Last week President Bush issued his State of the Union address portraying a growing U.S. economy spurred by tax cuts, increased homeownership rates and low interest rates. The President also praised the positive impact of the War on Terrorism, the modernization of Medicare, and advances in public education policy, among other issues.

From the perspective of the African American community, however, the realities of the State of the Union remain bleak. The “economic expansion” the President speaks of has not translated into the replacement of jobs and income that have been lost to millions of Americans during President Bush’s watch. African Americans are disproportionately dying in the war with Iraq, have inadequate access to health care and continue to face hurdles to a quality education. For these needs to be met, the issues highlighted in the State of the Union must include an approach different than that offered by the President.

Economy
Several indicators of overall economic performance have shown strong gains in recent months. However, these gains have not been made in the areas critical to African American families. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average national unemployment rate in 2003 was 6.0%, while the average annual African American unemployment rate was nearly twice that at 10.8%.

Tax cuts have been the Administration’s panacea for economic growth and job creation and the President’s address called for making the tax cuts permanent. While employment grew in 2003, it was far from the 510,000 jobs that President Bush promised would result from his tax cuts. Instead, a mere 221,000 jobs were created. And, as of yet, the economy has failed to produce significant gains for African Americans.

Furthermore, the budget deficit of $374 billion threatens to undermine the stability of the global economy while severely limiting our nation’s ability to adequately fund domestic social programs important to African Americans.

Iraq
President Bush announced in May of 2003 that major combat operations in Iraq had come to an end; yet more Americans have been killed since his declaration than during the war itself. Again, President Bush affirmed his commitment to fight global terrorism and to re-build Iraq. This commitment comes at a great cost to African Americans who make up 13% of the U.S. population yet account for 20% of causalities in Iraq. While it is important to salute the sacrifice of our troops who place their lives on the line daily in compliance with our nation’s call to duty, it is also important to ensure that their sacrifice is backed by sound policies that actually support the goals of freedom and democracy and not parochial interests.

Education
African Americans disproportionately populate our nation’s failing public schools. The President referred to the sweeping education reform bill, the Leave No Child Behind Act, as an initiative that is moving the nation toward better education for all children. While the President claims funding levels have increased by 36%, this initiative is still under-funded to the tune of $11 billion. Furthermore, the Harvard Civil Rights Project has found that the testing requirements--touted as the Administration’s definitive method for improving a child's progress--are inadequate for improving student performance. Ultimately, these testing programs could undermine educational achievement of minority students by contributing to higher drop out rates. Thus, the Leave No Child Behind Act is insufficient in its present form to address the real needs of urban students struggling to become relevant in our 21st century economy.

Healthcare
President Bush also discussed the need to increase health care access to the more than 43 million uninsured Americans—including refundable tax credit assistance for low-income Americans. This issue is critical to African American interests, as they are more likely to develop serious chronic conditions but have less access to health care. According to the Center’s for Disease Control, African American life expectantly is 5.5 years less than the whites, African Americans are more likely to suffer from expensive diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cancer and are more likely to become disabled and die prematurely from such chronic conditions. Meanwhile, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian/Pacific Islanders who comprise 29% of the US population, make up 52.3 percent of the nation’s year round uninsured population. While refundable tax credits to help low-income people purchase health insurance is a nice gesture, it is a grossly inadequate policy alternative that fails to assure the provision of quality and consistent health care coverage for underserved populations.

President Bush also highlighted the newly passed Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act, an extensive reform to Medicare that is alleged to increase access to prescription drugs for seniors. An analysis conducted by the CBCF-Center for Policy Analysis and Research, however, has found that this legislation fails to protect African American seniors from rising costs, fails to address critical minority health disparity concerns, and may lead to a decrease in health care access for black seniors.

Conclusion
To date, the President’s domestic policies and programs have yet to show results in the African American community. The fact that the labor market has not responded in a robust fashion to signs of an economic recovery highlights the failure of current economic policies and their ability to reach those sectors of the economy that matter most to black Americans. While the Medicare reform bill offers no assurance to African Americans that their prescription drug costs will be affordable, neither does the Leave No Child Behind Act and its attendant funding shortfalls present a lasting impediment to educational progress. Although, the President identified some key priorities and programs that speak to the issues disproportionately affecting African Americans (most notably prisoner reentry legislation and expanded support for community colleges), he also committed the United States to a prolonged war effort. Given the current domestic economic, education and health realities facing African Americans, the commitment to substantial military funding combined with a growing budget deficit calls into question whether the Administration can adequately fund those programs and priorities that will effectively address these stark realities.