Œl’l ^jnrtl:xnù ffîbserue A p ril 18. 2 0 0 7 PageA5 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 Scries Tickets Available Now! William Jefferson CLINTON -l2t.il President of die 1 nited States 6:30 p.m Tuesday, A p r il 17, 2007 Schnitzer Concert Hall Ellen Johnson S irleaf Pie>i«ient ..c i ¡i.eriu B u ild in g D em o cra cy in A frica T h e first black w oman to be elected president of any country in the world. H arvard-educated Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is leading war-ravaged Liberia into the 21st century. 7:00 p.m., Friday, M ay 18,2007 Schnitzer Concert Hall 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 m o re th a n P ortland State U n iv er­ 7,0 0 0 students. sity P resident D aniel O. L ast y e a r, B ernstine has accep ted m o re th a n a new jo b as president 5 ,0 0 0 students and c h ie f ex ecu tiv e o f­ r e c e iv e d d e ­ ficer o f the Law School Daniel Bernstine grees and c e r­ A dm issio n s C o u n cil, lo ­ tificates from the school, by far cated in N ew tow n, Penn. “ 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. J Th Z.S- Endangered Planet: z I ( hinese Heir C hina’s best-know n environm ental activist 6c crusading journalist, widely acclaimed for her work in C hina. 7:00 p.m.,Tuesday, M ay 29,2007 Schnitzer Concc't Hal! \lv s te i’\ Speaker in irtili lie ir n f I s Enreign Pul icy y T h e identity o f this diplom at from the M iddle East will I be made known soon. C heck our website for updates: 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 ... r program of the World Affairs Council. Media Sponsor: r * Ï I k (Oregonian © Lufthansa Order series tickets now! www.worldoregon.org or call 503.552.9888 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»s* tw n pv'flbnJobscrvtf ioni • ( am/mticJ to Í til uni Divers \Htim« XXXIV • Ntac ■ • . 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