Black support high for Obama's race-neutral stance
March 20, 2010 14:24 EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Discontent is surging among some black advocates over President Barack Obama's refusal to target rising black unemployment, but many black residents in Charlotte, N.C., say they support his racially neutral approach to joblessness.

As many as one in three black people are out of work in Charlotte, a banking center walloped by the Great Recession.

African-Americans interviewed last week by The Associated Press say the president is correct to focus on the needs of all Americans, and black people should take responsibility for solving their own problems.

They include Shenika Simpson, an unemployed single mother. Simpson says Obama "can't just jump in the chair and fix everything within a year."