The Final Call

What do Blacks think?

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WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - Before a room full of journalists at the National Press Club billionaire Robert Johnson’s survey of Black thought and opinion on national affairs, race relations, employment, and a variety of political and social issues held few surprises. 

Blacks are proud of President Obama, are divided on same sex marriage and believe there should be a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

It was surprising that 62 percent of the 1,002 Blacks surveyed by telephone and online by Zogby Analytics are optimistic about employment opportunities over the next four years.

“We have double the rate of unemployment of Whites. It’s probably greater than that. This is not a new fact. We’ve had double digit unemployment for 50 years,” Mr. Johnson said March 26. “The wealth gap has increased from $20,000 to $90,000. Nearly half of African Americans born in the 60’s will never attain the wealth of their parents.”

This was the first national poll that Mr. Johnson has commissioned.

He added that “the country has experienced the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and African Americans have been the hardest hit. Today, African Americans continue to have double the rate of unemployment and less access to capital, and whereas, African Americans were once the largest ethnic minority group and the dominant minority political voice, they are now confronted with the growing political influence of the Hispanic population, which may directly impact competition for jobs and minority business opportunities.”

Is it realistic for 62 percent of Blacks to be optimistic about their employment prospects?

“We have been very unrealistic about the impact the Obama administration has had on Black people. Our optimism is really naiveté about politics. Unemployment is soaring among young Black males all over the country.  Our political engagement ends with the ballot box, with White folks it begins. We have to do things between elections. I don’t believe things will change in four years,” Morgan State University’s Dr. Ray Winbush told The Final Call.

“If Black people don’t understand that there has been a permanent evisceration of the Black middle class due to the mortgage crisis. Over a trillion dollars has left our community and that has caused a ripple effect.”

He added, “Private sector jobs are increasing but public sector jobs are decreasing and that’s where we work.”

On the streets of D.C. the optimism of those polled was not shared. D.C. has a fluctuating unemployment rate depending upon what part of the city you live in.  The city rate held steady at 8.6 just above the national rate of 7.7.  But if you live east of the river in the poorest wards, the unemployment rate can be as high as 19 percent.

“I don’t see any light at the end of this tunnel,” said Kevin Miles who works in D.C. 

Author and economist Boyce Watkins has been speaking for months about the condition of Blacks in America.

“If you know that 62 percent of African Americans are optimistic about finding a job then know that 38 percent are not optimistic about finding a job and that’s an absolute crisis and calamity,” he told The Final Call. “If I a have a Ph.D. and a job at McDonalds doesn’t mean I’m equally and gainfully employed.”