BLACK ENTERPRISE: On Air Force One with President Obama
BLACK ENTERPRISE joined several black media outlets in an exclusive news conference with President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One. Hours before he delivered a rousing speech Thursday at the NAACP’s centennial conference, he fielded questions from black journalists regarding his administration’s plans to tackle pressing economic and social issues confronting African Americans. According to White House officials, it was the first time a president had held such a roundtable session with black media on the aircraft.
Other participants included Ebony Magazine, Urban Radio Network, Amsterdam News, TV One and Essence Magazine, which were seated in the guest area usually reserved for dignitaries before the news conference instead of the traditional White House pool press area in the rear of the plane. Each media organization was given the opportunity to ask the President one question in a session that lasted less than an hour.
In Air Force One’s spacious leather-adorned conference room, the president discussed healthcare reform, race relations and minority business, among other topics, in a relaxed, thoughtful manner. BE zeroed in on the area minority business development and the prospects of the Administration using a portion of funds from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief, or TARP, as a possible bailout for small business. Although he did not offer specifics about using that approach, he said Treasury was reviewing a host of financing options for entrepreneurs.
He stressed that “credit conditions were easing a bit” and the Small Business Administration had developed a program offering relief to black-owned auto dealers, a class of entrepreneurs devastated by the economic downturn. “The SBA has met with a number of minority auto dealers to help them receive floor plan loans,” he said. On July 1, the agency announced it will offer loans guaranteed by the federal government to finance inventory for eligible dealerships. Floor-plan financing is critical for dealers because the line of credit that allows them to borrow against inventory and then repay the debt as they sell their stock or borrow against the line of credit to add new inventory.
Obama further stated that fixing the economy served as the best tonic for small and minority companies. “The challenges to small business have less to do with access to capital than the overall condition of the economy,” he said on the flight. “Once we make sure consumers are confident in the economy then we will see more businesses recover.”
Another question dealt with recent comments from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele about his reluctance to focus on black issues. After stating that Steele should focus on the GOP’s agenda, he says his economic program would best help African Americans that are “disproportionately affected by lack of jobs and foreclosures.” He expects large numbers of African Americans to benefit through his newly-formed White House Office of Urban Affairs that would focus on employment, housing, education and entrepreneurship in American cities. And he told other reporters that the pending health care reform bill would shrink the number of uninsured and, in turn, will reduce the prevalence of such diseases as HIV/AIDS in the black community.
But as the President eloquently stated in his speech to more than 8,000 attendees of the NAACP dinner, education will be the key to tearing down barriers that stymie the advancement of impoverished African Americans. By improving substandard schools and expanding educational opportunities for black youth, he said, “the more we can focus on economic parity.”
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