Posted on 04/25/2006 10:07:08 AM PDT by Baconian
Elwin Green reports that, according to the "Survey of Business Owners: Black-Owned Firms: 2002," between 1997 and 2002, the number of black-owned businesses in the United States rose 45 percent to 1.2 million, while the combined revenue increased 25 percent to $88.8 billion.
"Both local and national figures show the greatest numbers of black-owned businesses in the fields of health care and social assistance. Other categories with a strong presence of black-ownership [included] retail; professional, scientific and technical services; and transportation and warehousing." ("Black business owners on rise," Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, April 18, 2006.)
These are not exactly your garden-variety, blue-collar businesses. Ownership in these respective fields requires capital investment, i.e., bank loans and investment capital. With black-ownership growth in same experiencing such increases, it appears the retread argument, that banks and investors do not loan money to blacks, is also contradicted.
According to the report, "New York City had more black-owned firms than any other city at 98,076, followed by Chicago (39,424), Los Angeles (25,958), Houston (21,226) and Detroit (19,530). Among states, New York had the greatest number of black-owned firms with 129,324, followed by California (112,873), Florida (102,079), Georgia (90,461), and Texas (88,769). Pennsylvania had 24,757."
Add to these findings that, according to the just released "State Employment Statistics-March 2006" – 33 states registered over-the-month unemployment rate decreases and only nine states recording increases, with eight states and the District of Columbia showing no change. Jobless rates were down over the year in 43 states and the District of Columbia, while up in only five states, and unchanged in two states.
Yet the National Urban League's just released report, "State of Black America 2006," which is supposedly based on "government data and academic analysis," claims their nebulous "equality index remained virtually unchanged from 2005 with black Americans hovering at 0.73 of the status of white Americans." They further claimed "that number has not changed year after year..."
To say that this presents a problem is an understatement – something just doesn't add up. What government data and academic analysis did they use? Could it have been the data that shows the number of blacks in prison for violent crimes? Was it the data that reports the pandemic level of predacious hoodlums responsible for black-on-black crime? Was their academic analysis based on the ever-increasing number of black students intentionally failing so as not to act like "whitey"? Or could it be that the Urban League knew that if they painted a bleak-enough picture, there awaited a pot of taxpayer gold for them at the end of the final paragraph?
If such was the case, the pot of gold was worth $20 million from the Department of Labor, as was recently announced by Mrs. Laura Bush and U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. The money will supposedly be used to expand job training and educational assistance to at-risk youth. Conveniently left out, however, is how much will go for inflated salaries and expenses.
Black groups, such as the Urban League, have been receiving millions upon millions of dollars in grants, materials, contracts, etc. for decades. But the Urban League has not one time in the history of their "State of Black America" report, referenced a single step of progress for blacks. Yet we see the lifestyle of its leaders paralleling that of the wealthiest elites.
If life for the blacks they claim to represent continues to flow in pipes under the streets with every flush, what are they doing with the money? What quantifiable gains can be pointed to for the hundreds of millions of dollars they have extorted over the years?
Deborah Brewster, writing for Financial Times, reported that there are 8.3 million millionaires in the nation today. There are 14 million households with $500,000 or more, and there 930,000 households with $5 million or more in investable assets – excluding the family home. ("Survey: Number of millionaires hits new record," Financial Times-MSNBC.com, April 19, 2006.) Even without professional sports, only the completely disingenuous, or a group given to deceit, would argue that blacks are not represented in these statistics in record numbers.
I submit the old adage, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics," must be revised to include "and the National Urban League."
Mychal Massie is a nationally recognized political activist, pundit and columnist. He is host of the widely popular talk show "Straight Talk." He has appeared on the Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, Comcast Cable and talk radio programming nationwide. He is a former self-employed business owner of over 30 years and a member of the conservative public policy institute National Center for Public Policy Research-Project 21.
Hey, who you gonna believe - white men's facts or the Mother Ship?
The only Black problems that are left, are those caused by excessive Liberalism.
bttt
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