Obama has long backed faith charities

by Bob Secter and Ray Gibson

As a state senator from the South Side, Barack Obama once arranged for a $200,000 state grant to jump-start an urban venture capital fund for a non-profit group run by Rev. Jesse Jackson.

The grant was the very sort of faith-based initiative now at the center of an uncomfortable rift between Jackson and Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The money was spent, but the promised investment pool for job-poor neighborhoods never materialized, an example of the mixed record for Obama and other officials in getting results from such programs.

Obama's embrace of this approach, championed by President George W. Bush, led Jackson to lash out earlier this week at his fellow Chicago Democrat. The salty rebuke was captured on videotape and aired on the Fox News Channel, and Jackson quickly apologized.

The flap erupted amid Obama's attempts to broaden his appeal by reaching out to evangelicals and moderate voters, a development that has disturbed some liberals like Jackson who fear the faith-based emphasis is an excuse for curtailing government social service obligations.

While proclaiming support for Obama, the veteran civil rights leader has at times been openly critical. Jackson has chafed at Obama's lectures about responsibility to black fathers and condemned the nation's only black U.S. senator for "acting like he's white" by not taking a more active role in the controversy over the prosecutions of six black teenagers in Louisiana.

Read the full story on Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson and faith-based charities in today's Chicago Tribune.

The Obama campaign defended his plan to support faith-based institutions. The plan "recognizes that the federal government does not always have the best solutions to local issues," said Ben LaBolt, an Obama campaign spokesman. LaBolt said the proposal includes strong accountability safeguards to ensure effectiveness and protect against waste.

The faith-based issue is both complex and sensitive in the African-American community, where there is a long tradition of church-centered activism. Black church groups often benefit from government grants, but at times they have been loosely monitored and used to curry political favor.

For decades, Chicago politicians have made courting black ministers an art form. Assistance has ranged from selling vacant lots to churches for $1 to providing them public grants for an array of programs such as job training or teen tutoring.