Progress Report: A Divided Dream

January 18, 2008

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, and Ali Frick Contact Us | Tell-a-Friend | Archives | Permalink

ECONOMY

A Divided Dream

In 1994, Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a national day of service, in order to "bring together people who might not ordinarily meet" and "break down barriers that have divided us in the past." Unfortunately, over recent years, some of those barriers have increased, and the divide between African-Americans and whites on economic and health issues has widened. Under Bush's tenure, economic gains have been tilted significantly towards the wealthy at the expense of lower-income minorities. "How have African Americans fared since conservatives have been in charge of the economy? Not very well. Their increases across key economic indicators have been slower under Bush as compared to the 1990s." Today, in the shadow of MLK Day, President Bush is unveiling an economic stimulus package that takes some steps in the right direction but fails to do enough for the economy or help those most in need.

AN ECONOMY FOR THE PRIVILEGED: In the wake of poor economic indicators, the White House has tried to focus on more positive aspects of the economy. For example, Bush proclaimed in late December: "Unemployment is a low 4.7 percent. ... And the fundamentals of our economy are strong." But unemployment isn't "low" for African-Americans, and the "fundamentals" of the economy look very different from the perspective of many African-Americans. In 2007, the unemployment level of African-Americans stood at a distressing 8.3 percent, while for white Americans, it hovered at 4.1 percent. These levels have increased by an average of 0.2 percent each year under Bush after declining in the 1990s. Furthermore, more African-Americans were mired more deeply in poverty in 2006 than in 2000, in contrast to the strong improvement of the 1990s. In 2006, African Americans' median income was $32,132 -- $2,603 lower than their median income of $34,735 in 2000. Between 2000 and 2006, the number of employed African Americans grew on average by just 0.7 percent annually, compared to 2.8 percent between 1992 and 2000. Fortunately, last year, Congress raised the minimum wage, and minority women will most likely be amongst the biggest beneficiaries. Fully 33 percent of women earning minimum wage are African-American or Hispanic.

HOMEOWNERSHIP WOES: The recent housing crisis has disproportionately affected blacks, as they are traditionally more likely to get a mortgage loan from a sub-prime than a prime lender. For example, "African-Americans of all income levels were twice as likely or more than twice as likely to receive high-cost loans as whites" in 171 metropolitan areas in 2005, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Furthermore, the increase in African-American homeownership has been slower under Bush than in the 1990s. For example, "the homeownership rate for whites increased three times faster than the homeownership rate for African-Americans between 2000 and 2006." During this time, the homeownership rate for African-Americans increased by an average annual growth rate of just 0.1 percent. Compare this number to the 1990s, when African-Americans' homeownership rate increased by an average annual growth rate of 0.8 percent from 1994 to 2000.

ONGOING LACK OF HEALTH INSURANCE: Under Bush's watch, the percent of African-Americans without health insurance has increased from 18.5 percent to 20.5 percent. In the fight against AIDS, for example -- a disease that disproportionately affects African-Americans -- Bush has failed to address the issue in the eyes of the African-American community. Forty-nine percent say the United States is "losing ground" on the domestic AIDS epidemic; half also say that HIV/AIDS is a more urgent problem in their community than it was a few years ago. The new Congress has made strides in addressing some of these disparities. Legislation such as the State Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization -- which Bush vetoed twice, thereby depriving four million children of health care -- is crucial for covering African-American uninsured children. Meanwhile, the administration is doing its best to impede efforts to improve coverage for low-income African-Americans and other groups, blocking efforts by Ohio and other states to expand Medicaid coverage.