8 THE COURIER SUN • JANUARY 19, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com Jamaica debate focuses on the impact of Obama BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF editorial@qns.com @QNS Days before the nation’s first African American president ends his time in office, Queens residents debated his eight years of leadership during a forum held by State Senator James Sanders on Sunday night, Jan. 15 at the Black Spectrum Theatre in Jamiaca. Sanders hosted more than 100 people, including political and historical experts, as they discussed the administration of President Barack Obama and his contributions to the American political landscape. Dr. Ron Daniels, president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century and lecturer at York College, moderated the debate between teams of speakers: one of which took the side that the Obama administration was a success, while the other argued its eight years of service was fruitless. Following traditional debate rules, each side presented an opening argument, questioned each other, rebutted statements, provided summaries and took questions from the audience. Dr. Dierdre Cooper-Owens, assistant professor of history at Queens College and the Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt, vice-president and project director of the Jericho Faith-Based Technical Assistance Project, argued that the Obama administration was indeed a success. They presented advancements in the areas of healthcare, with the creation of the Affordable Care Act, Precision Medical Initiative and Children’s Health Insurance Authorization Act. “President Barack Obama, like past presidents, has left us with policies that have changed the socio-political ecosystem of the United States,” Cooper-Owens said. “ACA covered 32 million formerly uninsured Americans and, if we split that number in half and look at the democgraphics that affect the African-American community in particular, that meant 33 percent of black people who were not covered by health insurance were under this policy.” They also explained economic gains under Obama with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Dodd-Frank Act and creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Finally, they offered environmental wins such as the Paris Climate Agreement and cited how natural gas power plants have replaced coal at a rapid rate. Arguing on the fruitless side, Sanders and Dr. Lessie Branch, a senior research fellow at the DuBois Bunche Center for Public Policy at Medgar Evers College said the Obama administration featured a decrease in socio-economic wellbeing for African-Americans, specifically declines in black wealth, income, retirement savings and home ownership, along with an increase in poverty. “The situation black folks find themselves in is dire and getting worse,” Sanders said. “I have all kinds of facts and figures, but I want to focus on the housing market meltdown. Black people lost more than 40 percent of their wealth that they made from slavery in four years, most of them under Obama. In four years more than 40 percent of everything that you gathered together in 400 years went down the drain.” Branch made three arguments. First, that Obama’s rhetoric spread optimistic color blindness in an age of inequality. Second, that rhetoric disempowered black-linked faith and collective action focused on stagnated socioeconomic Photos courtesy of State Senator James Sanders parity. Third, Branch stated blacks need narratives and a social movement to realign their socio-economic perceptions with their socio-economic reality. The audience was asked to decide the winner based on three criteria: matter (the logic and relevance of the arguments, manner (the style with which the argument was presented) and method (the structure and clarity of the speech). They concluded that each side presented equally valid arguments and the debate was declared a tie. The entire debate is available on Senator Sanders’ YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=WHRYVo__C9E. The event was co-sponsored by State Senator Leroy Comrie, Assembly Members Alicia Hyndman and Clyde Vanel, along with The Black Institute, National Action Network (Queens Chapter), NAACP (Jamaica Chapter), Guy R. Brewer United Democratic Club, 100 Suits for 100 Men, Organizing for Action (South Queens Chapter), New York Progressive Action Network (NYPAN), Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (Queens Alumnae Chapter), Indo-Caribbean Alliance, Inc., and Dream Team Leaders. Sanders thanked Golden Krust and Stop and Shop for providing the refreshments.
SC01192017
To see the actual publication please follow the link above