This is the 2009 State of Opportunity report. Here you may download the final report, the final report with accompanying charts, a synopsis, and each of the indicators individually.
This memo offers guidance for using the 2009 State of Opportunity in America report, which examines various dimensions of opportunity, including health care, wealth and income, education, and incarceration. While expanding opportunity in America remains a goal of policymakers and advocates alike, this report finds that access to full and equal opportunity is still very much a mixed reality. Our recommendations to address this reality offer concrete ideas for moving us forward together.
If the promise of opportunity is a core national commitment, it is essential to measure our success in fulfilling that commitment. This report assesses the nation’s progress toward protecting and expanding opportunity for all Americans and encourages our policymakers, through bold leadership and innovative policies, to ensure the promise of o
After a recent breakup, a friend of mine had an awkward conversation with her new ex. It began with this difficult question – “I know you’ve got a new man, but is he a good man?”
Some things are just hard to answer. So when I read in the New York Times this Friday that the job market was brightening, I knew better than to question the statement. Out loud, at least.
The Opportunity Agenda is pleased to announce the release of our 2009 State of Opportunity in America report. The report documents America’s progress in protecting opportunity for everyone who lives here, and finds that access to full and equal opportunity is still very much a mixed reality.
Taking another look at "New Progressive Voices," a collection of essays outlining a new long-term, progressive vision for America, today we turn to our Executive Director, Alan Jenkins', contribution.
The piece paints a bleak picture. Alan outlines many of the problems facing regular Americans today. Many people are having trouble getting a job that pays a living wage, paying for health care, and getting their children into quality schools. Tying this together with the present high rates of incarceration, all signs point to a general lack of opportunity in America.
In keeping with goals of this essay collection Alan's essay, "The Promise of Opportunity," strives to give concrete solutions to these communal ills. Alan's essay suggests making "opportunity" a metric by which to consider the viability of federal programs.
As with the environmental impact statements currently required under the National Environmental Policy Act, the relevant agency would require the submission of information and collect and analyze relevant data to determine the positive and negative impacts of the proposed federally funded project. Here, however, the inquiry would focus on the ways in which the project would expand or constrict opportunity in affected geographic areas and whether the project would promote equal opportunity or deepen patterns of inequality.
While the measures of opportunity would differ in different circumstances, the inquiry would typically include whether the project would create or eliminate jobs, expand or constrict access to health care services, schools, and nutritious food stores, foster or extinguish affordable housing and small business development. At the same time, [these Opportunity Impact Statements (OIS)] would assess the equity of the project's burdens and benefits, such as whether it would serve a diversity of underserved populations, create jobs accessible to the affected regions, serve diverse linguistic and cultural communities, balance necessary health and safety burdens fairly across neighborhoods, and foster integration over segregation.
The ImmigrationProf Blog has revisited a 2006 essay by George Lakoff and Sam Ferguson about the language we use when discussing immigration. Here's the abstract on the Rockridge Institute's website:
"Framing is at the center of the recent immigration debate. Simply
framing it as about “immigration” has shaped its politics, defining
what count as “problems” and constraining the debate to a narrow set of
issues. The language is telling. The linguistic framing is remarkable:
frames for illegal immigrant, illegal alien, illegals, undocumented
workers, undocumented immigrants, guest workers, temporary workers,
amnesty, and border security. These linguistic expressions are anything
but neutral. Each framing defines the problem in its own way, and hence
constrains the solutions needed to address that problem. The purpose of
this paper is twofold. First, we will analyze the framing used in the
public debate. Second, we suggest some alternative framing to highlight
important concerns left out of the current debate. Our point is to show
that the relevant issues go far beyond what is being discussed, and
that acceptance of the current framing impoverishes the discussion."
In other immigration news, Burger King is under fire for its refusal to join McDonald's and Taco Bell in an agreement to pay historically-underpaid migrant workers in Florida an extra penny per pound of tomatoes picked. Also, a federal court in Canada ruled in favor of a lawsuit challenging the Safe Third Country Agreement, which had designated the US as a
"safe third country" for asylum-seekers, meaning "if they make it to the
U.S. before entering Canada can be returned there." The court found that "the United States fails to comply with Convention on Torture or Article 33
of the Refugee Convention and [therefore] the U.S./Canada safe third country
agreement was flawed as there was no ongoing meaningful review mechanism."
The DMI Blog points to this week's New York Times coverage of the successes of a re-entry program in Brooklyn which offers counseling, drug testing, and work and training programs to former inmates. Re-entry programs not only support the value of redemption, or the right to a second chance, but they are also effective in helping people reintegrate into the community and remain there. According to a recent study of the comAlert program,
"ComAlert graduates are less likely be
re-arrested after leaving prison and much more likely to be employed
than either program dropouts or members of the control group.
Participants who complete the Doe Fund work-training component do even
better. They have an employment rate of about 90 percent, somewhat
higher than the ComAlert graduates generally and several times higher
than the control group."
Finally, Jack and Jill Politics offers further analysis of inequities in Wednesday's CNN/YouTube Republican debate, as compared with its Democratic counterpart:
Of 34 total questions aired, 24 were from white men (including 2 cartoon versions) in the GOP debate.
That's 71%. For the Dem debate, counting was a little more challenging
since one video aired combined video submissions from several people.
Still I'd estimate 22 of 38 questions aired were from white men (I did
not count the snowman as white because snow does not have an ethnicity)
or 58%.
Further, there were 8 questions shown that featured African-Americans during the Democratic debate and a measly 2 in the GOP debate. Hmm.
Also, strikingly -- astonishingly, no questions whatsoever during the GOP debate on:
Healthcare in America Katrina Climate Change or Environment Darfur Iraq Troop Withdrawal Afghanistan and Pakistan -- Resurgence of the Taliban Racial Profiling Voting Machines and Voting Rights The Failure to Capture Osama bin Laden
There has been a lot of discussion on The Huffington Post about the Writers Guild of America strike that started on Monday, as TV networks and screenwriters failed to reach an agreement before the end of their previous contract. Union members are essentially demanding that networks begin to distribute profits from new media airings of their work, but have made little headway in negotiations on the issue. In a move that will endanger the financial security of many Americans, some networks are now threatening large-scale firings of their employees. According to an opinion in the LA Times:
"A day after Hollywood's writers went out on strike, the major studios
are hitting back with plans to suspend scores of long-term deals with
television production companies, jeopardizing the jobs of hundreds of
rank-and-file employees whose names never appear in the credits.
Assistants, development executives and production managers will soon be
out of work, joining their better-paid bosses who opted to sacrifice
paychecks as members of the Writers Guild of America. At some studios,
the first wave of letters are going out today, hitting writer-producers
whose companies don't currently have shows in production."
Migra Matters has done an interesting post on the results of yesterday's election in Virginia, where the Republican party had chosen to make an immigration crackdown its biggest campaign selling point. Curiously, the Democrats appear to have gained control of the state Senate, leading the author to advise us with respect to upcoming national elections: "If the Republicans were looking at immigrant-bashing as a silver bullet
to stem the national tide against them, surely tonight's results in
Virginia will should give them second thoughts."
The House of Representatives has begun debate on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a measure to extend federal workplace protections to those targeted for their sexual orientation. Pam's House Blend discusses the fact that a coalition of civil and gay rights organizations announced their support yesterday for the current version of the bill which does not include the same protections for transgender individuals, thus leaving the LGBT community divided.
The Sentencing Law and Policy blog featured an editorial in today's New York Times about the Second Chance Act, a bill which has had bipartisan support in Congress since 2004 but has yet to move through the legislature. The Times describes the need for the government policies to support redemption, or the idea that we all deserve a second chance:
"If past patterns hold true, more than half of
the 650,000 prisoners released this year will be back behind bars by
2010. With the prison population exploding and the price of
incarceration now topping $60 billion a year, states are rightly
focusing on ways to reduce recidivism. Congress can give these efforts
a boost by passing the Second Chance Act, which would provide crucial
help to people who have paid their debts to society....
The Second Chance Act would add to what the country knows about the
re-entry process by establishing a federal re-entry task force, along
with a national resource center to collect and disseminate information
about proven programs.... The programs necessary to help former
prisoners find a place in society do not exist in most communities.
The Second Chance Act would help to create those programs by providing
money, training, technical assistance — and a Congressional stamp of
approval."
Last up, blogger Sudy is working on a video project to "feature, support, and highlight the work done by feminists of color." She's included a preview of the video on her site which has been cross-posted by Vox et Machina.
The ImmigrationProf Blog has written a post featuring the new Guantánamo Testimonials Project,
a project of
the University of California, Davis Center for the Study of Human
Rights in the Americas (CSHRA). The goal of the project is to collect and make available testimonies
of detainees' experiences at Guantánamo and includes statements by "prisoners, FBI Agents, interrogators, prosecution
and defense lawyers, military physicians, a chaplain, a marine, a CIA
asset, and others. "
Yesterday saw an article in The Huffington Post entitled Dangerous Toys are a Human Rights Issue. Author David Nassar discusses the connections between this controversial issue and a lack of protections for workers:
"These dangerous toys aren't putting just our children at risk:
they also endanger the lives of the factory workers who make them.
The
same forces that make manufacturers cut corners on paint and plastic
also make manufacturers cut corners on labor costs. Working long hours
in appalling conditions - often with toxic chemicals and no protection
- laborers in China bear the true cost of America's low price toys.
Stores like Wal-Mart demand bottom dollar costs, but the costs come
back not only to us and our children, but to entire communities
overseas. Today's news stories regarding children making clothing for
the Gap, Inc. in India's factories are another harsh reminder of that
truth.
Last week's Congressional hearing on toy safety and working
conditions in China's factories highlighted the fact that without
ensuring the safety of employees in supplier factories, it is
challenging at best to ensure the safety of the products that come out
of those factories and ultimately the safety of our children."
Regarding education policy, the last few days have seen discussion of high schools functioning as 'dropout factories' (with one in ten American high schools seeing less than 60% of their original class finishing school) and the importance of the federal Head Start preschool program in increasing graduation rates (while also cutting crime rates). Others have discussed new legislation to help control college costs for American youth, while high-achieving immigrants in favor of the DREAM Act have expressed worries such as "I always worried that immigration (officers) would come if I didn't excel." It is important to continue these dialogues concerning the human rights issues of where we as a nation can do better in ensuring that our young people have the opportunities they need to achieve their full potential.
Finally, the DMI Blog has posted on an innovative new media project of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, their just-launched website TheMiddleClass.org.
The website is meant to function as "a dynamic site that will update
throughout the year as members of
Congress vote on legislation of significance to the current and
aspiring middle class." Speaking of its democratizing role of holding politicians accountable to the voice of their constituents by reporting on legislation in an interactive fashion, the site
says:
"For each bill, we begin with a brief description of the legislation,
information about its status in the legislative process, and an
analysis of its impact on the middle class. But themiddleclass.org also
provides more extensive context: you’ll find informative online video
about each piece of legislation, quotations from experts speaking out
on the issue, and hard-hitting numbers from DMI’s Injustice Index. We
look beyond the bill to what more could be done to address the issues
as stake. And we provide links to further resources.
We also provide information on how each member of the U.S. Senate
and House of Representatives voted on the legislation. You can look at
how every member voted on a particular bill, or how your own
representative voted. You can search for legislation by issue area or
keyword and look for legislators by name, state, or entering your zip
code. And you can check out the grades we assign each member of
Congress based on their votes."
A few quick hits from around the blogosphere today:
Race and Media reports on some new Zogby polling data about American's racial prejudices. Apparently we tend to think that we're not racist, but those other folks over there probably are:
The “Report Card on American Prejudice” is described as part of a
wide-ranging effort by the Game Show Network, sponsors of the poll and
of a new television show, “Without Prejudice,” to spur a national dialogue on intolerance and bigotry.
The poll showed: While 67 percent of respondents claimed to have no
preference themselves between a white, black or Arab clerk in a
convenience store, 71 percent said, “most Americans” would seek out the
white clerk. Just 1 percent said Americans’ first choice would be to
approach a black clerk, while less than 0.5 percent said the same for
an Arab clerk.
And yet, 55 percent of respondents said race relations have improved over the past 10 years.
Looks like health insurers are getting ready to exploit undocumented immigrants under the guise of providing health services (aka tapping an underutilized market). In some respects this could be a good thing, but the potential for exploitation is really high - particularly when you factor in language difficulties and a general unfamiliarity with the American health care system. On the other hand, could this also be a potential ally in future immigration battles? If SEIU can team up with WalMart, anything is possible. Or am I being naive?
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passed in the House of Representatives. The bill will "return the industry to the longstanding “paycheck accrual” rule, and
allow a pay discrimination action to accrue every time the employee
receives a paycheck that is affected by a discriminatory action." A similar bill is now in the Senate.
Monday night’s YouTube debate gave the “average Joes” of America the chance to ask the Democratic presidential candidates their own personal questions. Between the filter of CNN’s production team, who chose which videos would air, and the stump speeches that still weeded their way into many candidates’ discourse, the debate was not as natural as it could have been, but still offered a new way for Americans to have their voices heard.
So, how did CNN do in picking questions that deal with the tricky topic of race, and how did the candidates do in answering them? This is important. As some have noted, the video submissions were dominated by white men – a demographic not representative of the diversity of America. Whatever the reason – be it lack of broadband access or lack of savvy when it comes to New Media – CNN clearly made an effort to rectify that imbalance through their selection of questioners who were of color and questioners who asked pertinent questions about race in America.
Yet still, there were a lot of lost opportunities. No one addressed the issue of racial disparities in health care, or recognized that equal access (through whatever insurance or universal health plan) does not necessarily guarantee equal treatment. Much more could have been said about equal access to and quality of education - especially in light of the recent school cases. Next to nothing was said about comprehensive immigration reform.
Overall, we give CNN a "B." They clearly tried to showcase diverse voices - especially tricky given the racial and gender imbalance in the questions submitted - yet they still failed to adequately address many topics.
In this post, we’ve compiled those questions, as well as evaluated the responses from the top tier candidates - Obama, Clinton, Edwards, and Richardson. Check out the full transcript on CNN, and the video coverage on
YouTube. For a comprehensive summary of media responses on the
debates, check out Jack Muse’s coverage on Huffington Post.
Question 6
Edwards: Immediately answering “no”, Edwards explained that he would pursue other goals to create more equality, citing a recent study that in Charleston, black people were paying more than white people for mortgages at a higher rate, even when taking income into account. Edwards reiterated that to have true equality means fighting the big companies: “we can’t trade our insiders for their insiders…what we need is someone who will take these people on…That’s the only way we’re going to bring about change.”
Obama: Responded to the question by choosing to focus on education, also focusing on South Carolina by profiling a low-income school in Florence, SC. Focusing on education, Obama said, is “the kind of reparations that are really going to make a difference in America right now.”
Question 7
Richardson: Richardson explained that in a future crisis, the government should work to “eliminate…any red tape” and “let those who live there come back first, instead of big moneyed interests.” While he didn’t respond directly to the “race” aspect of the question posed, he did express his disagreement to the way the administration reacted.
It should be noted that during this question, Senator Dodd spoke eloquently about economic opportunity in the Gulf in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Question 8
Obama: Used this opportunity to explain how “race permeates our society.” He details the failures of the government in denying programs to overcome the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, and said that as president, “my commitment on issues like health care is to close the disparities and the gaps, because that’s what’s really going to solve the race problem in this country.” Obama’s comments were the only mention of racial disparities in any candidates’ answer, and put a strong emphasis on the fact that racism still exists in many parts of society. Trying to force “colorblind” legislation is ignoring these disparities, and only perpetuating further inequalities.
Clinton: Maintained that the (presidential) race should not be about Obama’s race or her gender, but about “what is best for you and your family.”
Question 9
In a question from the Reverend Reggie Longcrier, the candidates - particularly John Edwards were asked about religion as a weapon for discrimination - particularly as a justification for slavery in the past and a tool to rob GLBT people of their civil liberties today.
Edwards: spoke in favor of equal rights and civil rights and his determination not to let his own faith beliefs - which are not in favor of gay marriage - to dictate public policy and limit the rights of American citizens.
Obama: Spoke about equality before the state in terms of marriage and the civil rights it confers, but wants to leave actual determinations about marriage up to individual religious denominations.
Question 27
Richardson: Makes a brief mention of suppression of minority voters by the Republican Party. No other candidate is allowed to respond.
Question 28
No one specifically mentions people of color, but this question on the minimum wage touches on themes of economic mobility and security, and is highly relevant to millions of low-income families and people of color.
Obama: He's really the only one who hits this out of the park, noting that it's almost the wrong question. Presidential candidates tend to be rich. They can afford to work for the minimum wage. It's everyday people who need to be given a living wage.
Question 34
This question asks whether the candidate's health care plans would cover undocumented workers. Only Dodd and Richardson are allowed to answer, and, while both answer yes, this was mostly a lost opportunity for a substantive discussion about two of the most important and hot issues facing our nation.
Racialicious reports on a new game, “Without Prejudice”, in which five
judges must decide which contestant deserves a $25,000 prize. Hosted by psychotherapist Robi Ludwig and
working with partners like GLAAD and National Council of La Raza, “Without
Prejudice” asks the five contestants to be honest about their lives and the
judges must narrow down these contestants based on any reason. The show hope to teach viewers about prejudice, and the affiliated website features a number of educational resources on the subject. There are also discussion guides for starting
conversations about prejudice. After the
pilot episode premiered last night, The New York Times reports that the show is
anything but “without prejudice": each participant seems to have his own biases
that are hard to miss. Check it out for
yourself on Tuesdays on the GSN.
The New York Times profiles younger members of the New York immigrant community, as well as its support of the DREAM Act. Many of these
children of undocumented workers are legal citizens, born in the US. Not all are registered to vote, but they could be a powerful voice on behalf of their parents in the U.S. and local politics. Some groups are trying to gather support there for
the DREAM Act, a provision of which has been added as
an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill (thanks, ImmigrationProf Blog!). In this
amendment, undocumented residents of military age who arrived in the US before age 16 and could immediately enter a
path to citizenship if they serve at least two years in the armed forces. The Boston Globe has an update of the bill's progress.
In a review of over 100 studies, TheBoston Globe reports that black women are less healthy because of the pressures of racial discrimination (thanks, RaceWire!). In one study, black women who indicated that
racism was a source of stress in their lives developed more plaque in their
carotid arteries – an early sign of heart disease – than black women who
didn’t. These studies could reshape
racism as a public health problem. These
findings come at a time of severe racial disparities in American health care. African Americans face a higher risk than any
other racial group of dying from heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and
hypertension. These health disparities
are exacerbated by lack of access to quality health care and health
insurance. Higher poverty rates and
lower wages also hinder progress in equality. Check out our fact sheet about African Americans and Opportunity.
DMI Blog reports on Rinku Sen’s reflection on the possible
unity between immigrants and US.-born Blacks, Latinos, Asians and American
Indians. She looks at the origin of the
term “people of color”, and how it has affected identity in political
action. In her experiences
as an advocate working in partnership with multiracial organizations, she felt it necessary to “expand [her] identity
in a way that tied [her] to Black people as part of their rebellion.” Sen confronts the impact the term has on our immigration debate, and asks whether immigrants fall under the definition of
“people of color.” At the end of the day,
she acknowledges that she cannot decide this question, but expresses that a
positive immigrant policy will include dialogue on race and color as well as
nationality and class.
Our view:
The best way to achieve fair legislature and rights for
immigrants is to understand the common struggles we all face in achieving
equality. “People of color” everywhere
want the same basic rights – better education, living conditions, wages, and
health care – and the only way to achieve anything is to recognize this common
struggle. We’re all in this together,
and achieving opportunity for one group will be best fought with many partners.
Firedoglake blogs about the Employee
Free Choice, a bill which aims to restore workers’ freedom in choosing a union,
especially establishing stronger penalties for violation of employee rights
when workers seek to form a union. FDL
explains that while 60 million workers say they would join a union if they
could, but many people are intimidated by corporate giants. By stating that this act is a “workplace
rights issue,” a “human rights issue,” and a “civil rights issue,” FDL frames
the issue in universal terms that appeals to the broad advantages for
everyone. The benefits in unionizing
workers appear in many forms. With union
workers receiving an average wage 30% higher than the nonunion worker, creating
greater access to membership will help lessen the growing wage
inequalities. Here's hoping this rights-based frame can help push the issue forward.
Prometheus 6 reports on the alarming disparities in the
racial composition of the 30% of students who fail to graduate high school. In a recent Education Week report, only half of
American Indians and black students graduated, compared with more than
three-quarters of non-Hispanic whites and Asians. The reports uses information from the 2003-04
school year to estimates the number of graduates in 2007. Their analysis shows
that while minority students make up less than half of the total public school
population, they make up more than half of the nongraduates. In addition, Hispanic youth are four times
more likely to drop out than are white youth (pdf), creating an education gap that limits opportunities for young people of color and widens other disparities - in income and health coverage, for example - later in life.
Sentencing Law and Policy reports on a new article from
stateline.org about how increasing prices to maintain the overcrowded prisons
are leading lawmakers to provide different alternatives to prisons. Some of these ideas include an expanded
program to help prevent offenders from being incarcerated again (like diverting funds from prisons to rehabilitation centers), earlier release
dates for low-risk inmates and sentencing revisions. State spending on prisons continues to
increase at an alarming rate to account for the high number of incarcerated
persons. Between 2004 and 2005, not only
did the number of incarcerated persons increase, but so did the rate (491 per
100,000 people in 2005 versus 486 per 100,000 in 2004).
The Washington Post discusses the sub par health care that
many undocumented workers receive while serving jail time with the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Lawyers
are currently investigating numerous claims on behalf of undocumented workers who
were taken into custody with minor illnesses and released with life-threatening
infections. The ACLU stated that
detainees often have poor English skills, don’t know their rights and have no
access to counsel; another example of how our current system fails to treat both immigrants or those enmeshed in the criminal justice system fairly and humanely.
In an update to previous coverage of the 5-4 Supreme
Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire,ACS Blog reports on the House Committee on Education
and Labor held a hearing today to consider restoring anti-discriminatory
protections for workers. Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights’ Wade Henderson stated before the committee that this
outcome is “fundamentally unfair to victims of pay discrimination” and that the
outcome “ignores the realities of the workplace.”
Huffington Post reports with more information on the Dreams
Across America project (refer to our previous posting): an immigrants’ rights
group using Web 2.0 to put a human face on immigration and advocated for comprehensive positive reform that expands opportunity for all in America. As ImmigrationProf adds, the opposition to legalization is strong, with
grassfire.org sending 700,000 faxes and emails and making 1 million personal
contacts with Senators. Groups like
Dreams Across America, with innovative, online strategies, are necessary to combat these
opposition organizations that are rallying online.
Ezra Klein reports on new figures in a Brookings Report
regarding the state of social mobility in this country, especially in
comparison to other industrialized nations. Klein highlights the
changes in income of men in their thirties, and shows that growth for
the top 1% of income-earners has increased the
most out of any group. His post corroborates data from The State of Opportunity in America (pdf), which found the least mobility in the bottom and top income quintile. People in the lowest income quintiles
experience the least mobility, from 19-38 percent average annual mobility over
10 years. Only 7 percent of those
starting in the bottom quintile were in the top on follow up. These figures are particularly troubling when
viewed in context with racial imbalances. In a 20-year study, African-American and Hispanic median household
income was lower than that of whites at each point, and increased to a smaller
degree. Only when greater opportunities
are given to the lower income brackets can the “American Dream” of rising to
the top based on one’s merits exist.
Related to last week’s blog post, Facing South continues the
discussion on the changing racial trends in school. Facing South points out that recent reports don't take into
account private school students, who comprise a large percentage of Southern
white families. A Duke University study shows that private schools have contributed to the re-segregation of
schools in the south, although they accounted for less than a fifth of all
school segregation. Importantly,
segregation tends to be the highest in the school districts that have non-white
percentages between 50 and 70 percent. This comes as the public awaits two Supreme Court decisions on critical
school segregation cases which will determine whether school districts may
voluntarily continue to integrate the schools. The State of Opportunity in America (pdf) cites
that since the mid-1980s, virtually all large school districts have had
increasingly lower levels of integration. The 1954 Brown decision promise of acceptance and diversity cannot be
fulfilled until school districts encourage integration in ways that work for
community.
Feminist Blogs reports on new statistics from the National Center for Children in Poverty (pdf) about how
state policies affect low income children. Most notable is the comparison between the level of poverty among
children and the percentage of Non-Hispanic White members of the population. These figures parallel those in The State of Opportunity in America (pdf), which states that in
2000, the poverty rate among African Americans and Hispanics was slightly over
2.6 times greater than that for white Americans. In addition, from 2001 to 2003, poverty rates
for all racial and ethnic increased more than for whites. Poverty is represented disproportionately
based on race in this country, which threaten the well-being of a diverse
country.
Feminist Blogs also reports on a Department of Public Health study which shows that minority women in Los Angeles country have disproportionately higher rates of chronic disease than others. The report found that black women have the
highest mortality rate of any group, and many minority groups reported
significant percentages of poverty and low access to health care. The large gaps in health status among
racial/ethnic groups are obvious in The State of Opportunity in America (pdf),
which explores figures that mortality rates among African American females’
mortality rates have been consistently 25 percent higher than for women
overall. Examples like the LA Country’s
disproportionate health care coverage and poverty situations highlight a national
problem requiring new social reforms.
Ally Work reports on an article from Lip Magazine which breaks down the ways in which white supremacists exploit tragedy to further their own causes. Besides using any crime committed by a non-White as a race crime attempted to bring down the majority, many of these groups believe that the media purposely ignores black-on-white killings. In reality, the media over-represents blacks as offenders, relative to their share of crimes committed. The State of Opportunity in America (pdf) cites findings from the General Social Survey that significant majorities of African Americans are more prone to violence than whites. When Americans continue to endorse these racist attitudes, the goals of equal access through renewed social policy become compromised.
Prometheus 6 reports on a New York Times article exposing the rapid growths of minorities in school rolls, especially Hispanics. This number has peaked at 42% of public school enrollment from 22% thirty years ago. These figures reflect the changes in the greater composition of the country, where great ethnic shifts are taking place in all regions. Despite rising enrollment, large test score gaps exist between whites and minority groups. The State of Opportunity in America (pdf) cites that while 87% of U.S. adults have obtained a high school diploma or the equivalent, the high school degree attainment among Hispanic adults is only just above 60%. Schools need to provide the proper resources to close this immense gap. As a way to combat the prejudice that students from lower socioeconomic status may face, some higher education institutions are courting low-income students with offers of grants and tuition wavers, recognizing that their test scores and performance is only in reflection to their resources. This New York Times articlehighlights the ways in which Amherst seeks to make their class more diverse, not only racially, but also across class differences.
The Huffington Post reports on the disadvantages of living with such large discrepancies between the top of the wealth index and the bottom, even if you find yourself in the better half. Citing his new book, The Trap: Selling Out to Stay Afloat in Winner-Take-All America, Daniel Brook explains how the more unbalanced a society is, the more the top will need to pay to keep it afloat. The State of Opportunity in America (pdf) cites the increases in class divide in the past three decades, in which the wages for the top 5 percent of wage earners grew by 31%, but the wages for the bottom 10% of workers slightly declined. With these severe trends, it becomes that much more challenging for social mobility and equal opportunity to all members of society.
The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog reports on the recent increases in California spending on prison budget, extrapolating that in five years, this budget will supersede spending on the state universities. The author attributes the disorganization in California’s prison department and unprecedented numbers of incarcerations to unclear goals for the function of prisons, either a way to remove criminals from society or rehabilitate them. These figures in California parallel those found on the national level. The State of Opportunity in America (pdf) found that in mid-2004, more than 21.13 million people were incarcerated, a number higher than other nations and unprecedented in our history. Without proper rehabilitation programs, these rates will continue to increase, forcing our law-makers to spend high percentages of budget money to sustain the populations when the money could be used better elsewhere.
Racialicious
reports on the current lack of minority representation on TV shows,
especially in light of the recent Emmy nominations. The achievements of people of color on TV have rarely been recognized by the Emmys (seven winners since 1986), and there continues to be only a
marginal percentage of actors, writers, and senior-level producers in
the TV industry. TV coverage may not seem like
the most important racial injustice to fight, yet
seeing one’s own group represented in mainstream America (or not) can have a profound impact on how we view race in America. When certain groups are rarely depicted in
prominent TV shows and popular culture, the producers are sending a
message of how America should look, ignoring the diversity that
strengthens this country. This imbalance in media is even more apparent on major cable and network news. Media Matters
conducted a study calculating the ethnicities of the guests on four
prominent Sunday talk shows. Not surprisingly, they found a major bias in favor of white guests
versus any other minority constituency analyzed. What does that say about whose opinion counts as an authority in our society?
Racialicious
also reports on the wave in lawsuits filed around the country by
low-paid workers, especially immigrants in large cosmopolitan cities
like New York City. These successes exemplify the potential gains of
immigrants and other low-wage workers when united. While some may try to pit immigrants against African Americans and low wage workers, by joining forces to tackle our common problems, we can make greater headway and all rise together.
The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog
reports on the problems of the criminal justice system, using the
situation in Massachusetts where having a Criminal Offender Record
Information file can limit one’s occupational opportunities, housing
offers and loan grants, even if the charges were later dropped or the
person was found not guilty. Even when modernizing the criminal
justice system, governments need to consider the implications of a
criminal record and provide educational and vocational resources to
give the person the opportunity to change.
ACS blog reports on the 5-4 majority decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, a case involving sex discrimination in the workplace. While the gender wage gap has narrowed in the last 30 years, this decision only makes further advances more difficult. The State of Opportunity in America (pdf) cites that in 2003, a women’s average wage was still only 81% of a man’s average wage. By continuing to put such roadblocks in the path of possible equal opportunity employers, women and minority groups will have a much harder time fighting for equality in the workforce.
Prometheus 6 reports on Color of Change’s continuous efforts to unite the rising black blogosphere and the progressive netroots to combat the Congressional Black Caucus’s democratic debates on Fox News. Color of Change is pioneering new forms of online activism for racial justice advocates. Show your support by checking out their site.
DMI reports on senators' reactions to the recent immigration proposal (The Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act (pdf)) and to the NY Times/CBS poll showing a strong majority of American support for providing a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. DMI discusses the senators' apparent disconnect with this majority, detailing two different amendments to the bill (introduced by Senators Vitter and Coleman), which would have created roadblocks to a compassionate pathway to citizenship that recognizes the contributions immigrants make to our country.
