OBAMA TELLS! BLACK AMERICANS “WE NEED A NEW MINDSET!”
// July 17th, 2009 // Uncategorized
the truth is much like a tree of knowledge ... only difference ... the truth killed Christ and left many fighters in the civil rights movement hanging from its limbs!
“We went down in some dungeons where captives were held. There was a church above the dungeons, which tells you something about saying one thing and doing another. We went through the door of no return, and I was reminded of all the pain and all the hardships, all the injustices and all the indignities, on the voyage from slavery to freedom“
President Barack Obama walks onto stage to speak at the NAACP annual convention July 16, 2009 in New York City. Obama discussed the civil rights movement and the importance of carrying on civic responsibility at the 100th anniversary of the nation‘s oldest civil rights organization.
HOTT LOOK@POLITICS!
Preach on, Brother! Preach on!
In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was formed by a group of blacks and whites in response to lynching and the 1908 race riot in Springfield, Ill., the political birthplace of President Abraham Lincoln. After a century spent fighting for racial equality and social justice, a black man is leading the nation. So it was only fitting that at the NAACP’s Centennial Convention in New York City, attended by Black Voices, President OBAMA took the opportunity to thank the civil rights organization for laying the foundation of his success.
“Because ordinary people made the civil rights movement their own, I made a trip to Springfield a couple years ago – where Lincoln once lived and race riots once raged – and began the journey that has led me here tonight as the 44th president of the United States of America,” he told those gathered at the NAACP Spingarn Awards Dinner yesterday at the New York Hilton in Manhattan. “Because of them, I stand here tonight on the shoulders of giants.”
His address, which he clearly enjoyed making, had the air of a homecoming. The preacher-like intensity he reached at its climax brought the crowd of dignitaries and NAACP members to its feet three times, with thunderous applause. Perhaps Obama’s recent trip to Ghana had stoked the fire in his belly. “Michelle and I took Malia and Sasha to Cape Coast Castle, where captives were once imprisoned before being auctioned, where, across an ocean, so much of the African American experience began,” he described. “We went down in some dungeons where captives were held. There was a church above the dungeons, which tells you something about saying one thing and doing another. We went through the door of no return, and I was reminded of all the pain and all the hardships, all the injustices and all the indignities, on the voyage from slavery to freedom.”
Though it was clear Obama’s mission last night was to thank and to inspire, he did cite some of the efforts his administration is making to address the education and achievement gaps between blacks and whites, as well as to protect consumers against predatory lenders and reform health care. He pointed to the creation of the still-embryonic White House Office of Urban Affairs and also mentioned a recent report by New York City controller Bill Thompson that the number of unemployed blacks in the city rose four times as fast as the number of unemployed whites between early 2008 and early 2009. However, those looking for meat on the bones of efforts benefiting African Americans would go away hungry from the Spingarn dinner.
Instead, Obama seized the moment to exhort the group — and all black Americans — to take responsibility for overcoming the economic and social inequalities that still plague our our community, while acknowledging the role of institutional racism. “Government programs alone won’t get our children to the Promised Land,” Obama said. “We need a new mindset, a new set of attitudes – because one of the most durable and destructive legacies of discrimination is the way that we have internalized a sense of limitation; how so many in our community have come to expect so little of ourselves.” He left the group with this message: “If three civil rights workers in Mississippi…could lay down their lives in freedom’s cause, I know we can come together to face down the challenges of our own time. We can fix our schools, heal our sick, and rescue our youth from violence and despair.”
Though black Americans must continue to hold the president accountable for addressing our needs, it’s clear that as Obama attacks the many-headed hydra of a failing economy, a dysfunctional health care system and two wars, indeed, the task will largely fall on our own shoulders.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Quote of the Day
By Jerome Curtis Colson
Even when we expect aspersions of the vilest kind, and even when we understand that a snake will always hover there, it
continues to gall me to think that total eradication is not possible. Since time immemorial, a segment of mankind has
operated ad nausea m; why should we dream of the perfect world? Our best bet is to remain vigilant, and keep the putrescent hordes at bay
Even when we expect aspersions of the vilest kind, and even when we understand that a snake will always hover there, it
continues to gall me to think that total eradication is not possible. Since time immemorial, a segment of mankind has
operated ad nausea m; why should we dream of the perfect world? Our best bet is to remain vigilant, and keep the putrescent hordes at bay
NativeBlack people of the Americas
BLACK COWBOYS-SEMINOLES
by John R. Moore
ancient Negroid basalt mask (1879) California NativeBlack people were in Florida before the Seminole Indians as supported by the discovery of over 200,000 ancient pyramids and huge mounds of Earth fashioned like cones, animals and geometric designs stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains. These structures were built by the dark-skinned, woolly-haired Black Native American people otherwise known as the Mound Builders, the indigenous inhabitants of North America, and kin to the Olmecs of South America. On the left is an ancient Negroid basalt mask (1879) depicting what the Ancient American looked like before the arrival of Columbus, and on the right is a Black Californian native.
This movement of Afrikans would have taken place during Pangaea, a period when the Afrikan and American continents were joined together, as indicated by the similarity of tropical plants, animals, geographic traits, and their shapes fitting together like a piece of a puzzle, before the continental drifts separated the landmasses into the 7 major continents, known today as Afrika, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Antarctica.
These Black Mound Builders were the Washitaw-Muurs or Ouachita – Moors, and many were huge as attested by their ancient skeletons, which generally measured between 7 to 8 feet. The only other living people on Earth with such a massive physique were the Massai of Afrika, another group of Blacks.
Darienite of PanamaThe term Mound Builders came about when the origin of these discovered monuments was deemed mysterious by European Americans especially, who assumed that the Native Americans were too uncivilized and barbaric for such fine accomplishments, but in reality this thriving Native American culture was common place in the Midwest and Southeast United States at a time when Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages.
Columbus was therefore not technically incorrect when he called these people "Indians," because the word India comes from Indi which means Black, as in India ink, hindu and Indigo, the darkest colour in the colour spectrum. On the left is a Black Californian native with bow and arrow during the period when California was ruled by a Black Amazon Queen.
Ancient Native Black Nations of America before and after Columbus included:
* The Washitaw of the Louisiana/Midwest
* The Yamasee of the South East
* The Iroquois
* The Cherokee Indians
* The Blackfoot Indians
* The Pequot and Mohegans of Connecticut
* The Black Californians (Calafians) (CAL in California literally means Black, after the name of the Great Mother KALi / Queen KALifa)
* The Olmecs of Mexico
* The Darienite of Panama
Continued at http://jrmoore1958.tripod.com/seminole.html
Monday, July 13, 2009
Quote of the Day
It graduates to 'our state is better than your state,' and 'our nation is better than your nation.' And it circles all the way around to where it started: 'Our God is better than your God.'
Neale Donald Walsch
Neale Donald Walsch
Mitochondrial EVE-WE ARE ALL RELATED
In 1987, A world wide survey of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was published by Cann, Stoneking, and Wilson in Nature magazine. Its main point was that "all mitochondrial DNAs stem from one woman" and that she probably lived around 200,000 years ago in Africa. When the media picked up from Wilson, one of the authors of the paper, that they had found the "Mitochondrial Eve" or "African Eve", the story became a sensation. Have scientists found "the mother of us all"?
Most people know about the nuclei of cells and that the genetic inheritance from both parents are found in the nucleus. Humans have 46 chromosomes which they inherit from both their parents. Parts of both the DNA from the mother and father are put together in a recombination process that allows the children to have traits from both their mother and their Father.
However, there is DNA located in other parts of the cell. In the cytoplasm, organelles called mitochondria, which provide energy for the cell in the form of ATP, also have DNA. This DNA, however, does not seem to come from both parents. Instead, it comes only from the mother and not from the Father (There seems to be some rare exceptions to the rule that only the mother contributes the mitochondrial DNA. See the mitochondrial Clock Update: Is maternal mitochondrial inheritance still thought to be true?).
Initially, it was thought that for humans, most of the sperm remained outside of the egg. Only the head with the nuclear DNA and the centrosome, were thought to enter the egg. But that view has changed. Now it has been determined that the whole sperm enters the egg. However, virtually all of the sperm is broken down by enzymes. Only the chromosomes found in the head of the sperm in crystalline form are preserved and used in the recombination process to produce the final version of the new egg cell DNA. The sperm mitochondria and its DNA are broken down by enzymes made for that purpose. See the mitochondrial Clock Update: for details. However, the end result is still the same. The mitochondria and its DNA from the sperm are not used. Only the mitochondria from the egg are used for the newly developing person.
So, our mitochondrial DNA is essentially identical to that of our mother. Mitochondrial DNA is transfered from mother to daughter, generation after generation. The mitochondrial DNA in the son, which he got from his mother, is a dead end street, since his mitochondrial DNA will not be used in his children.
Nuclear DNA changes a lot since it undergoes recombination in every generation. However, the mitochondrial DNA gets transfered from generation to generation without any recombination. Only the normal mutation rate that occurs when DNA is replicated allows the mitochondrial DNA to change. This is why the world wide survey was able to determine that all people are related via some original mother which they called the "mitochondrial Eve". They produced ancestral trees that depended on the slow mutation rate of mitochondrial DNA to estimate how the whole human population came from a single woman.
After the initial discovery of the "mitochondrial Eve", Wilson felt uneasy about using the term "Eve" because it caused many to think that she was the only woman living at that time, much like what is written in Genesis of the Bible concerning Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Also, the usual evolutionary time-scale for man did not allow such a short time as 200,000 years. Rather, it is believed that man has been around for a much longer period of time. Java man is thought to be 800,000 years old. Over forty specimens of Asian Homo erectus which have been found in China, have been dated 220,000 to 500,000 years of age. Lucy, and the earliest remains of specimens that are thought to be of the first to stand upright, are thought to be at least 1 to 4 million years of age.
So, because the presence of man is thought to have been around for a much longer period of time than just 200,000 years, it was concluded that the mitochondrial Eve must not have been the first human female nor would she have been the only female alive at the time. Evolutionists have come to believe that Eve must have been one of many women of her time, in a genetic bottleneck. A time when there were a tiny population of people alive.
It is not known why the human population would became so depleted in a bottleneck. Some suggests that environmental pressures could have brought the human population almost to extinction. It has even been suggested, that the ability to speak languages was a reason why only one group survived over all others. All sorts of reasons have been offered to explain why bottlenecks would exist: a continuous plaque, asteroid impact, or a climate change are just a few of the many ideas.
Many suggest that Eve must have had some vast superiority because her offspring are thought to have conquered the whole world without any evidence of any interbreeding. Others state that selection had nothing to do with the takeover of the human population. They inject that it was a purely statistical process.
Racial slurs directed at Obama children
Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children
as reported By Chris Parry, Vancouver Sun
This photo of U.S. President Barrack Obama's daughter Malia, wearing a peace-symbol t-shirt touched off a storm of epithet-laced comments on the conservative 'Free Republic' blog
This photo of U.S. President Barrack Obama's daughter Malia, wearing a peace-symbol t-shirt touched off a storm of epithet-laced comments on the conservative 'Free Republic' blog
Photograph by: Remo Casilli , Reuters
"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."
These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.
The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."
Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.
Moderators of the blog left the comments - and commenters - in place until a complaint was lodged by a writer doing research on the conservative movement, almost a full day later.
"Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?" wrote one commenter.
"They make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin', and especially 'lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps," wrote another.
Such was the onslaught of derision on the site that the person who originally complained about the slurs, a Kristin N., claims only one comment in the first hundred posted actually criticized the remarks as inappropriate.
A note on the front of the blog reads, "Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government," but one comment on the thread read, "This disgusting display makes me more and more eager for the revolution," while another read, "I never actually wnated [sic] to be a pistol before but..."
After attention from other blogs, the thread was suppressed and placed under review, but before long it was returned to the site intact, and attracted a new series of racial slurs when the original complaint email was posted publicly to the site, with the sender's email address intact.
"The writer has a point," wrote site owner Jim Thompson sarcastically. "We should steer clear of Obama's children. They can't help it if their old man is an American-hating Marxist pig."
"I agree Jim," wrote commenter, by the nickname NoobRep. "The kids didn't pick their commie pinko pansy of a father. Nor did they choose to be put into the spotlight. But Obama/Soetoro is fair game and so is his witch of a wife."
"Poor kids. I hope they're not 'punished with a baby'," wrote another. "Hopefully they won't deal cocaine like the Kenyan."
"DIRTBAGS! All of them. Our [White House] is now a joke to the rest of the world. We have no respect and this is not going to turn out well, mark my words. We will be hit, and much worse than last time. We are now seen as weak and vulnerable. Ghetto and Chicago thugs have taken over."
Only after significant negative attention from a host of left wing political blogs did the maintainers of the Free Republic site place the thread under review for a second time, before finally pulling it.
In the wake of the controversy, some Free Republic posters complained about the vitriol.
One poster by the name of "fullchroma" wrote, "To Jim Thompson: The recent uptick here in racist vitriol, aimed at Barrack, Michelle and their children has made me wonder if I belong. My objection to Obama has nothing to do with skin tone. Is the ugly stereotype of Conservative racism true?"
Another, going by the name of TChris, wrote, "Free Republic is a political discussion forum. It SHOULD be beneath us as a group to stoop to such juvenile tactics as I see increasing here lately. Do we REALLY have to insult Mrs. Obama's appearance like a clique of nasty 14-year-old girls?"
But such opinions were not shared by all. Said Roses of Sharon, "Poor libs .... Too late, the battle has been joined."
Shepherds Pie Recipe
"JUST THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE THIS WITH ALL OF YOU."
This is a traditional shepherds pie recipe prepared with ground beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, carrots, peas and cheese. What I like most about this nutritious shepherds pie dish is that you get everything all at once: carbohydrates, dietary fiber and protein.
Growing up, shepherds pie was also a family favorite.
Shepherds pie is a soul food and southern favorite which is a variant of the popular English dish that uses lamb or mutton as the meat ingredient.
The process of preparing shepherds pie is simple. The bottom of your casserole dish is lined with meat which is topped first with vegetables, then gravy, mashed potatoes and cheese.
Shepherds Pie Recipe
Recipe Ingedients
1-1/2 to 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 stick butter (4 tablespoons)
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup cold milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup frozen carrots
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas or green beans
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese
Cooking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a medium to large pot, boil potatoes over medium-high heat until tender. Remove pot from heat and drain off water. Mash potatoes with butter, add salt and pepper to taste.
While the potatoes are cooking, cook and stir ground beef, onions and garlic in a large saucepan until beef is browned and onions are translucent. Remove from sauce pan and set aside.
In a measuring cup, mix together milk and cornstarch. Add beef broth and Worcestershire sauce to saucepan and bring to boil. Slowly add in milk and cornstarch mixture to make gravy. Stir until gravy thickens and then remove from heat.
Next it's time to layer your casserole dish. First, spray casserole dish with cooking spray. Next place beef mixture in bottom of dish, then layer first with mixed frozen vegetables, second with gravy, third with mashed potatoes and final sprinkly parmesan cheese on top. Remember presentation is key so don’t just slop on the layers, make them appealing.
Bake shepherds pie uncovered on 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-45 minutes until topping is puffed and browned.
You can use leftover ingredients for this recipe as well.
This is a traditional shepherds pie recipe prepared with ground beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, carrots, peas and cheese. What I like most about this nutritious shepherds pie dish is that you get everything all at once: carbohydrates, dietary fiber and protein.
Growing up, shepherds pie was also a family favorite.
Shepherds pie is a soul food and southern favorite which is a variant of the popular English dish that uses lamb or mutton as the meat ingredient.
The process of preparing shepherds pie is simple. The bottom of your casserole dish is lined with meat which is topped first with vegetables, then gravy, mashed potatoes and cheese.
Shepherds Pie Recipe
Recipe Ingedients
1-1/2 to 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 stick butter (4 tablespoons)
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup cold milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup frozen carrots
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas or green beans
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese
Cooking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a medium to large pot, boil potatoes over medium-high heat until tender. Remove pot from heat and drain off water. Mash potatoes with butter, add salt and pepper to taste.
While the potatoes are cooking, cook and stir ground beef, onions and garlic in a large saucepan until beef is browned and onions are translucent. Remove from sauce pan and set aside.
In a measuring cup, mix together milk and cornstarch. Add beef broth and Worcestershire sauce to saucepan and bring to boil. Slowly add in milk and cornstarch mixture to make gravy. Stir until gravy thickens and then remove from heat.
Next it's time to layer your casserole dish. First, spray casserole dish with cooking spray. Next place beef mixture in bottom of dish, then layer first with mixed frozen vegetables, second with gravy, third with mashed potatoes and final sprinkly parmesan cheese on top. Remember presentation is key so don’t just slop on the layers, make them appealing.
Bake shepherds pie uncovered on 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-45 minutes until topping is puffed and browned.
You can use leftover ingredients for this recipe as well.
What a recession means for black America
What a recession means for black America
by Algernon Austin
Recessions hurt. And they hurt the poor and socially marginalized populations the most. As we face the prospect of the second recession of the decade and consider the merits of various stimulus packages, it is useful to examine what a recession would mean for black America.
The late 1990s produced a full employment economy and significant absolute and relative economic gains for blacks. This Issue Brief contrasts the benefits of a national full-employment economy with the harm caused by the 2001 recession and the weak job growth that followed.
Black America's permanent recession
In the best of times, many African American communities are forced to tolerate levels of unemployment unseen in most white communities. The 2001 recession pushed the white annual unemployment rate up from a low of 3.5% in 2000 to a high of 5.2% in 2003. During the same period, the black unemployment rate shot up from 7.6% to 10.8%. National recessions take African Americans from a bad situation to a worse one.
In 2007, the black unemployment rate was 8.3%. This figure is still above the pre-recession low and more than twice the white unemployment rate. Goldman Sachs estimates that a new recession would increase the national unemployment rate to 6.4% by 2009.1 For African Americans, the unemployment rate would be expected to rise to 11.0%.2
African Americans lose income relative to whites
The low unemployment rates of the 1990s led to positive gains in the black/white income ratio. In 1995, the median black family earned 60.9% of what the median white family did. By 2000, the ratio had climbed to a record high of 63.5%. The effect of the 2001 recession and the weak economic recovery was to undo all of those gains?and then take away some more. By 2005, the median black household earned only 60.2% of the median white household, 0.7 points lower than it was in 1995. 3
But median family income does not tell the entire story. The 2001 recession and weak recovery hurt the poorest African Americans the most. In 1995, the poorest fifth of black families only earned on average 43.0% of what the poorest fifth of white families earned. Again, the economic growth of the late 1990s was a significant boon. The black/white average income ratio for the poorest fifth increased to 49.9% in 2000. By 2005, it had fallen back to 43.4%. Among blacks, the poorest black families lost the largest share of their income gains from the late 1990s.4
Another recession will likely reduce the median family income for all Americans by about 4%. However, for blacks, the decline would be about 6%, leaving the average African American family $2,400 poorer.5 Again, this loss of income will hurt the poorest fifth of African Americans the most.
Additional social costs
Associated with the strong economy of the 1990s, there were significant declines in the black violent crime rate and the black teen pregnancy rate. Between 1993 and 2001, the black violent crime rate declined by 60%.6 Between 1990 and 2004, the black teen pregnancy rate declined by 46%.7 These improving trends have ended, and it is likely that the worsening economic conditions of African Americans since 2001 have played at least a partial role.
At the community level, criminologists find a correlation between violent crime rates and socioeconomic disadvantage.8 At the national level, too, the black violent crime rate has recently been strongly correlated with black poverty rates.9 Therefore, it is not surprising that the historic crime decline of the 1990s ended with the reversal of economic fortunes that African Americans experienced at the beginning of the 21st century.
Based on a study of five countries including the United States, the Alan Guttmacher Institute reports "across all of the focus countries, young people growing up in disadvantaged economic, familial and social circumstances are more likely than their better-off peers to engage in risky behavior and have a child during adolescence."10 Given that socioeconomic disadvantage has increased for African Americans since 2000, it is not entirely surprising that black teen pregnancy rates have started to rise again.
Another recession would likely continue these negative trends. The black violent crime rate and the black teenage pregnancy rate both will likely rise. Once again, the negative effects of these trends will hurt the poorest African Americans most.
What black America needs
Even when the national unemployment picture is good, the black unemployment rate is more than twice that of the white unemployment rate. This means that in what looks like good economic times nationally, most of black America is still experiencing a recession. When white America is in recession, black America is in an economic depression.
Faced with the prospect of another recession, what black America needs is what all of America needs: a stimulus package that will help average Americans and those with the most insecure jobs. The lesson from black America is that the poorest among us are most hurt by recessions. Stimulus proposals based on tax cuts for the wealthy or for business owners are not likely to provide immediate relief to those still hurting from the 2001 recession, much less protect them from the additional damage of a new one.
A better approach would be to boost the economy by 1) providing targeted supports through expanded unemployment insurance and broad-based tax rebates, 2) providing assistance to states to prevent tax increases or spending cuts, and 3) directly stimulating job growth by accelerating funding for infrastructure, particularity for bridge and school repair. (See EPI's Strategy for An Economic Rebound for more details.)
While the discussion above is based on national data about African Americans, it is important to remember that some black communities are better off than average and some are worse off. Also, although the discussion is about African Americans, the findings likely apply to a degree to other poor minority communities and to the poorest white communities, as well. For example, the violent crime decline for whites has also stalled, and the teen pregnancy rate for whites has also increased in the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics.11
by Algernon Austin
Recessions hurt. And they hurt the poor and socially marginalized populations the most. As we face the prospect of the second recession of the decade and consider the merits of various stimulus packages, it is useful to examine what a recession would mean for black America.
The late 1990s produced a full employment economy and significant absolute and relative economic gains for blacks. This Issue Brief contrasts the benefits of a national full-employment economy with the harm caused by the 2001 recession and the weak job growth that followed.
Black America's permanent recession
In the best of times, many African American communities are forced to tolerate levels of unemployment unseen in most white communities. The 2001 recession pushed the white annual unemployment rate up from a low of 3.5% in 2000 to a high of 5.2% in 2003. During the same period, the black unemployment rate shot up from 7.6% to 10.8%. National recessions take African Americans from a bad situation to a worse one.
In 2007, the black unemployment rate was 8.3%. This figure is still above the pre-recession low and more than twice the white unemployment rate. Goldman Sachs estimates that a new recession would increase the national unemployment rate to 6.4% by 2009.1 For African Americans, the unemployment rate would be expected to rise to 11.0%.2
African Americans lose income relative to whites
The low unemployment rates of the 1990s led to positive gains in the black/white income ratio. In 1995, the median black family earned 60.9% of what the median white family did. By 2000, the ratio had climbed to a record high of 63.5%. The effect of the 2001 recession and the weak economic recovery was to undo all of those gains?and then take away some more. By 2005, the median black household earned only 60.2% of the median white household, 0.7 points lower than it was in 1995. 3
But median family income does not tell the entire story. The 2001 recession and weak recovery hurt the poorest African Americans the most. In 1995, the poorest fifth of black families only earned on average 43.0% of what the poorest fifth of white families earned. Again, the economic growth of the late 1990s was a significant boon. The black/white average income ratio for the poorest fifth increased to 49.9% in 2000. By 2005, it had fallen back to 43.4%. Among blacks, the poorest black families lost the largest share of their income gains from the late 1990s.4
Another recession will likely reduce the median family income for all Americans by about 4%. However, for blacks, the decline would be about 6%, leaving the average African American family $2,400 poorer.5 Again, this loss of income will hurt the poorest fifth of African Americans the most.
Additional social costs
Associated with the strong economy of the 1990s, there were significant declines in the black violent crime rate and the black teen pregnancy rate. Between 1993 and 2001, the black violent crime rate declined by 60%.6 Between 1990 and 2004, the black teen pregnancy rate declined by 46%.7 These improving trends have ended, and it is likely that the worsening economic conditions of African Americans since 2001 have played at least a partial role.
At the community level, criminologists find a correlation between violent crime rates and socioeconomic disadvantage.8 At the national level, too, the black violent crime rate has recently been strongly correlated with black poverty rates.9 Therefore, it is not surprising that the historic crime decline of the 1990s ended with the reversal of economic fortunes that African Americans experienced at the beginning of the 21st century.
Based on a study of five countries including the United States, the Alan Guttmacher Institute reports "across all of the focus countries, young people growing up in disadvantaged economic, familial and social circumstances are more likely than their better-off peers to engage in risky behavior and have a child during adolescence."10 Given that socioeconomic disadvantage has increased for African Americans since 2000, it is not entirely surprising that black teen pregnancy rates have started to rise again.
Another recession would likely continue these negative trends. The black violent crime rate and the black teenage pregnancy rate both will likely rise. Once again, the negative effects of these trends will hurt the poorest African Americans most.
What black America needs
Even when the national unemployment picture is good, the black unemployment rate is more than twice that of the white unemployment rate. This means that in what looks like good economic times nationally, most of black America is still experiencing a recession. When white America is in recession, black America is in an economic depression.
Faced with the prospect of another recession, what black America needs is what all of America needs: a stimulus package that will help average Americans and those with the most insecure jobs. The lesson from black America is that the poorest among us are most hurt by recessions. Stimulus proposals based on tax cuts for the wealthy or for business owners are not likely to provide immediate relief to those still hurting from the 2001 recession, much less protect them from the additional damage of a new one.
A better approach would be to boost the economy by 1) providing targeted supports through expanded unemployment insurance and broad-based tax rebates, 2) providing assistance to states to prevent tax increases or spending cuts, and 3) directly stimulating job growth by accelerating funding for infrastructure, particularity for bridge and school repair. (See EPI's Strategy for An Economic Rebound for more details.)
While the discussion above is based on national data about African Americans, it is important to remember that some black communities are better off than average and some are worse off. Also, although the discussion is about African Americans, the findings likely apply to a degree to other poor minority communities and to the poorest white communities, as well. For example, the violent crime decline for whites has also stalled, and the teen pregnancy rate for whites has also increased in the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics.11
Sunday, July 12, 2009
SAY WORD ! Latoya is on the record
AS REPORTED BY MediaTakeOut
July 12, 2009. While the rest of the media was climing that Michael Jackson was some kind of DRUG ADDICT – MediaTakeOut.com was giving you the REAL DEAL!!!
Now, one of the Jackson family members - Latoya - is speaking out ON THE RECORD about what happened to her brother – and what she believes killed him.
Here’s what she told British newspaper News Of The World:
"Michael WAS murdered," declared La Toya, 53. "And we don't think just one person was involved. Rather, it was a conspiracy of people. I feel it was all about money. Michael was worth well over a billion in music publishing assets and somebody killed him for that. He was worth more dead than alive."
As she posed a series of vital questions about 50-year-old Jacko's sudden death 17 days ago at his rented mansion in Los Angeles, La Toya said the pop icon was:
# FED a series of addictive drugs to keep him submissive and controlled.
# KEPT from his family by manipulative people who blocked their visits.
# WORKED to exhaustion even though he DIDN'T want to do the gruelling string of 50 shows due to start at London's O2 arena tomorrow.
# ROBBED of TWO MILLION in cash and gems as he lay dying.
But there’s more. Here’s what she added:
"A couple of years ago Michael told me he was worried that people were out to get him. He said, 'They're gonna kill me for my publishing. They want my catalogues and they're gonna kill me for these.'
"I knew something terrible was going to happen … Michael was being inappropriately treated by people who got him hooked on drugs.
"I can't say who I believe is responsible as I don't want to jeopardise the police investigation. But not everybody had Michael's best interests at heart. A month ago I felt Michael was going to die before he did his London concerts.
"I felt it would be foul play. I felt he'd never make the show."
For more of the REAL DEAL on what’s going on with the Michael Jackson saga – check back on MediaTakeOut.com…
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