“The State of Black America Report” Forward by: Senator Barack Obama

By Terry McMoore | June 9, 2007 |

The NAACP has spent the past 98 years advocating for civil rights and equity. While the NAACP is know for its political battles over policy barriers and issues of discrimination, there is another lesser known organization that focuses its energies on primarily education and economic empowerment. The National Urban League , with it’s rich 88-year history, publishes an annual report  that focuses on some of the problems that face Black Americans, as well as looking at solutions to those problems. This yearly report, titled “The State of Black America,” is broken down into six principal categories: Total Equality, Economics, Health, Education, Social Justice and Civic Engagement. This year’s report features the Portrait of the Black Male. Here are some of the noteworthy facts:

• African American men are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as white males (9.5% compared to 4% for whites).
• Among young men (20 to 24-years-old) 76.5 of whites were employed, compared to 68.8% of blacks.
• For blacks over 25-years-old with less than a high school education 60% are unemployed, as compared to 53% of whites.
• African American men earn only 75% as much as their white counterparts.
• For African Americans under 18-years-old, 33.5% live in poverty, compared to 10% of white youths.
• Among black Americans, 47.9% own their homes, whereas 75.8% of whites own homes. In addition, blacks are three times more likely to obtain high-priced mortgages than whites.
• Black men are more than 7 times more likely to be incarcerated than white men.
• Average jail sentences for African American males are 10 months longer than for white men.
• Young black men between 15 and 34-years-old are nine times more likely to die of homicide than white men the same age and they are almost seven times as likely to contract HIV/AIDS.
• Black children do well in early childhood–over two-thirds are enrolled in early childhood education programs, such as Head Start, compared to 64% of white children. However, black children, especially males, begin to drop out in middle school and high school at alarming rates.
• Twenty-one percent of teachers in majority black schools had less than three years experience, compared to 10 percent in majority white schools.
• Dollars spent per black student were 82% of those spent per white student.

For Excutive Summary: click here

For Report Abstracts: click here

To Obtain Complete 2007 Report: click here

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