President Barack Obama, making good on an ambitious campaign promise, has created the White House Office on Urban Policy to address an unprecedented range of poverty, jobs and housing initiatives for disenfranchised black and Latino communities across the country.  

Last week, Obama announced the appointments of Adolfo Carrion as White House director of urban affairs and Derek Douglas, special assistant to the president for urban affairs.

The White House Web site says President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden created the White House Office on Urban Affairs to develop a strategy for metropolitan America and to ensure that all federal dollars targeted to urban areas are effectively spent on the highest-impact programs.

“I look forward to working with these talented leaders to bring long overdue attention to the urban areas where 80 percent of the American people live and work,” Obama said in a statement. 

“Vibrant cities spawn innovation, economic growth, and cultural enrichment; the Urban Affairs office will focus on wise investments and development in our urban areas that will create employment and housing opportunities and make our country more competitive, prosperous, and strong,” the president said.

Obama, known by some as America’s “urban president,” plans to invest $1 billion over five years for job training programs to help low-income black and Latino Americans find gainful employment.    

A senior White House advisor told BlackAmericaWeb.com  he believes the president’s urban policy office is a first for a U.S. president, saying Obama created the idea during the campaign. 

Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to Obama, told a group of black reporters after the November election that Obama is committed to uplifting disadvantaged minority residents by creating the White House Office on Urban Policy.

"Because he began as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, he understands at the local level is really where you can impact change and that local government can play a vital role as we try to jump start our economy," Jarrett said.

Charles Ellison, chief advisor and senior fellow for the Center for New Politics and Policy at the University of Denver, told BlackAmericaWeb.com that Obama’s focus on "urban affairs" is admirable given the most critical challenges: infrastructure, public health, economic development, education and crime.

“These issues strike a strong personal chord with the president,” Ellison said. “It's a clear departure from the previous administration, which didn't appear to care very much about American cities while appeasing to a primarily suburban and rural base.”

Carrion served two terms as Bronx borough president and one term as the president of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. As Bronx borough president, Carrion oversaw the creation of 40,000 new units of housing in seven years, 50 new schools, $7 billion in capital and infrastructure expenditures and over $400 million in new parks and parkland renovation. 

Douglas served as Washington counsel to New York Gov. David Paterson and director of Paterson's Washington, D.C. office. Douglas was the chief architect for federal policy and oversaw federal policy development and advocacy on domestic, economic and urban policy issues for the State of New York. 

Ellison said that some will watch the urban policy office closely to see if it becomes too "racialized."

“Many advocates, particularly in the African-American community” he said, “will expect a sharper focus on issues impacting black people.”

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