The State of Black America
In Terms of Economic Prosperity African-Americans are in Big Trouble
Jan 20, 2009
For all the stellar and almost unbelievably spectacular individual achievements of successful people like our current President Barack Obama Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey these members of the elite-club class of African-Americans are very far removed from the overall plight and quite frankly, not indicative of the average person in this segment of the American population.
Colin Webster's Crime and Justice Series
This point seems to be well established in Colin Webster's book series Crime and Justice, as he makes the case for why an African-American underclass exists and why the overall condition of African-Americans is quite dismal. Webster sites studies that seem to implicate "deindustrialization and urban economic restructuring in the 1970's and 1980's as a major contributing factor to the worsening conditions of inner-city life." Webster goes on to point out that "twenty percent of blacks lived in ghettos in 1990, up by over a third since 1980, increasing from 37% to 45% for this same period."
Running The Numbers
Others like writer Bret Searles argue in his article African-Americans: A Look in the Mirror, (Part II) that the failure of African-Americans to adapt to this shift in the economic climate in America has spelled doom for this group and resulted in only "13.6% of African-Americans being able to report an annual income of over $50,000, compared to 27.5% of whites. In addition, only 16.5% of African-Americans end up getting a college degree, only 32.5% are in married relationships, while single mothers head 44% of African-American households." But perhaps the most striking statistic has to do with African-American males and the U.S. Justice system.
Does America Have Two Kinds Of Justice?
African-Americans make up roughly 13% of the population, while "the men of this group make up 68% of the prison population and according to other justice department and U.S. Census data, an estimated 32% of African-American males will enter state or federal prison during their lifetime." While also enduring the highest violent crime victimization rates of any other racial group in the nation. In addition to this, African-Americans are "six times more likely to be murdered, seven more times likely to commit homicide" and the majority of these killings were intraracial, as an astounding "94% of African-Americans committed murder against other African-Americans."
A Real Call For Change
So in this era of so-called change, the issues delineated above are real and will take more than just one member of this disaffected group becoming the leader of the free world. It will take the same kind of effort and commitment talked about in reference to end the war in Iraq responsibly, while wagging the one in Afghanistan tactfully. It will take an all-hands- on-deck approach like the one that will be employed to fix America's financial ills. The only that still remains, is if we are ready to take on this American cultural crisis in addition to everything else?
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
