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In a candid interview in the Oval Office last week, President Obama touched the topic of race for the first time in a long time when he said that Black Americans have “suffered more” through this recession.

The article, written by Edward Wyckoff Williams, focused on a radio interview conducted by two WVON Chicago radio hosts. The interview focused on various topics such as education, unemployment, healthcare, and had its most candid moment when President Obama talked about Black unemployment.

Check out more of the article below:

In the heated political climate which has erupted since President Obama took office in January 2009, race has become the subtext of attacks against him from the far right. Perhaps this could have been anticipated. Our great-grandparents may have warned us that the men in white would soon be riding into town, under the cover of night. But the hope and change that so many hailed as the definitive example of a post-racial America veiled a greater political truth: that Obama’s election represented a diametric shift in the political and economic power structure. And those who fight power often do so at great risk to themselves.

The consequence of the backlash has been an unfortunately muted dialogue from the Obama White House on issues relating specifically to the African-American community. Obama walks a fine line: being the president of all the people, while remaining loyal to those who have been most loyal to him. The fact is that any sign President Obama gave preferential treatment or special inclination to the needs of minorities, and blacks in particular, would be seen by his Republican opponents as criminal and worthy of impeachment.

But President Obama’s silence has not gone unnoticed, especially by certain black commentators and critics; Professor Cornel West and Tavis Smiley being the most out-spoken of them all. Even Rep. Maxine Waters, a ranking member of the Congressional Black Caucus, spoke on behalf of many, when she accused the President of not giving enough attention to the issue of black unemployment.

Read more at TheGrio

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