Posted on 11/14/2006 8:21:40 AM PST by Graybeard58
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Decades after the civil rights movement, racial disparities in income, education and home ownership persist and, by some measurements, are growing.
White households had incomes that were two-thirds higher than blacks and 40 percent higher than Hispanics last year, according to data released today by the Census Bureau.
White adults were also more likely than black and Hispanic adults to have college degrees and to own their own homes. They were less likely to live in poverty.
"Race is so associated with class in the United States that it may not be direct discrimination, but it still matters indirectly," said Dalton Conley, a sociology professor at New York University and the author of "Being Black, Living in the Red."
"It doesn't mean it's any less powerful just because it's indirect," he said.
Home ownership grew among white middle-class families after World War II when access to credit and government programs made buying houses affordable. Black families were largely left out because of discrimination, and the effects are still being felt today, said Lance Freeman, assistant professor of urban planning at Columbia University and author of "There Goes the 'Hood."
Home ownership creates wealth, which enables families to live in good neighborhoods with good schools. It also helps families finance college, which leads to better-paying jobs, perpetuating the cycle, Freeman said.
"If your parents own their own home, they can leave it to you when they pass on or they can use the equity to help you with a down payment on yours," Freeman said.
Three-fourths of white households owned their homes in 2005, compared with 46 percent of black households and 48 percent of Hispanic households. Home ownership is near an all-time high in the United States, but racial gaps have increased in the past 25 years.
Asian Americans, on average, have higher incomes and education levels than whites. However, they have higher poverty rates and lower home ownership rates.
The Census Bureau released 2005 racial data on incomes, education levels, home ownership rates and poverty rates today. The data are from the American Community Survey, the bureau's new annual survey of 3 million households nationwide. The Associated Press compared the figures with census data from 1980, 1990 and 2000.
Among the findings:
- Black adults have narrowed the gap with white adults in earning high school diplomas, but the gap has widened for college degrees. Thirty percent of white adults had at least a bachelor's degree in 2005, while 17 percent of black adults and 12 percent of Hispanic adults had degrees.
- Forty-nine percent of Asian Americans had at least a bachelor's degree in 2005.
- The median income for white households was $50,622 last year. It was $30,939 for black households, $36,278 for Hispanic households and $60,367 for Asian households.
-Median income for black households has stayed about 60 percent of the income for white households since 1980. In dollar terms, the gap has grown from $18,123 to $19,683.
-Hispanic households made about 76 percent as much as white households in 1980. In 2005, it was 72 percent.
-The gap in poverty rates has narrowed since 1980, but it remains substantial. The poverty rate for white residents was 8.3 percent on 2005. It was 24.9 percent for black residents, 21.8 percent for Hispanic residents and 11.1 percent for Asian residents.
Thomas Shapiro, professor of law and social policy at Brandeis University, said the "easiest answer" to narrowing racial gaps is to promote home ownership, which would help minority families accumulate wealth.
"The wealth gap is not just a story of merit and achievement, it's also a story of the historical legacy of race in the United Sates," said Shapiro, author of "The Hidden Cost of Being African American."
Shelton, of the NAACP, called for more funding for preschool programs such as Head Start, improving public schools and making college more affordable.
"Income should not be a significant determining factor whether someone should have an opportunity to go to college," Shelton said.
Racial divide still evident.
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And getting worse. The media matrix have brainwashed the country.
Black vote 90% +
Jewish vote 87%
Hispanic vote 77%
Muslim vote 90% in VA, don't know nationwide.
Single women, overwhelmingly democrat.
This group think mentality swings MANY elections.
If the white vote was 80-90% Republican you would hear cries of racism and panic in the street, building would burn, but it's alright to brainwash people into voting dim.
Hillary sees these numbers and knows she can win, and who will expose her for what she is, just us, and we're a teardrop in the ocean.
The high black illegitimacy rate is the #1 cause of black poverty. Among black children raised by married parents, the problem of poverty has pretty much been solved.
Figures don't lie but liars do figure.
Ah... But no information regarding demographics of household makeup means that the numbers would be shown to be heavily affected by the (1) family composition, (2) family stability, and (3) educational achievement. The factor of race would then be shown to not be causitive, but rather an artificial correlation of unrelated data.
The information in the article is race-baiting and useless without context, IMO.
Not to mention the distorted and unrealistic aspirations of young black males. They want to be football players, basketball players, just a playa, or a rap artist. If those rare jobs paying millions and showering them with cars and women doesn't happen, they move "downmarket" to becoming a thug. Rarely does one encounter a young black boy who strongly wishes to become a veterinarian, software developer, stock analyst, sales manager, or dentist. Why is that?
~ Blue Jays ~
How come self-accountability and owning one's personal responsibilities can never be addressed in the same breath of such articles?
NAAWWW, couldn't ever do that, that might take away from the Socialist agenda!!!
I think University professors could take a good sized hit in salary and be subject to some special "targeted" taxes to make higher education more affordable.
Total BS. My mom is 78 and still living in her home (my dad passed on in 2003). I'm 50 and living in my 3rd (owned) home. My sister is 48 and living in her 2nd (owned) home. Neither of us has derived any benefit from having our parent's home "passed on to us". My dad loaned me $4,000 for a down payment on my first condo in 1978 at 10% interest. It took me 4 years to repay it. It didn't come out of his home equity. It came out of his savings account. It wasn't a gift. I paid him a better interest rate than his savings account.
My 3 sons are still saving toward the initial down payment on a home. It's too soon for them to jump into the market as they don't have the income to sustain the mortgage payments.
Thank God Nambla Nan is on the job /sarc
Thou shalt not idukate the inedukable...
Not to mention their cranking up their guilt machine..
Teaching a pig to sing...
The expense of the lift kit, the subwoofer, tennis shoes, chrome rims and baggy pants could buy a few books.
I don't care if you agree.
Exceptionally good news for the Democrats! As the party of slavery, they have progressed from physical plantations to philosophical plantations in the “management” of black Americans. Moreover, with low expectations and quotas as modern tools, they can control Whites and Hispanics as well. Furthermore, with finding a few Hispanic Jesse and Al type “leaders”, they can envision controlling the North American Union. So move over European Aristocrats, the Americans are coming!
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