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State Of Black America
Washington, DC, March 24, 2004— How
much closer is America to achieving equality between blacks and
whites since the civil rights movement? Not close enough, and
black progress is precarious at best according to a report
released today by the National Urban League, “The State of
Black America 2004”.
As part of The State of Black America 2004:
The Complexity of Black Progress, the League unveiled its first
“Equality Index” a statistical measurement of the
disparities that exist between blacks and whites in economics,
housing, education, health, social justice and civic engagement.
(Assigning whites a weighted index value of 1, the Equality
Index value of less than 1 means blacks are doing worse than
whites in a category, while a value of 1 or more means Blacks
are doing equal doing better)
The report finds that despite substantial
progress, the status of African Americans is .73, or 73%, when
compared to their white counterparts.
“African-American progress has been
precarious since the civil rights era. While there have been
increases in business formation, home ownership and educational
attainment, equality gaps remain between blacks and whites,
particularly in the area of economics,” said Marc H. Morial,
President and CEO of the National Urban League. “As our nation
becomes more racially diverse, we must work together to close
these disparities. This is crucial if America is to maintain its
position as an economic power and world leader.”
Highlights of the Equality Index Findings in Five Areas
include:
Economics –
Black economic status measures 56% of white counterparts
Health -
Blacks’ health status measures 78% of whites
Education -
Total educational performance is 76% as compared to whites
Social Justice
– When it comes to equality under the law, blacks’ status is
73%
Civic Engagement
– Blacks out measure whites in the area of civic engagement
(voter registration, volunteerism, government service at 1.08)
1. Economics: Blacks’ overall economic status measures
.56 of white counterparts
Fewer than 50% of
black families own their own homes, vs. over 70% of whites
Blacks are denied
mortgages and home improvement loans at twice the rate of whites
Black males mean
income is 70% of white males ($16,876 gap), black females mean
income is 83% of white counterparts ($6,370 difference)
2. Education: Blacks’ overall educational status is .76
of whites
Teachers with less
than 3 years experience teach in minority schools at twice (2x)
the rate that they teach in white schools
49% of black
students’ teachers lack a college minor in the subject they
taught vs. 40% of white students’ teachers
Blacks attain college
degrees at 63% of whites counterparts
3. Health: Black health status measures .78 vs. whites
On average blacks are
2X as likely to die from disease, accident, behavior and
homicide at every stage of life than whites
Life expectancy for
blacks is 72 years vs. 78 years for whites
4. Social Justice: Blacks conditions are .73 that of
whites
A black person’s
average jail sentence is six months longer than a white’s for
the same crime; that is 39 months versus 33 months
Blacks who are
arrested are 3 times more likely to be imprisoned than whites
Black felons are less
likely to get probation than white felons for the same offense
5. Civic Engagement: Blacks measure 1.08 vs. whites
Blacks out measure
whites in terms of government service and union membership.
Military volunteerism
is 1.45, indicating substantially more blacks volunteer in the
military
In addition, The State of Black America 2004
features a new national poll that surveyed comparative attitudes
of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans
concerning the quality of life, education, finances,
discrimination, and pertinent social issues. (Between January
28th and February 10th, 700 African American and 200 Hispanic
American and 200 Asian American adult respondents, respectively,
were interviewed. The poll has a Margin of Error of + or – 4
percent)
NUL Survey Results Highlights
52% Disagree with
direction of the country:
52% of the total respondents believe the country is headed in
the wrong direction; (62%) of African Americans; 40% of Hispanic
Americans and 25% of Asian Americans.
Respondents on
public education-
52% of all respondents rate public education as fair to poor,
African Americans 56%, Hispanic Americans 50% and Asian
Americans 32%.
88% of all
respondents support early childhood education
55% of all
respondents want voting ban for ex-felons lifted,
88% believe in alternatives to imprisonment for non-violent
offenders
40% of blacks
believe “little progress”
- Forty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
40% of black respondents feel “very little/no improvement”
has been achieved in economics and social mobility
Finally, The State of Black America 2004 publication
continues its rich tradition of essays and commentaries from
leading scholars and thinkers who give their perspectives on the
reasons why the disparities exist and offer solutions to closing
the gaps. For example, African American Economic Well-Being
during the Boom and Bust by economist Samuel Myers, Jr.
discusses why increases in black income in the 90’s not only
didn’t increase black wealth, but the wealth gap actually
widened.
Other essays and commentaries include Brown
at 50: Considering the Continuing Legal Struggle for Racial
Justice by Charles J. Olgetree, Jr., State of
Education in Black America by Edmund W. Gordon, and Health
and Quality of Life Among African Americans by David R.
Williams, Security Must Never Trump Liberty, by Dennis
Archer, The Empowerment Movement and the Black Male by James
Lanier, PhD, The Transformation of the Welfare Caseload
by Kenya L Covington, Gaps, Traps and Lies:
African-American Students and Test Scores by Ronald
O. Ross, and Five Things You Must have to Run a Business
by Melinda F. Emerson.
The Urban League is committed to filling the
equality gaps through measures such as job training and housing
development assistance. Mr. Morial envisions an America that has
achieved true equality. “The point is to keep our eyes on the
prize of African Americans and all people of color striving to
achieve their full measure of American citizenship and
opportunity. That is the ultimate purpose of the work here,”
Morial added. “It is time to dream bigger dreams”.
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Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League.
"As our nation becomes more racially diverse, we must work
together to close these disparities. This is crucial if America
is to maintain its position as an economic power and world
leader."
Source:
www.NUL.org
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updated 4 October 2007 |
