In a new interview with the International Business Times, Rev. Jesse Jackson expresses his disappointment with President Obama’s ‘record’ as it relates to empowering African-Americans.
“[Pres. Obama] has the view that racial injustice is something that requires a vote [in Congress],” Jackson said. “Blacks are without a targeted plan. Without one, we’ll never have an even playing field.”
Jackson told IBT he is especially troubled by figures that say that the economy is growing and becoming more healthy but that African-American growth is the slowest since the recession in 2009.
“It’s time not for a national police summit in places like Baltimore, but for an urban reconstruction summit, where all the agencies are used in that reconstruction,” Jackson said “There is an opportunity to pull together government agencies — [housing, education, transportation departments] — and make something work.”
Jackson is the president of the Chicago-based Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. The civil rights activist does concede that President Obama has faced an “unfair” amount of opposition from the GOP – but still insists his administration should have dealt with issues such as black unemployment more directly.
Read the full interview with Jackson here.