Is Obama distancing himself from prominent African Americans?

Black Americans have rallied around the president as perhaps no constituency has ever supported an American politician. As of this week, fully 88 percent of black voters approved of Barack Obama. Many predicted Obama’s election would herald a new era of African-American leadership. And yet, curiously, something different has happened. In the last year and a half, Obama has failed to support, run away from or pressured to resign at least ten significant African American political figures – a count does not include his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

The list of black leaders shunned or dismissed by the White House includes former White House social secretary Desiree Rogers, former Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod, U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene, former green energy czar Van Jones, Sen. Roland Burris, Gov. David Patterson and would-be Senate candidate Harold Ford, as well as members of Congress Charlie Rangel, Maxine Waters and Kendrick Meek.

Most recently, Obama has refused to come to the defense of Rangel and Waters – both currently under investigation for ethics violations — despite allegations from the Congressional Black Caucus that racism has fueled the charges against them.

During an appearance on New York radio last week, David Patterson, the state’s first black governor, expressed frustration at Obama’s criticism of fellow black people. The governor claimed to be “especially surprised when people from our own community do it because we’ve been the greatest victim of it for centuries.”

Patterson was referring to a Friday interview with CBS News in which Obama called the allegations against Rangel “very troubling” and expressed his desire for Rangel to end “his career with dignity … my hope is that that happens.” (An ally of Rangel’s told Politico that the longtime congressman “doesn’t give a damn about what the president thinks about this.”)

Then there is last month’s Shirley Sherrod incident. The Obama administration moved faster than greased lightning to force Sherrod from her post at the Department of Agriculture when video of seemingly racist comments surfaced. After she resigned under pressure, the administration saw the entire speech and publicly regretted its knee-jerk response. Nevertheless, the alacrity with which the administration pushed Sherrod out spoke volumes, at least to Sherrod and her supporters. Last week, at a National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention, Sherrod was critical of the president, saying, “President Obama needs a history lesson on race.”