Reply #37: What exactly is that supposed to prove in relation to your claim?

[ProSense]

"Close to Economic Parity "

Close, oooh!

From the link:

The Census Bureau also computes median income figures for blacks and whites with master's and professional degrees. In 2003 blacks with a master's degree had a median income of $44,134. This was 88.3 percent of the median income of whites with a master's degree.

Once again, in percentage terms black women fared much better against their white counterparts than did black men. Black and white women with a master's degree had almost identical median incomes, with blacks holding a slight edge. Black men with a master's degree had a median income that was only 82 percent of the median income of white males with a master's degree.

Expectedly, the black-white income gap actually increases for holders of professional degrees. In 2003 blacks with a professional degree had a median income of $61,627. This was only 80 percent of the median income of whites with a professional degree.

It is clear that the economic opportunities for whites with a professional degree continue to be far superior than they are for blacks with a professional degree. White professionals — lawyers, dentists, accountants, and engineers, to name a few — are far more likely to serve economically well-off and better established white clients and therefore are in a position to charge higher fees and earn greater incomes. On the other hand, many whites are still reluctant to seek out the services of black professionals. Therefore, many blacks with professional degrees perform services for an exclusively black clientele and in all likelihood are not able to charge fees comparable to those of white professionals. These factors may explain to some degree the large and often persisting income gap between white and black professionals.

There is also a substantial income gap between blacks and whites who hold doctoral degrees. But this time the racial gap is in favor of blacks. In 2003 blacks with a doctorate had a median income of $72,743. This was 111 percent of the median income of whites with doctoral degrees, which stands at $65,278. The high demand for black academics at American colleges and universities produces a good job market with high wages for blacks with doctoral degrees.

A final consideration: Favorable statistics on the black-white income gap for college graduates always must be viewed in light of the fact that black college graduates make up only a small portion of the entire black population of the United States. According to the latest count, there are 36.4 million people in the United States whom the Census Bureau classifies as black. Of these, 3,854,000, or less than 11 percent, hold a four-year college degree. Therefore, one must always keep in mind that the encouraging economic figures we report here apply to only one in every nine African Americans.