Here's the whole list of the "Key Findings":
Over the last 40 years African Americans have made great strides in educational advancement.
Since Dr. King's death, the African American high school graduation rate has increased by over 214%. At this rate, African Americans will reach equality with white Americans by 2018.
The African American college graduation rate has increased by almost 400% since 1968. Yet, at this rate inequality in college graduation between Blacks and whites will linger till 2087.
Despite educational advances, economic equality for African Americans is still a dream, not reality.
It will take more than 537 more years for Blacks to reach income equality with whites if the income gap continues to close at the same rate it has since Dr. King was assassinated.
If the racial wealth divide continues to close as slowly as it has since 1983, it will take 634 years for Blacks to reach wealth equality with whites.
Today, a third of the Black workforce earns less than $385 per week before taxes, and less than $20,000 annually before taxes.
Forty years since Dr. King called for the abolition of poverty, the annual decline of poverty for Black children is about a quarter of a percentage point per year. At this rate it will take over a century to end poverty for Black children.
Today a third of Black children live in poverty.
Blacks face the challenge to address social ills in their community amid a broader context of rapidly increasing social negatives that cross racial lines.
While the incarceration rate of African Americans is extraordinarily high, the probability of incarceration for white men has been increasing at a faster rate (268%) than for Black men (240%) since 1974.
The increase in the share of white children living in a single parent home has been much higher (229%) than for Black children (155%) since 1960.
I thought it was particularly interesting to look at the rates of educational improvement, as it shows, among other things, that blacks are doing better educationally than whites were doing in 1968--or even as recently as 1984 or so for high school:
Or the 1990s for college:
Significant strides in reducing poverty only occured under Clinton, with the black child poverty rate still over 30%:
And as for closing the income gap by 2545, well, maybe not. The income gap is actually greater today than it was in 1977:
Finally, the report is not just backward-looking and passively projective. It has a set of recommendations as well. While the word "reparations" has served as a political lightening rod, there are some quite specific forms of redress--not limited to blacks alone--that can make up for historical exclusion in much more targetted manner that should be politically quite viable, particularly with Democratic majorities in Congress, and a Democratic President. There are also more general equitable and forward-thinking policies and programs that would clearly benefit blacks in particular, simply because they would lift us all up from the bottom. Here is the set of proposals from the report:
Where Do We Go from Here: Making King's Dream a Reality
"We require programs to hold up to our followers which mirror their aspirations."
- King, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? p. 137
There are various policy proposals that would advance America as a whole while at the same time dealing with the unique problem of Black-white inequality. In the tradition of Dr. King's "Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged" and the 1966 "Freedom Budget," here is a list of policies that could advance King's dream into a modern day reality.
Ensure a debt-free higher education to first generation and low-income college students. The Selective Service Readjustment Act (the GI Bill) provided more funds for veterans' schooling by 1950 than was spent on the reconstruction of Europe after World War II.14 African Americans were limited in their ability to participate due to the under-resourced, segregated school system for African Americans. It is time that African Americans share in a mass government program to expand higher education.
Expand homeownership, through various first-time homeowner mechanisms such as soft-second mortgages and subsidized interest rates. Homeownership is the number one source of wealth for Americans. As with education, there was a massive government investment in broadening homeownership through the GI Bill. In this case as well, African Americans had limited access to this historic initiative due to the limited and under-valued supply of homes for African Americans during segregation. The legacy of this unequal access to government mortgage assistance remains: the majority of African Americans are not homeowners while over 70% of white Americans are homeowners.
Strengthen federal investment in wealth development for asset-poor Americans. Matched saving programs like Individual Development Accounts and so-called "KidSave" accounts have been tested on a small scale in the United States for years. It is time to "scale up" these programs to cover the entire nation. African Americans, who for centuries constituted part of the wealth of white America and for centuries more helped produce the wealth of white America, today have only 10% of the household wealth of white America. Given this yawning gap, African Americans need an asset-development jump start. As Thomas Shapiro, author of The Hidden Cost of Being African American writes, "It is virtually impossible for people of color to earn their way to equal wealth through wages."
Provide more comprehensive and universal health care for all Americans.
Almost 25% of African-Americans are uninsured. Some of this is due to the fact that African-Americans are disproportionately found in low-income employment, which often does not provide health insurance. A lack of health insurance contributes to inferior health for African Americans and all Americans. Lack of insurance and insufficient insurance is a dangerous economic liability. A 2005 Harvard study points out that medical problems contribute to almost half of all bankruptcies.15
Create a "green" urban infrastructure and job development fund The National Urban League, in their Opportunity Act of 07, proposes an Urban Infrastructure Bank that would fund the repair and development of our schools, water systems, parks, roads, bridges, and community centers. Recently there has been much discussion about creating "green jobs" as America transforms its industry and lifestyle to one that is more in line with sustaining the environment. Funding environmentally sustainable improvements to urban infrastructure would provide employment opportunities, strengthen America's infrastructure and provide for a more secure and stable world.
Tax Wealth to Build Wealth Since the time of Dr. King, the richest 1% of America has seen their top federal income tax rate cut in half while their incomes have exploded. Since 1980, taxes that affect the wealthy have been cut dramatically: the estate tax rate has decreased by 46% and the capital gains tax rate has decreased by 31%. Meanwhile, the payroll tax rate - which falls most heavily on working people - has increased by 25%.16 Overall, the trend has been one that has shifted the tax burden off of the wealthy and onto the middle and working classes. Returning to the progressive tradition of taxing concentrated wealth to spread wealth and equality of opportunity will benefit all Americans economies and help turn back our growing economic inequality.
Recommit to Affirmative Action Affirmative Action was a policy adopted by President Richard Nixon as a conservative program to develop greater racial equality in the United States. For all of its limitations, affirmative action is one of the most successful diversity measures ever implemented. Throughout the world, from India to Finland to South Africa, affirmative action policies have been effectively used to counter institutional discrimination, whether it be gender, language, economic or racial. If America is serious about ending Black-white inequality, it needs to rededicate itself to using the tried and tested tool of increasing diversity and providing more equal opportunity.
I am not the least bit naive. It will be a struggle to make progress against the media and GOP opposition. But these proposals make it clear that progressive policy is not rocket science. It's common sense. And the American people will support common sense---if the Democrats will argue for it, fight for it, and make it a priority. And they will do that, only if we make them do it. |
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