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During the administration of Barack Obama, comparative African-American Household income has fallen back to where it was almost 50 years ago. [Awesome chart in "Comments"]

Source: JAMA and Archives Journals Date: March 17, 2007 Black-white Life Expectancy Gap Narrows, But Remains Substantial Science Daily — Reductions in the death rate from homicide, HIV disease, unintentional injuries - and among women, heart disease - have contributed to narrowing the life expectancy gap between blacks and whites in the United States, although substantial inequalities and challenges remain, according to a study in the March 21 issue of JAMA. Life expectancy at birth has generally been increasing in the United States since at least the late 19th century. For as long as data have been reported by race/ethnicity,...

On November 28 the American Enterprise Institute held a symposium on the persistent gap between the average IQ test scores of black and non-Hispanic white Americans. The question: Is the gap closing? The presenters at AEI were James Flynn, a philosopher who taught at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and Charles Murray, a scholar at AEI and the co-author of The Bell Curve. Flynn is famous for having discovered in the 1980s that average IQs in many countries have been drifting upward at about 3 points per decade over the past couple of generations. In fact, the average...

...But there was good news, the president concluded: “I’m proud to report the achievement gap between white kids and minority students is closing... United States.” This contention — that the achievement gap is on its way to the dustbin of history — is one that Bush and Spellings have expressed frequently in the past year. And the gap better be closing: the law is coming up on its fifth anniversary. In just seven more years, if the promise of No Child Left Behind is going to be kept, the performances of white and black students have to be indistinguishable. But...

“Black. White.” Series premiere tonight at 10 on FX. Grade: B FX’s “Black. White.” proves idiots come in all colors. This “trading races” reality series from executive producers Ice Cube, R.J. Cutler and Matt Alavarez takes two families, one Caucasian, one African-American, and thanks to a skilled makeup job, switches their skin tones so they can experience how the other half lives - mired in patronizing stereotypes, judging from the debut (tonight at 10). The Sparks clan - 41-year-old contractor Brian; wife Renee, a 38-year-old office manager; and 17-year-old son Nick - are initially repulsed and amused by their transformations...

In one of the photos, a man wades through chest-deep waters with a large black bag filled with items from a grocery store. In another, two people wade through equally high waters, carrying bread and soda. They were just two out of hundreds of stunning images transmitted Tuesday, the day after Katrina ravaged New Orleans. What has drawn attention to these two photos, though, is their captions. In the first, the young man, who is black, is described as having "looted" the items. In the second, the pair, who are white or light-skinned, are described as "finding" the items. The...

"60 Minutes" strikes again. Earlier this month, the program broadcast a segment on international, "transracial" (black/white) adoptions involving American-born babies. It turns out, according to "60 Minutes," a growing number of families living out of the country now adopt American black babies. As for the reason, "60 Minutes" interviewed Walter Gilbert, CEO of The Open Door, a private adoption agency. Gilbert's agency has placed more than 200 American children in British Columbia. Many of these kids are black and are matched with white Canadian parents. Why? "Especially in Canada," Gilbert says, "people are just color-blind.... We would tend to tell...

Blair mauls Mugabe as Commonwealth faces black-white split By Anton La Guardia in Abuja (Filed: 05/12/2003) Tony Blair last night vowed to resist attempts to end Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth and accused African leaders seeking to rehabilitate President Robert Mugabe of "defending the indefensible".President Mugabe,/i> As he set off for the Commonwealth summit, which opens today in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, Mr Blair all but put Mr Mugabe in the same category as Saddam Hussein."I would like to see all regimes that oppress their people change," he said. "But you have to accept the limitations of what you...