(Dawn Megli / Neon Tommy)

When President Obama talked during his Second Inauguration speech about America’s long-standing missions and visions, he was really addressing nationwide issues, but California shares most of them. Here is a breakdown of three Californian concerns:

Poverty

California can be what President Obama was referring to when he said “America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class,” and that Americans should be able to prepare for “any sudden job loss and sudden illness.”

But California is still far from fulfilling his ambition ambition in this regard. The Huffington Post reported that California has a poverty rate of 23.5 percent, the highest of any state in the country, according to figures released by the end of 2012 by the United States Census Bureau.

Reports released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the unemployment rate of Los Angeles reached historical highs both in 2010 and 2011. The unemployment rate of Los Angeles released in November 2012 was 10.9 percent, 3.5 percentage points above the U.S. average. In fact it has remained above the U.S. average since 2009.

While properties on Beverly Hills and Hollywood movie studios in Los Angeles are snapshots of America’s wealth, a family waking up at four a.m. in South L.A. earns their bread in a much harder way. The majority living in South L.A. is not even considered “middle class” based on meager income and its stubbornly high unemployment rate.

The situation may get worse when tied to the area’s educational output. Many parents in South L.A. put their kids through high school only to watch them fail.  Kids who do not make it to college go straight to work after they complete their high school education. In consequence, they earn far less than those with a college diploma. 

Education

President Obama called for “new ideas and technology” to reform U.S. schools. Schools in California do a pretty good job churning out college students from renowned ivory towers such as UCLA, USC and Stanford. But the cost of attending a private school is high, and that of going to a public one has risen.

The Los Angeles Times found that at the closing of 2011, public universities in California have had the highest average tuition increase in the U.S. The passing of Proposition 30 in California shows the necessity to address public support to fund education in light of a shortage of government funding.

Such financial moves highlights the importance the state attaches to education. On the other hand, Californians have come up with interesting projects to motivate underprivileged students to perform better at school. The Harmony Project, a non-profit organization promoting positive youth development, offers free music lessons to at-risk youth in underserved areas of Los Angeles on the condition that these kids finish school.

Cultural centers like Plaza De La Raza also offers music training to Hispanic kids at a fair cost. With a big Hispanic youth population, Los Angeles will see its education improve on this path.

Diversity

While the President is well known for his support of minority groups living in the U.S., he affirmed his stance on this occasion by saying “our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law.”

For gay couples in California, the good new is that the Supreme Court will hear the Proposition 8 case, which means California may become the Tenth U.S. state to make same-sex marriage legal. 

President Obama also addressed during his speech embracing “the striving, hopeful immigrants” who view America as a land of opportunity, a welcome gesture to young, foreign students who want to stay in the U.S. and join its workforce. This stirs the buzz around whether the U.S. government would grant permanent residency to foreign graduates who obtained advanced degrees in math, science or engineering at American universities.

California is the educational home to a large number of foreign students as such. Most of them come from Asia, particularly China and India. This Asian community dominates, in terms of population, not only engineering and science classes in renowned American universities in California, but also programming companies in the Bay area. There will be a time when the state has to decide whether or not it would fully let these engineers call America their second home.

Reach reporter Yifan Zhu here.