WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2006
Report: Race Gap In U.S. Persists
Income, Education, Home Ownership Disparities Remain Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics
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(AP / CBS)
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Interactive The Nation We Live In Who are Americans and what do they do? A comprehensive look at our economic, sociological and racial breakdown.
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Interactive Living In Poverty A state-by-state look at U.S. Census Bureau data on income and poverty levels.
White households had incomes that were two-thirds higher than blacks and 40 percent higher than Hispanics last year, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
White adults were also more likely than black and Hispanic adults to have college degrees and to own their own homes. They were less likely to live in poverty.
"Race is so associated with class in the United States that it may not be direct discrimination, but it still matters indirectly," said Dalton Conley, a sociology professor at New York University and the author of "Being Black, Living in the Red."
"It doesn't mean it's any less powerful just because it's indirect," he said.
Home ownership grew among white middle-class families after World War II when access to credit and government programs made buying houses affordable. Black families were largely left out because of discrimination, and the effects are still being felt today, said Lance Freeman, assistant professor of urban planning at Columbia University and author of "There Goes the 'Hood."
Home ownership creates wealth, which enables families to live in good neighborhoods with good schools. It also helps families finance college, which leads to better-paying jobs, perpetuating the cycle, Freeman said.
"If your parents own their own home they can leave it to you when they pass on or they can use the equity to help you with a down payment on yours," Freeman said.
Three-fourths of white households owned their homes in 2005, compared with 46 percent of black households and 48 percent of Hispanic households. Home ownership is near an all-time high in the United States, but racial gaps have increased in the past 25 years.
Black families have also been hurt by the decline of manufacturing jobs — the same jobs that helped propel many white families into the middle class after World War II, said Hilary Shelton, director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Washington office.
Among Hispanics, education, income and home ownership gaps are exacerbated by recent Latin American immigrants. Hispanic immigrants have, on average, lower incomes and education levels than people born in the United States. About 40 percent of U.S. Hispanics are immigrants.
Asian Americans, on average, have higher incomes and education levels than whites. However, they have higher poverty rates and lower home ownership rates.
The Census Bureau released 2005 racial data on incomes, education levels, home ownership rates and poverty rates Tuesday. The data are from the American Community Survey, the bureau's new annual survey of 3 million households nationwide. The Associated Press compared the figures with census data from 1980, 1990 and 2000.
Among the findings:
Thomas Shapiro, professor of law and social policy at Brandeis University, said the "easiest answer" to narrowing racial gaps is to promote home ownership, which would help minority families accumulate wealth.
"The wealth gap is not just a story of merit and achievement, it's also a story of the historical legacy of race in the United Sates," said Shapiro, author of "The Hidden Cost of Being African American."
Shelton, of the NAACP, called for more government funding for preschool programs, improving public schools and making college more affordable.
"Income should not be a significant determining factor whether someone should have an opportunity to go to college," Shelton said.
©MMVI, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 96 CommentsWe are all HUMANS! Our genetic codes map nearly the same. The differences explain mostly physical features. It's up to science to say, "We are all one race, the human race". Would this change anything? Probably not. Simply because we as HUMANS somewhat feel the need to be "superior" above anything that LOOKS different. This futile way of thinking affects us on all aspects of life as long as we persist.
Can we WAKE UP and accept the fact? There is only ONE RACE as far as we are concerned? WE ARE ALL HUMANS!!!!
Our society is constantly bombarded with subliminal suggestions that steer us toward being concerned with how one looks, rather than with how can we make life better for us, and all work together toward a common goal.
When severe drought and famine hit us, and they will hit us hard, will we segregate, separate, and commune based on color when it comes time to decide who should eat? If so then I already mourn the millions of Africans that will be displaced because of costal flooding, drought, disease, starvation, and total chaos.
Take my post as a wake up call.
Why do you assume people are young white men? Do you think black people don't have access to a computer?
Finally, life is not as easy as you try to make it out to be. I'm not sure if you have children, but if you do, I guess you are concerned about what school district these children go to. I guess you want them to get a good education someplace where the education system is good. What if someone doesn't have that option? Is it just as easy for them to make it as someone who has options?
Do you have problems living in a drug-infested area of the U.S.? If you think you can make it anywhere, I guess you would not. If not, what do you think of the children who don't have the options but to grow up around crime, drugs, guns, poor schools, no jobs, no hope? Of course some are still making it despite the odds.
on the other hand, this is also true of other minority groups, which makes the white/black/hispanic income gap even more disturbing.
thnks, i try. Can't remember my post though - oh yeah it was about genocide of the poor white people, well its a historical fact, there are fewer and fewer white americans every day, we are not really relevant anymore, you won't have us to kick around my friends
nothing to get despondent about, things change, races die out, if I worried about it i couldn't go on with my own little pathetic life, seeing my culture and race are gone from earth, only a matter of time now
so, if u are black, rather than whining, at least be glad you have some kind of a future, perhaps it will be bright. We know only there is no white future, we were the people of the last 400 years, but things change
dont cry about it, eh, lets go out with a smile and a laugh, no regrets, and good luck to you all the survivors
Chinese-Americans are descended from the long history of Chinese CULTURE that I outlined.
The Chinese came to America in relative FREEDOM compared to Africans.
The Chinese-Americans were able to maintain useful cultural elements that would allow them to CONTINUE their long history of advancement, compared to the relatively shorter cultural history of whites.
Blacks were never allowed to advance in America for many generations to present.
So we are trying to compare Black progress today to the progress of other relatively free people (whites and Asians) who have been advancing almost unencumbered.
The Asians do better than whites because the way the society is structured is pretty much inline with what the Asians have been accustomed for thousands of years before white could read and write.
Blacks who have been pretty much enslaved/colonized by evil forces have not been allowed to blossom; but this is going to change.
Evil can't reign forever.
Great posts from the two of you. I have to say that I've always tried to use what my ancestors have gone through as a means to make me stronger. Whenever I'm having a tough day, I always think back to what they had to go through and it gives me a bit of courage.
I still think as a black woman, I have not had it as difficult as many black men. I'm not so threatening. My brother who has a medical degree still gets pulled over regularly by police. It's a constant battle to take the negative and use it to your advantage. But as my grandmother always said, "If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger."
I wrote my thesis on this very issue, specifically affirmative action. During my research I uncovered facts which are unsettling to say the least. Blacks who committ identical if not similar crimes as whites are 22 times more likely to receive the death penalty. 2020 aired a special on resumes and names in which they determined that resumes with black sounding names received fewer call backs than resumes with white sounding names with identical credentials. They also asked preschoolers who was more likely to steal Cody or Darius, even the black children said Darius. It demonstrates how our culture permeates even the thoughts of our youngest children. Again I do not condone excuses, but minorities have it three times as hard or 22 time if you go by stats.
I agree with much of what you say. Racism does exist, but it doesn't prevent one from getting up in the morning and going to school. In the end, you've got to fight against it even if it kills you trying. I know a lot of successful black men who have died of heart attacks in their 50s doing just this.
I never said that you were wrong or that I disagree with you. I only said that you misinterpreted my point. That point being that the Welfare State is a problem for all. I agree with you whole heartedly. We should stop making excuses when education is free to all. My dh and I disagree on this b/c I believe that as long as there are libraries we are ALL free to learn and incorporate such learning in our lives to better our conditions. However, he has pointed out to me that ignorance is bliss and when people are in an environment in which they see nothing wrong, why strive for better. I still don't believe in excuses, but each day I encounter more blissfully ignorant people. Again, I do not disagree, but you missed my point which is that people should stop painting welfare as a black thing or drugs, prostitution, and violence as black things. As Dr. King wrote injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
I read somewhere that a black male with a four year degree has statistically the same chance of being hired as a white male with a criminal record. Of course it doesn't mean that blacks should just throw in the towel. But, I get so tired of people who pretend that racism doesn't exist anymore in America. These people are in a state of denial to the same extent as those who say we should Stay the Course in Iraq.
Please give me the name of the country where people of African descent have a higher standard of living than America?"
That is a simplistic notion based on assumptions about how blacks have thrived elsewhere. In general, Blacks and Whites may have a higher standard of living in other countries. There are many variables. It ultimately depends on how one might define "standard of living."
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/8Comparison.htm
It is disproportionate when we only make up 12% of the population yet percentage wise more blacks are on the welfare roles and I don't we should try and sugar coat that. But throw aside the welfare issue and look at the fact that 70% of black kids in this country are born out of wedlock and while you cannot say that just because a child is born out of wedlock guarantees that he or she will end up on welfare, 2-parent families fare far better than 1-parent families. Until we as a race take responsibility for our own actions, we will never overcome. 70% is a deplorable statistic and blacks set themselves up for failure when they continue to repeat the cycle of poverty and not taking advantage of education. Many kids in 3rd world countries such as Haiti and other African countries would kill to have access to "free" education like all kids in this country do. Are the schools in the hood without their problems? Or course not, but we are given a chance at a free education and so many of us throw it away.
Also, this is a measurement of households. Asians and Hispanics are more likely to have multiple working people in their households which lends the stats to slant higher than blacks who usually have one working parent and other members in a household who are not of working age. Closer examination would heighten the disparities b/c looking at households headed by single white income earners would demonstrate greater difference.
u said it better than I.
Really, it is not whether you are white or black, it is this land of America that gets into your blood and shouts "freedom" to you in the long lonely nights. We see those shining hills and fertile fields and something changes in our brains; we cannot tolerate the Bush masters anymore, we cannot labor as slaves in their fields.
so now the Bushes of this land want to genocide the whites and use Hispanic devils to control the blacks, they will fail for the reason that Hispanics are gonna wake up one morning and hear that same song of freedom, and then we'll make an end of those overlords forever. No CEO or their descendent will walk on this earth, God's earth, there is no place here for them. Not now, not forever, under the sun of freedom in the blessed land.
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