Economically speaking, Obama has performed better than average for Black people

Obama has also done well for poor people.

I was about to write the standard post about how Obama has not done enough for my personal group of people: African Americans. But them I thought about it for a little while and got a different answer.

First let me say, we know the Presidents hands are tied with regards to Black people and poor people  He cannot directly be seen helping either group especially blacks.  We know he cannot do flashy or targeted programs just for Black or poor people.  They would never get through congress. They would offend many of his weaker support groups like White women and college educated men. The would open him to charges of favoritism by his critics.

But the President has done as good as job as can be expected. Better than previous Democrats with more personality and less values. His economic record is excellent. Even if he had done nothing beside universal health care, he would be good enough, but there is more.

Here is our list of the Obama's top economic accomplishments that benefit African Americans:

Universal Healthcare
Fiscal Stimulus Bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act)
Extended Unemployment Benefits (up to 99 weeks)
Expanded food stamps

None of these programs can be seen to directly benefit Blacks.  Instead they are all said to be "Middle-Class" programs. The programs are portrayed as helping people in need.  History will look back very favorably on Obama's economic successes.

You can get a full list of Obama's African American Agena in the links that follow.  The African American Leadership Conference seems more like a political event than a policy conference.

You can watch here:  2011 African American Policy in Action Leadership Conference.  Here is the link from You Tube. 

The White House press release is here.

The Obama's agenda for African American is here. 

It looked like a pretty limited affair designed to give the president cover with the African American Community.  They open ask participants to "spread the word" about the good things Obama has done.
The 40 page report lists every possible program that might benefit Black folks.

The strange part is that you could substitute Hispanic, Latino, poor, or even middle-class for the words "African American" in the report and 99% would be the same.