Blacks have laundry list of issues for Obama

"Hello. My Name is Freida. I am a 52-years-young black female that had three strokes and [I am] doing fine right now. I am a full-time, stay-at-home artist . I have sent you a copy of my hero, Sir Barackster. I created him on Nov. 1st because I felt he would be the hero."Those are the words of Freida Thompson of Manalapan, N.J., in a letter to the editor of the NNPA News Service.

"I really, really, really want him to take care of the health issue," Thompson said in a phone interview this week. " If there was one thing she would ask of President Barack Obama, it would be "free health care."

From health care to civil rights, jobs and equal justice, Thompson's sentiments reflect those of millions of Blacks and other Americans around the nation who know that Obama - arguably America's most inspirational president - will be limited in his ability to do everything. Yet, many hope that because of his Black experience and identification with struggle, his priorities might distinguish him from White presidents of the past.

Are Blacks expecting too much of the new president? That depends on who's being asked:

"Expecting a lot from him is a good thing," said Hilary Shelton, director of the Washington Bureau of the NAACP, who monitors and lobbies for Capitol Hill legislation on behalf of Black people. "The expectations should be high. A lot of promises were also made by the candidate and now the President. And holding him to that is important, but ... we must all get engaged in helping to fix these problems," Shelton said.

Thomas Todd studied the question from a different direction.

"Nowhere in the campaign did he really promise to handle the Black agenda - nowhere," said Todd, a Chicago-based, retired U. S. attorney, known for his impassioned speeches. "I think Blacks have allowed themselves to get caught up in the euphoria and the celebration and that probably is not realistic.''

Blacks are indeed expecting a great deal of Obama, as indicated by the USA Today survey released a few days before the historic inauguration showing that 79 percent of Blacks believe that Martin Luther King's Dream has been realized through the election of Obama.

''There's been all sorts of wild statements, such as that we do not need Black Civil Rights leaders any more, we do not need Black organizations such as the NAACP any more, and while Whites have been the main perpetrators of these views, some Blacks have bought in to them as well,'' said Dr. Ron Walters, political scientist at the University of Maryland. ''There has been considerable Transition Committee activity with Black organizations that have put forth agenda items before it, expecting that there will be some action on them as he also tackles the major issues confronting the country. So, there are strong expectations ....''

Leslie Baskerville, president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, said that in an appeal to Obama's then-transition team, she made a plea for the restoration of Title 3 funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

"Title 3 funding is the life-blood of HBCUs . It keeps their doors open," Baskerville said, noting how the Bush Administration recommended "a whopping cut of Title 3 dollars that would be tantamount to a million dollar loss per institution that's eligible."

H. Alexander Robinson, president and CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition, points to HIV/AIDS disparities in the Black community.

"The office of National AIDS Policy has to be reinvigorated. There hasn't been a director in that office for almost two years," said Robinson. "During that entire administration, it has been left to languish.''

Coming back to what the nation has said is Obama's number one issue, Julie Cunningham, president and CEO of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, said "putting America back to work," is crucial, but it must be done such that African-American contractors get a piece of the pie and that "there is accountability and compliance tied to those dollars."

Public policy issues notwithstanding, Freida Thompson, the artist, said her friends are discussing a historic concern that they doubt will be changed by the Obama presidency, but they hope he will at least try. That is racism.

"People are saying it's going to be the Whites against the Blacks. I really want him to say something about that. I really want us all to get along," Thompson said.

Illustrating the depth of the problem, Thompson recalls something that her 7-year-old grandson, Angelo, said: "'Grandma, now you're going to need security for Sir Barackster.'