believing in because I believe in what I say. As the youth of America, we hold so much power in what goes down in the country. As the years go by, thanks to the rise in technology and us being the backbone generation of social media, we will exponentially hold more knowledge and more influence in what goes down in the country and the world that we live in, so I strongly encourage everyone to do their research, form their own opinions, and find their unique solutions. You believe the objective data or your personal feelings and emotions; either way, remember that just because you hear your friends, teachers, or parents saying some information that you disagree with, it is entirely okay; remember 81,282,916 were fooled into thinking a president that lowered black unemployment rates, raised the median black salary, raised black homeownership rates, and passed countess of bills to promote better education for historically black universities was and still is considered racist.
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