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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2021)
February 10, 2021 Page 11 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. O PINION Building Back Better for Black America Can Biden succeed where Obama fell short? d edriCk a sanTe -m uhammad T yler b ond Twelve years ago, the inaugu- ration of America’s first Black president had many Americans believing that a future free of ra- cial discrimination and inequali- ty was finally within reach. This year, as Obama’s former vice president Joe Biden takes office amid a surge in far-right violence, it’s clear we have a long way to go — not just to build a safer country for all of us, but to close the vast racial wealth divide. Despite Obama’s historic vic- tory, his administration made by and little to no progress in bridging this divide. Over Obama’s presidency, medi- an Black wealth never returned to even its modest $10,700 from be- fore the Great Re- cession. By 2013, it had dropped to just $1,700 — virtually nothing — even as white wealth rebounded. In fact, the racial wealth di- vide in the latter half of the Obama presidency was the larg- est it’s been in the last 30 years. Income inequality remained vir- tually unchanged, too. In 2007, Black Americans earned about 60 percent as much as whites. By 2016, that had fallen to 58 percent. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, homeownership — the key source of wealth for most middle-class families — de- creased for most Americans. But new Black homeowners were hit hardest, driving the Black homeownership rate down from 49 to just 44 percent, nearly 30 percentage points lower than the rate for white Americans. Of course, the failure to bridge racial economic inequality is not unique to the Obama presidency. Whether under Trump, Clinton, or either Bush, there has been little to no progress in bridging the economic divide for African Americans in wealth, homeown- ership, and income. This lack of progress should be a wake-up call: Bold action is necessary. That’s why we’re calling on President Biden to announce a White House Office of Racial Economic Equity. This office should develop a government-wide audit to rigor- ously assess all significant eco- Letter to the Editor The clock counts down from five as he crosses half court and is immediately met by his de- fender. Four, he crosses over and peels around the screen set by his teammate. Three, as the defensive help rushes at him, he stops, elevates, and lets the shot fly. Two, the ball rotates through the air as he watches with confi- dence. One, the ball tears through the bottom of the net. Zero, the fans erupt in their seats, his team- mates sprint towards him to cel- ebrate, three points are added to the scoreboard. Damian Lillard turns knowingly as he taps his wrist, Dame Time. It’s a familiar scene for Lillard fans, but less familiar is his place within the music industry as a rapper under the moniker Dame D.O.L.L.A. Though many play- ers in the league rap, Lillard is unanimously regarded as the best, with a smooth flow constructed with impressive rhyme schemes, Dame raps like Jay Z with a Bay Area sensibility. Raised in Oak- land, Calif., his roots are evident in his music. The name of his debut album, The Letter O, is a clever homage to his life: his up- bringing in Oakland, his college years in Ogden, UT, and his pro- fessional career in Oregon. With that much thought placed into the title of an album, it’s not surpris- ing his lyrics are just as rousing, but more importantly, they’re in- spiring, commonly promoting a message of positivity. Hip hop today is dominated by ego driven, toxic masculinity and females twerking for camera time. Positive messages are rare- ly heard, but we’ve all heard of Damian Lillard. With his status he could easily make braggado- nomic policies and programs for how they affect racial inequali- ty. This office should also issue a public report with actionable reforms and legislative propos- als for Congress. Biden’s inauguration, just two days after Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, was almost 60 years from the date when Dr. King de- livered his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” that be- moaned that moderation was the “Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom.” He was right. In the 21st cen- tury, we have seen Black prog- ress go from a “stride toward freedom” to being stuck in eco- nomic apartheid. Moderate re- forms by Democrats — along with often open hostility from Republicans — have corre- sponded with decades of failure in addressing racial economic inequality. Biden is the the 45th white man to take the presidency. Unlike Obama, or his own vice president Kamala Harris, his in- auguration did not make racial history. Still, Biden has the op- portunity to do what the Obama administration and every other administration has failed to do over the last 40 years. Opening a White House Of- fice of Racial Economic Equi- ty can stee the country toward greater opportunity and finan- cial security for African Ameri- cans. It is way past due to finally “Build Back Better” for Black America. Dedrick Asante-Muhammad is the chief of race, wealth and community at the National Community Reinvestment Co- alition and an associate fellow of the Institute for Policy Stud- ies. Tyler Bond is an intern at NCRC. Lillard’s Positivity cios music, but instead he creates something uplifting. Messages of unity and humility abound as ev- idenced in “Loyal to the Soil”, a popular track, where he raps “do a lot for others, not for credit or to soak in, but to have an impact on the direction that they go in”. After a tumultuous year where the divide in humanity was made obvious and society was left on shaky ground, it’s important we all work towards taking a positive step forward. Whether Dame’s intention was to make a positive impact or that’s just his style, it’s an outlook that needs to be expressed more. We all need to stay motivated, stay humbled, and lend a compassionate hand to our brothers and sisters. We should all listen to some Dame D.O.L.L.A. Dylan Koller, Portland