'State of Black America' Lamented by Urban League
(CNSNews.com) - The median white family in America has approximately ten times the net worth of the median black family, according to the annual "State of Black America" report issued Wednesday by the liberal National Urban League. However, Mychal Massie, a syndicated radio talk show host from the conservative African American group Project 21, said the report was misleading.
The Urban League stated that there are several "equality gaps between blacks and whites" in America, involving economic status, equality in education, health and quality of life, social justice, and civic engagement.
But the greatest disparity exists in the level of financial security between blacks and whites, the Urban League report contends, pointing out, for example that the unemployment rate among blacks is 10 percent and among whites only 4.4 percent.
"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 states.
"Now that we are in a so-called economic recovery, that job recovery has not found its way to Detroit. It hasn't found its way to the south side of Chicago. It hasn't found its way to Cleveland. People should not be celebrating this jobless recovery because it hasn't reached everyone," said Marc Morial, president of the Urban League, reportedly said.
"We cannot continue the status quo," Morial was quoted by the Detroit News as saying. "If the United States is going to compete globally, you have to have every able bodied American participating in the economic system as much as they can."
But Massie told Cybercast News Service that the National Urban League's report was a "bastardization and misrepresentation." He said the lower economic status for the median black family is "no one's fault but black Americans that they are not succeeding in greater numbers."