Blacks Still Lag Behind Whites

[dArKeR]

(CBS/AP) Black Americans are less likely than white Americans to own homes, don't earn as much as whites, don't live as long, and don't do as well in school, according to a report by the National Urban League.

The report, released on Wednesday, is a collection of survey data and essays by experts in race, social justice, health, psychology and civil rights.

For the first time, the League calculated a numerical index for how African-Americans are doing, reports CBS News Correspondent Dan Raviv. Overall, they have 73 percent of the status and earning power white Americans enjoy, 56 percent of the economic standing, and 78 percent of the health — they're much harder-hit by diabetes and AIDS than whites.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/23/national/main608291.shtml

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. There's still a lot of progress to make

But considering where those numbers were not all that long ago, I think those are figures to be celebrated and not mourned.

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. didn't they used to be considered 3/4 of a man?

or something like that? Seems it hasn't changed much to me.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. They also used to earn

0% of what whites did and owned 0% of their own homes. Even worse, THEY were owned by a good percentage of white families.

Is it bad that there's not full equality? Absolutely! But if you're going to treat these figures like the sky is falling, you've completely lost historical perspective on the matter. Not 40 years ago, those numbers were in the teens, if even that high. Now they're nearly 75%. That's a LONG way to go for only 40 years. And as a society, we've still got a long way to continue. But to ignore the progress we have made is pointless.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. it's not a question of ignoring it

But to say that getting 75% of what someone else gets is something to cheer isn't exactly fair.

You should cheer when you get 100% of what someone else gets.

Progress is nice. But cheer the at the finish line, not at the 3rd quarter mark.

[mobuto]

5. Uh, sort of

The Constitution says slaves count for 3/5 of a person in the Census - it was a compromise reached between the North, which felt only citizens should be counted and the South, which wanted as many Congressmen as it could get.

[alarcojon]

6. How about celebrated AND mourned

Yes, there is progress being made (a cause for celebration) and yes, there is a long way to go (a cause for mourning).