Obama Defends Record: Doing What He Can For Blacks

According to Washington Post's Krissah Thompson, President Obama is pushing back this week against criticism that he has not been concerned enough about the disproportionate impact of the economic recession on African Americans. In interviews this week with media outlets targeted at the black community, he defended both his record and his connection to the community against accusations that he is taking black voters for granted. Recently members of the Congressional Black Caucus have said his administration and Congressional leaders are not doing enough to target aid to the black community, which has higher levels of unemployment than others. Nationally, unemployment stands at 10 percent, but 15.6 percent of blacks are jobless. Obama said he is doing what he can, and on Monday told April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks that "this notion, somehow, that because there wasn't a transformation overnight that we've been neglectful is just simply, factually not accurate." In a Tuesday phone interview with syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, Obama added: "One of the things about being part of the African American community is that no matter how well you do, you know there's somebody in your family that's still hurting because we're not that far away from the neighborhood. And people need to know that I carry their stories with me whenever I come into the Oval Office." Let's talk about this tonight at 11:00 PM, on late night political slugfest... "If you can handle the truth."