Obama
During President Obama’s time in office, he worked to improve the lives of all Americans, including African Americans, by providing economic and educational opportunities, improving health care coverage, and working to ensure that the criminal justice system is applied fairly to all citizens. To do this he set up programmes such as ”My Brother’s Keep” which was used to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of colour and ensure that all young people can reach their full potential. This programme has 6 milestones to it, Getting a Healthy Start and Entering School Ready to Learn, Reading at Grade Level by Third Grade, Graduating from High School Ready for College and Career, Completing Postsecondary Education or Training, Successfully Entering the Workforce and Keeping Kids on Track and Giving Them Second Chances. This programme has the backing from philanthropic and other private organizations who had committed to provide more than $600 million in grants and in-kind resources and $1 billion in low-interest financing to expand the opportunity for young people. Obama still carries on the My brothers keep challenge despite the government not funded it under Trump. Because of all these procedures put in place minorities have strived during the Obama-era. Some examples include:
- Education, where the high school graduation rate for African American students is at its highest point in history.
- Health, where the uninsured rate among non-elderly African Americans has declined by more than half and during this time about 3 million uninsured nonelderly, African American adults gained health coverage.
- Income and poverty, where the real median income of black households increased by 4.1 percent between 2014 and 2015 and the poverty rate for African Americans fell faster in 2015 than in any year since 1999.
- Criminal Justice, where the incarceration rates for African American men and women fell during each year of the Obama Administration and are at their lowest points in over two decades.
Trump
Trump has not been shy to make very controversial comments about minorities during his time in office he has promised to build a wall along the Mexican border and get Mexico to pay for it. He has also made some very controversial comments about minorities such as, “Sadly, the overwhelming amount of violent crime in our major cities is committed by blacks and Hispanics-a tough subject-must be discussed.” He also stated that Mexicans are all ‘Drug dealers, criminals, rapists’. Trump has reversed certain policies Obama put in place like, rescinding a rule put In place that would have required further permission for public housing agencies seeking to demolish public housing projects He also revoked 72 policy documents that outline the rights of students with disabilities. As well as that he also put a stop to the government funding My brother’s keeper, which meant Obama had to use philanthropists an other private organisations to keep it going. Trump also revoked Obama-era housing rule intended to fight segregation, this housing rule meant putting low income families in better locations for better opportunities. When trump revoked this he said "I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream
that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighbourhood"
Black lives matter
Black Lives Matter is a social movement advocating for non violent civil disobedience in protest against police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people. The Black Lives Matter movement is comprised of a broad array of people and organizations. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself remains untrademarked by any group. The broader movement and its related organizations typically advocate against police violence towards black people as well as for various other policy changes considered to be related to black liberation.
The movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier in February 2012. Over the years there have been counters to Black lives matter, one of them being “All lives matter” which has been criticised as those who support it are uneducated on the matter an think Black lives matter means only black lives matter.
The Black lives matter campaign has came along way from when it started in 2013. As of 2020 the movement returned to national headlines and gained further international attention during the global George Floyd protests. An estimated 15 million to 26 million people, participated in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, making Black Lives Matter one of the largest movements in United States history.
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