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Urban League Sees Black Male Crisis
State of Black America challenge
If the U nited States does not
take im m ediate steps to address the
black m ale crisis, the nation risks
losing its "greatest untapped re
s o u rc e ,” sa id N a tio n a l U rb an
League President M arc H. M orial
on M onday in p re se n tin g the
le a g u e 's annual S tate o f Black
A m erica report.
“Empowering black men to reach
their full potential is the m ost seri
ous econom ic and civil rights chal
lenge we face today. E nsuring their
future is critical, not ju st for the
A frican A m erican com m unity, but
for the prosperity, health and w ell
being o f the entire A m erican fam
ily,” M orial said.
T his year’s report includes the
opinionsof Dr. Michael Eric Dyson,
M arian W right Edelm an, essays by
N A A C P Legal D efense Fund head
T heodore Shaw and Dr. Silas Lee,
as well as a foreword by Sen. Barack
Obama, D-111.
It contains the Equality Index, a
statistical m easurem ent o f dispari
ties or “equality gaps” betw een
blacks and w hites across five dif
ferent categ o ries-eco n o m ics, edu
cation, health, civic engagem ent
and social justice.
T he report finds that A frican-
A m erican men are m ore than tw ice
as likely to be unem ployed as w hite
m ales and m ake only 74 percent as
much a year. T h ey ’re nearly seven
times more likely to be incarcerated,
and their average jail sentences tend
to be 10 m onths longer than those
o f w hite men. In addition, young
black m ales betw een the ages o f 15
and 34 years are nine tim es more
likely to be killed by firearm s and
nearly eight tim es as likely to suffer
ited opportunities and dim inished
expectations,” M orial observed.
“T h ere’s a crisis afoot in the
black m ale com m unity, and it’s not
enough to have role m odels to give
them hope. W e need a public com
m itm ent in the form o f concrete
policy strategies to help lift them
out o f their state o f underachieve
ment and put them on equal footing
with w hite men in this nation,” he
said.
Overall, African Americans made
Empowering black men to
reach their full potential is the
most serious economic and civil
rights challenge we face today.
- National Urban League President Marc H. Morial
from AIDS.
“ I could rattle o ff the nam es of
A frican-A m erican men who have
overcom e the odds and have risen
to national prom inence until I am
blue in the face. But for all the
Barack O bam as, Tony D ungysand
Colin Powells out there who have
broken through econom ic and color
barriers to succeed, there are many
m ore black men w ho face very lim-
negligible gains at best in narrow
ing the equality divide w ith whites.
On m ost fronts - econom ics, ed u
cation, health and civic engage
ment, the gaps narrow ed m argin
ally com pared to last year. But in
the realm o f social justice, blacks
lost som e ground.
“The U rban L eag u e's efforts are
trem endous, and we are making
progress, but as our report shows,
the disparities are not shrinking.
And we realize that we cannot do
this alone,” M orial said. "W e have
to look to corporations, the gov
ernm ent and other organizations to
bring about com prehensive solu
tions to the problem s faced by black
m ales, w ho are dropping out o f
sc h o o l at h ig h e r ra te s, d y in g
younger and earning far less than
their w hite counterparts,” he said.
D espite the less-than-glow ing
results presented, there were still
bright spots. A higher percentage
o f young black children are en
rolled in early childhood education
program s such as Head Start than
young w hite children - 66 percent
com pared to 64 percent. And the
youngest blacks have made strong
im provem ents in the areas o f school
readiness - scoring at 94 percent o f
that o f w hites, up from 8 1 percent i n
2006.
A m ajor disconnect, how ever,
occurs after elem entary school as
blacks, especially m ales, begin to
fall behind whites. Disparities in
w riting proficiency scores widen
as blacks grow older.
In an effort to resolve some of
these issues facing black men, Morial
unveiled five major recom m enda
tions for public-policy makers to
implement toem pow er blacks, espe
cially males, to become full-fledged
chance” program s to help high
school dropouts and ex-offenders
return to the m ainstream ; restore
the federal Sum m er Jobs Program
to its pre-2000 state as a mandatory
standalone program with its own
budget; and drive hom e the m es
sage tochildren that education pays
dividends later in life.
partners in the American Dream:
Provide com preh en siv e early
childhood education for all A m eri
can children, especially those from
disadvantaged backgrounds; pro
m ote the establishm ent o f more all
male schools that incorporate longer
school days and m entoring into
their design; create more "second
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P o r tla n d S tate U n iv e r sity P r e sid e n t L ea v in g
B ernstine w ith
m any a c c o m
p lish m e n ts at
PSU , including
increasing e n
r o llm e n t by
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th a n
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sity P resident D aniel O.
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A dm issio n s C o u n cil, lo
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“ I m ust say that w e are happy the m ost ever.
B ern stin e also w on praise for
for President B ernstine, but sad
dened by the loss o f such a p resid in g o v e r a construction
strong, g en ero u s lead er,” said boom during his tenure, openi ng
G eorge P ernsteiner, ch an cello r the N ative A m erican C enter,
o f the O regon U niversity S y s the U rban C e n te r and Plaza,
innovative “green” student hous
tem .
P e rn s te in e r
c r e d ite d ing, and a new engineering build
To guide
Pennsylvania
law council
ing h o u sin g th e M aseeh C o lleg e
o fE n g in e e rin g .
He led e ffo rts at PSU and in
O ieg o n to internationalize both
the student body and the c u r
riculum , reaching out especially
to students in the M iddle East
and A sia. H e oversaw plans to
m ake the cam pus better c o n
nected w ith the city through the
P o rtla n d S tre e tc a r, an d soon
M A X light rail.
A ls o
n o ta b le
d u r in g
B ern stin e’s tenure w as the in
creases in research funding at
PSU , w hich grew from $ 17 m il
lion to $40 mi 11 ion a year, and the
initiation o f P S U ’s first co m p re
hensive fundraising cam paign,
w hich brought in $ 114 m illion to
the u n iversity, ex ceed in g the
original goal.
“ In o th e r w o rd s, P re sid e n t
B e r n s tin e ’s im p a c t on PSU
has b een e n o rm o u s and long-
la stin g . W e w ill m iss h is in te l
lect an d c re a tiv ity , h is d e e p
c o m m itm e n t to stu d e n ts, his
sen se o f h u m o r, an d th e sp irit
o f ho p e and o p p o rtu n ity he
b ro u g h t to PSU and to the
U n iv e rs ity
S y s te m ,”
P e rn ste in e r said.
P rior to jo in in g PSU in 1997
as president, B ernstine w as dean
o f the Law School at the U n i
versity o f W isconsin.
Alfre Woodard
United States and Africa.
Local YW CA supporter, O rego
nian colum nist and domestic vio
lence victim s' advocate S. Renee
Mitchell will also be a featured
speaker.
T he YW CA Leadership L un
cheon began in 1992, and in the past
15 years has raised more than $2.5
million for programs that provide
safety, support, education and train
ing, shelter, housing, physical fit
ness and cam ping pro g ram s to
women and families.
For more information, visit y wca-
pdx.org.
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T h e identity o f this diplom at from the M iddle East will I
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w w w .w o rld o re g o n .o rg
June 2007 Schnitzer Concert Ha/l
Speakers subject to change in case of force majeure. Proceeds benefit the education
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Media Sponsor:
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diversity
’"Print
Participate in Democracy Zoic
Actress and Advocate Alfre Woodard
C ritic a lly a c c la im e d ac tre ss
A lfre W oodard w ill be the k ey
note sp e ak e r at the 15th annual
Y W C A o f G reater Portland L ead
ersh ip L uncheon at the O regon
C o n v e n tio n C e n te r on T u esd ay ,
A pril 24.
W oodard, who has given out
standing perform ances on shows
such as Hill Street Blues, LA Law,
The Forgotten and Beautyshop, is
most recently recognized for her role
as Betty Applewhite on the hit show
Desperate Housewives.
O ff screen, she is an activist who
supports progressive causes in the
Sheri \ia o v i Liao
Green \iiiluisMi<lor. Beijing Olympic' 2008
Return your ballot by mail or drop tfioff at any designated voter
drop site. Call 1-866-673-8683 to find a location near you.
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H elp O ffered F or Student S u ccess
Local parents and guardians can
connect with other families to learn
how to help their children succeed
and tap into school district resources
on Saturday. April 21, at Benson
High School, 546 N.E. 12th Ave.
The sixth annual Parent Leader
ship Conference, sponsored by the
Com m unity and Parents for Public
Schools, will be from 8 a.m. to 12:30
p.m.
W orkshops will be offered on
parent involvem ent and building
com m unity in schools; advocating
fory o u rch ild ; school-level org an i
zations; school and district co m
I,ie ^Jorflattb 0i)bscrucr Established 1970
USPS 959-680 __________________________________
4747 NE Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd.. Portland. OR 97211
E ditor r n - C m n . Pimi.isHt.it: Charles H. Washington
E n m m .M ic h a e l L e ig h to n
D istribution M anahf . b : M a rk W a s h in g to n
C bfative D ir k rim: P a u l N e u fe ld t
O ffice M anager : K a th y L in d e r
R eporter : Sarah Blount
R eporter : Nicole Ronal Hooper
m u n icatio n ; m easu rin g stu d en t
p ro g ress; and c h ild re n 's social
developm ent.
There is no cost, and child care
and translation services will be
available. Preregistration is sug
gested. C all 503-220-0577or go to
cppsportland.org to register.
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