Black joblessness is twice that of white AmericansBlack joblessness is twice that of white Americans
By William Reed
Like legendary Roman Fiddlers, African Americans stood starry-eyed in June when the numbers showed Sen. Barack Obama would be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. In unison with the race-neutral Obama campaign, African Americans too have turned a blind eye to the fact that Black joblessness is twice that of white Americans.
The devastating effects of crime, family dissolution, welfare, and low levels of social organization among African Americans are fundamentally a consequence of the lack of work that Blacks endure because of institutional racism and a lack of attention to public policies on this issue. Too many Blacks can't get a job and any candidate wanting African American votes should be made to outline economic plans that provide more jobs for us and all Americans.
While Obamamania was sweeping the national political scene in May the unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent. It was the biggest monthly rise since 1986. With employers worried about a sharp slowdown and their own prospects, they clamped down on hiring and unemployment soared from 5 percent in April. That was the biggest one-month jump in the rate in 22 years. The increase left the jobless rate at its highest since October 2004. The African American jobless rate rose from 8.6 percent in April to 9.7 percent in May.
The latest business conditions show reason why African Americans should make their vote work for them. We are in a deeply troubled economy, and again, Blacks are the last and the least of workers. The number of unemployed people grew by 861,000 in May - rising to 8.5 million. The over-the-month jump in unemployment reflects more workers losing jobs and an increase in those coming into the job market - especially younger people - to look for work.
When Obama started his "Impossible Dream," the number of unemployed stood at 6.9 million and the jobless rate was 4.5 percent. Since then, a trio of crises - housing, credit and financial - have rocked the economy. That's caused economic growth to slow to a crawl and businesses and consumers to tighten their belts. The country's economic problems are a top concern for candidates vying to win the White House; but they, and most of the country, are mute on more Black youth getting jobs. Overall teenage unemployment increased to 18.7 percent, while Black teens' unemployment remains over six times the national rate - 32.3 percent.
While African American voters are knee-deep with Obama in "putting race behind us," Black youngsters face racial discrimination in hiring --facts of life in that will only get worse. Both the nearly 260,000 African American teenagers actively seeking employment in May 2008 and didn't find any; and the 4 million Black kids just "out of work" are fodder for America's criminal justice system and prison-industrial complex.
The "change" Barack Obama's wrought has been good. In a world in which many young Black men have been duped into believing that life is either a choice between crime or stardom via sports or rap, Obama shows a third way. And while that third way doesn't mean that every Black boy will grow up to be a presidential nominee, it does show that education is a better fit than prison; and that being a good speaker garners as many fans as being a good rapper.
With the evidence of inequity so stark, Black Americans should make better use of their ballots. Concurrent with the special interests of getting earmarks, tax cuts, etc., shouldn't we be getting domestic policies that help us? All political levels of Black Americans have to take a stand in regards to the forces and policies that have produced the nation's obscene social and economic inequality. The "dreams" of Black Americans should be practical. We need to make job creation<
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