New Political Ads Seek to Turn Blacks Against Obama, Immigrants

As election nears, blacks are being increasingly targeted by GOP groups on wedge issues about race and immigration

Two recent political ads directed at African Americans are seeking to drive a wedge between not only black voters and the policies of President Barack Obama, but also between native-born blacks and new immigrants "who take our jobs."

The first is an ad by anti-immigration group NumbersUSA that shows a black actor bemoaning immigrants who are coming to the U.S. to take jobs away from black Americans. Critics are slamming the ad as one that is “sowing division and fear.”

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The second is an ad featuring two black actors asserting that Obama has hurt African Americans by cutting aid to black colleges and black businesses, a claim that is not exactly true.The president actually added $2.55 billion in funding to historically black colleges and universities and reduced taxes for small businesses, including those that are black-owned, but who's counting.

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Slate reports that the Obama business ad, created by the political action committee Pivot Point, is airing in the Seattle and Cleveland markets and being featured on BET for "next to nothing." The NumbersUSA ad was shown on television beginning Oct. 2 during the presidential debate.