The Final Call

Fifty years after King's march, true equality still elusive

What's your opinion on this article?

Urban League’s State of Black America report examines progress since 1963

Marc Morial

“One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition,” said Dr. King.

As America approaches the 50th anniversary of that historic day on Aug. 28 of this year, where is Black America when it comes to true economic, educational and social equality five decades later?

“As we commemorate this event and reflect on the progress we’ve made toward economic equality, we are faced with the sobering truth that, while much has been achieved, so much more needs to be done,” said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League in the group’s 2013 State of Black America report released April 10.

This year’s report, titled “Redeem the Dream: Jobs Rebuild America,” includes a retrospective Equality Index, which analyzes and compares key areas including education, employment and income from 1963 through the years noting slow and somewhat limited progress and growth for Blacks.

According to the Urban League, progress in education for Blacks from 1963 until now shows more than triple the number of Blacks enrolled in college and for every Black college graduate then there are five today. The percentage of Blacks living in poverty and Black children living in poverty has declined by 23 and 22 percentage points respectively. And, the percentage of Blacks who are homeowners has grown by 14 points.

However, the numbers do not tell the complete story, said Mr. Morial during an exclusive media conference call April 4 with the National Newspaper Publishers Association and the National Association of Black Journalists, organizations representing Black-owned newspapers and Blacks in media.

“The rest of the story is that while African Americans and our conditions have improved, this progress has largely been within the Black community. Economic disparities with Whites persist. So in the past 50 years the Black, White income gap has only closed by 7 percentage points, the unemployment gap has closed by only 6 percentage points,” said Mr. Morial.

In 1963 the median household income for non-Whites was $3,465 compared to $6,548 for Whites. Currently, the median income is $33,223 for Blacks, ten times what it was in 1963. However, when compared to the current median amount for Whites of $55,305, it is an indication Blacks are significantly far behind.  

The same is true in education: In 1963 four percent of non-Whites 25 years and older had attained a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 9.5 percent of Whites. Today, while the number has increased to 21.2 percent for Blacks, it is 34.5 percent for Whites.

“Despite those gains in educational equality, which in theory are supposed to translate into greater opportunity economically, what we have observed is that there has been much less change in economic equality over that same period of time,” Dr. Valerie Wilson, an economist and vice president of research at the National Urban League, said on the call.

Level of education, occupation, age group and geographic area are current factors effecting the income and economic disparities between Blacks and Whites, she explained. Clearly people have ascended the economic ladder in the past 50 years, said Dr. Wilson.

“The point that we’re making is that when we look at this in terms of equality, meaning what outcomes, so we see for Blacks and Whites at similar levels of education, in similar age groups, in the same region of the country, what we see is that there’s been much less progress in terms of closing disparities between Blacks and Whites,” she added.

Dr. Wilmer Leon, radio host and teaching associate in the Department of Political Science at Howard University, said in terms of legislation such as the 1965 Voting Rights Act and affirmative action there has been progress for Black America since 1963.

“We’ve made tremendous amounts of strides from a legislative perspective. If you look at the number of African American elected officials, if you look at the number of African Americans appointed to the federal bench, the number of African Americans who have achieved degrees in higher education then I think you can say that we have made tremendous strides,” Dr. Leon told The Final Call.

“But when you look at the day to day existence of too many in the African American community, you’d have to say we either have not made that much progress or we’re actually taking tremendous steps back,” he added.

The Black middle class is shrinking and the gap between the Black middle class and working class is greater, noted Dr. Leon who pointed out incarceration and wealth disparities as additional negative indicators.

In 2013, the Urban Leagues Equality Index calculation of Black America is 71.7 percent, meaning instead of a complete 100 percent pie which would symbolize equality with Whites, Blacks are still missing about 28 percent of the pie. This is a decrease from 72.1 percent in 2010 and 72.6 percent in 2007.

Employment remains the biggest barrier to economic employment in America, notes the Urban League.

As part of its push to combat the issue of high unemployment, the Urban League earlier this year introduced its Jobs Rebuild America: Educate, Employ, Empower five- year initiative.

The initiative consists of 10 programs that address issues such as job training, entrepreneurship, older worker, ex-offender programs and youth afterschool programs in 20 cities nationwide and has public and private sector support as well as the backing of President Barack Obama, said the Urban League. 

Additionally, according to Mr. Morial, federal legislation including The Urban Jobs Act and Project Ready STEM Act were also introduced to members of Congress. Both pieces of legislation would address unemployment and education gaps that still exist.

What remains to be seen is if a divided Congress would pass a jobs bill or other legislation that could help those still suffering as a result of the country’s economic woes. 

“I’m an optimist but I’m not unrealistic in that there’s tremendous opposition in the Congress to anything that suggests, that deals with the challenges of people who are deemed economically battered by the recession and aftermath of long standing disparities,” Mr. Morial told The Final Call in a follow-up interview.

“We have support from the Obama administration, many members of the Congressional Black Caucus, we have support from a number of private sector firms in this initiative. We’ve gotten support for various aspects of the program. We’re going to touch tens of thousands of people but it’s only scratching the surface when you look at the large number of people who need something that Jobs Rebuild America offers,” he added. 

“What I think is that it’s really a call to arms for all leaders, community, civil rights, religious leaders, political leaders who care about issues we’re talking about to raise their voices. We cannot be silent. We cannot sit back and wait or expect anyone. We’ve got to push hard because the things we’re talking about make good sense,” said Mr. Morial.

The 2013 State of Black America also includes essays and commentaries by several thought-leaders including Marian Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund, CBC Chair and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, Congressman and civil rights pioneer John Lewis and Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever from the National Council of Negro Women.

For detailed report information, visit http://nul.iamempowered.com.