U.S- Obama urges black community to 'march with me'

Obama urges black community to 'march with me'

While acknowledging the hard-hit black community and budding criticisms in its ranks, President Barack Obama said in a speech Saturday night to the Congressional Black Caucus that he wouldn't give up -- and urged members of the black community to join him to jump-start the still-sluggish economy.

"I expect all of you to march with me, and press on," Obama said. "... Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on. We've got work to do."

The unemployment rate among African-Americans is 16.7%, nearly double the national average, while 40% of black children live in poverty. Such facts have made fiscal reforms a priority for caucus members, some of whom -- most of them Democrats -- have criticized Obama for not doing enough on the issue.

They include Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, who at a caucus "jobs' tour town hall" in Detroit this month described the unemployment rate among blacks "unconscionable." She said the strategy to fix it was unclear, adding that the caucus was "getting tired" of waiting for one.