The
State of
By
Roderick C. Willis
(Roderick C. Willis was recently granted an exclusive interview with
Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League. The
National Urban League held a leadership conference at the Shoreham Omni Hotel
in
According to Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League and The State of Black America 2006, African Americans are losing ground economically compared to their white counterparts. The Report reveals a growing disparity between blacks and whites economically. The Report also addresses the “Impact of Katrina. It also proposes "Opportunity Compact", focuses on jobs, housing, business development and children.
The State of Black America is the
annual National Urban League report and is considered the premier report on the
status of African Americans. The report
addresses the issues central to Black America in the current year. The
publication is also a barometer of the conditions, experiences and opinions of
Black America. It examines black progress in education, homeownership,
entrepreneurship, health and other areas. The publication forecasts certain
social and political trends and proposes solutions to the community's and
Published since 1976, The
State of Black America is released each year during a news conference
at the National Press Club in
"I wish that the Urban League could
tell you that the State of
"We can't close the great divides in this
country in a day just like we can't end poverty in a night. But we're going to
start by speaking truth to power.
According to Morial, still the largest disparity is the black economic equality gap that is more than 20 percent wider than any other category. The median net worth of the average African American family is ten times less at $6,166 versus the average white family at $67,000, due largely to the difference in home ownership and income. Blacks own nearly 50 percent of their homes, while whites own over 70 percent.
The report includes thought-provoking
essays by Marian Wright Edelman on "The State of our Children"
and "Racial
This year there
is a special section in The State of Black America report on
Hurricane Katrina. Also included this year is the National Urban League Policy
Institute's study entitled, "Sunday
Morning Apartheid: A Diversity Study of the Sunday Morning Talk Shows.
This year's State of Black America 2006: The Opportunity Compact includes the "Equality Index", a statistical measurement of disparities or "equality gaps" between blacks and whites across five different areas, reveals that the economic status of African Americans is 56 percent that of white Americans, one percent worse than in 2005.
Comparing factors such as income, unemployment, home ownership, business ownership, median net worth, poverty rates, African Americans, despite a rebounding economy, are not progressing economically as anticipated. The one bright spot economically was the growth of black owned businesses which reveals the difference of 2.5 to 1 rather than 3 to 1 just a few years ago.
The four other areas measured by the "Equality Index" include education, health and quality of life, social justice and civic engagement. In 2006, the overall Equality Index remains virtually unchanged from last year, as Black Americans continue to hover at 0.73 of the status of White Americans. The fact that this number has not changed year after year is a story in itself.
The State of Black America 2006: The Opportunity Compact was compiled and analyzed against the backdrop of one of the most catastrophic events to ever befall our nation. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the tragically slow government response exposed, in the starkest and most depressing terms imaginable, the race and class gaps that our previous reports and Equality Indexes had highlighted.
Sadly, these numbers were illustrated in
sharp relief last summer when
This year's report on The State of Black America moves these issues to the front burner. But more than simply describing the problems, the report offers concrete solutions for moving Americans from poverty to self-sufficiency to prosperity through the Opportunity Compact, the public policy foundation of the National Urban League's five-point empowerment agenda for closing the gaps in employment, education, health and quality of life, civil rights and civic engagement.
The Opportunity Compact is a prescription for addressing the scourge of poverty and lays the groundwork for economic empowerment of African Americans and others in four areas: homeownership, jobs, economic development and our children. The publication opens with four essays addressing these four components. While each essay stands on its own as an independent policy analysis, together they present a cohesive and systematic approach for closing the nation's equality gaps.
The thought provoking essays written in this year's report include: Black Homeownership A Dream No Longer Deferred? by Lance Freeman, The Racial Composition of American Jobs by Darrick Hamilton, Escaping the "Ghetto" of Subcontracting, by Mark D. Turner, The State of Our Children by Marian Wright Edelman, Hurricane Katrina Exposed the Face of Poverty, by Maya Wiley, Race, Poverty, and Health Disparities by Brian D. Smedley, The State of Civil Rights by The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones, Racial Disparities Drive Prison Boom, by George E. Curry, as well as an update of the National Urban League Policy Institute's Sunday Morning Apartheid: A Diversity Study of the Sunday Morning Talk Shows by Stephanie J. Jones.
In addition, The State of Black America 2006:The Opportunity Compact includes a special section on Katrina and beyond with essay's by New Orleans' natives, the former Mayor of New Orleans and current President of the National Urban Marc Morial and political strategist and commentator, Donna L. Brazile.
"We urge our public officials, policy makers, scholars and others committed to addressing the problems of race, poverty and justice to carefully study The State of Black America 2006 report and use it as a blueprint for finally and fully attacking the problems we all live with," said Morial.
"Poverty, the racial divide and social injustice do not impact only those who suffer most visibly; they tear apart the fabric of our nation in ways that damage and diminish us all. Alleviating poverty and injustice is a responsibility we must never forget or abandon,” Morial continued.
According to Morial,
The National Urban League is committed to filling the equality gaps through
measures such as job training, business development, and educational
assistance. For a copy of The State
of
National Urban League (www.nul.org) Established
in 1910, The Urban League is the nation's oldest and largest community-based
movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and
social mainstream. Today, the National Urban League, headquartered in