The National Urban League, founded in 1910 to spur the economic progress of black people, released its “State of Black America” report this week with a call for a stronger federal jobs bill, writes The Washington Post.
The jobs measure passed by Congress last week does not do enough to raise employment prospects in poor communities, Marc H. Morial, chief of the Urban League, said Wednesday in unveiling the annual study.
Since 1974, when the league began tracking racial and economic disparity yearly, median black family income as a proportion of white earnings has risen only slightly, from 58 to 62 percent, and African Americans are nearly twice as likely as whites to be jobless.
As the Urban League celebrates its centennial, Mr. Morial said the group would run a new campaign called “I am empowered.”
The effort asks black Americans to pledge to achieve four goals by 2025: Prepare every child for college and make sure every worker has access to a living wage, quality health care, and safe housing.
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0 Responses to Economic Equality Still Century-Old Urban League’s Top Priority
iqheinrich - March 26, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Equality and Equal Opportunity are contradictory terms. The former depends upon an overseer’s favor. The latter depends upon one’s personal quest.The former generates jealousy and hatred. The latter generates hope and self esteem.