Art of Life/Donna Parker
Looking at Progress in Black History
February as Black History Month, honors the African American people’s rich range of experiences, struggles and achievements throughout our American history and into the modern day.
“The time is always right to do what is right.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while assisting striking sanitation workers. Back then, over a half century ago, the 1964 Civil Rights Act
was just beginning to chip away at discrimination in education, jobs and public facilities. Black voters had only obtained legal protections two years earlier and the 1968 Fair Housing Act was about to become law. African-Americans were only beginning to move into neighborhoods, colleges and careers once reserved for whites only.
To anyone younger than 50, it probably sounds in some ways like another world. Numerous African Americans now hold positions of power, from mayor to governor to corporate chief executive —– and, yes, once upon a time, president. The U.S. is a very different place than it was in 1968.
“Do we care to match the reality of America to its ideals?” —Barack Obama
As we honor leaders in Black History this month, the battles they led for civil rights may seem like relics of a past era. Or is it? While some things have improved markedly for Black Americans in the past 50-odd years, today we are still fighting many of the same battles as Dr. King did in his day.
So, how far have Black people progressed since 1968? Have we gotten our fair share yet? Those questions have been on my mind a lot this month and in some ways, we have barely budged as a people.
Today’s Black poverty rate of 21 percent is almost three times that of whites. Compared to the 1968 rate of 32 percent, there has not been a huge improvement. Financial security, too, still differs dramatically by race. In 2018, Black households earned $57.30 for every $100 in income earned by white families. And for every $100 in white family wealth, black families held just $5.04.
Let’s go deeper into this situation with a few contrasting numbers:
60 and 2.2.
In 1940, 60 percent of employed Black women worked as domestic servants; today the number is down to 2.2 percent, while 60 percent hold white-collar jobs.
44 and 1.
In 1958, 44 percent of white people said they would move if a Black family became their next door neighbor; today the figure is 1 percent.
18 and 86.
In 1964, the year the great Civil Rights Act was passed, only 18 percent of whites claimed to have a friend who was Black; today 86 percent say they do, while 87 percent of Blacks assert they have white friends.
There are, of course, positive trends. Today, far more African Americans graduate from college — 38 percent – than they did 50 years ago. Our incomes are also way up. Black adults experienced a more significant income increase from 1989 to 2016 — from $28,667 to $39,490 — more than any other U.S. demographic group. Leading to why there is now a significant Black middle class. Also, legally, African-Americans can live in any community they want.
Progress is the largely suppressed story of race and race relations over the past half-century. And thus it is news that more than 40 percent of African Americans now consider themselves members of the middle class. 42 percent own their own homes, a figure that rises to 75 percent if we look just at Black married couples. Black two-parent families earn only 13 percent less than their white counterparts.
Black progress over the past halfcentury has been impressive, conventional wisdom to the contrary notwithstanding. And yet our nation has many miles to go on the road to true racial equality.
“I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories, but as I look around I see that even educated whites and African Americans…have lost hope in equality,” Thurgood Marshall said in 1992.
“Stretch your mind and fly.” — Whitney M. Young, Jr.
The celebration of Black History Month in Madison provides numerous opportunities for people of any background to understand and celebrate the gains of the past. Thus, providing all the opportunity to move into the future with the optimism, insight, and energy.
