On Thursday, the National Urban League released its 2015 State of Black America Report, with a single word best describing the current situation – “crisis.”
The Report comes in the midst of ongoing tensions between law enforcement officers who continue to shoot Black men and teens, an assault on voting rights, widening wealth and income gaps between Blacks and whites, and ongoing disparities in education.
“Black America is in crisis – a jobs crisis, an education crisis and a justice crisis,” National Urban League’s President and CEO Marc Morial, told CBS.
Entitled “2015 State of Black America ‘Save Our Cities: Education, Jobs +Justice,'” the report presents the 2015 Equality Index which, for the first time includes a special feature on state-level K-12 education, and tracks for racial equality between Blacks-Whites and Hispanics-Whites.
According to the Executive Summary, the 2015 Black-White Index stands at 72.2% compared to a revised 71.5% for 2014. The Hispanic-White Index is 77.7%, up from 75.8 percent one year ago.
While there were modest improvements in the Black-White Index owing to increases in the social justice index, the Report notes that unemployment and home ownership gaps widened.
The Report, which includes ‘The State of Education Equality Index’ also points to ongoing disparities in education in both the K-12 and higher education system and the “separate and unequal levels of expectations and resources in our schools,” which break down along economic and largely color lines.
“The 2015 State of Black America® – ‘Save Our Cities: Education, Jobs + Justice’ – and its corresponding Equality Index findings are a clarion call that a more comprehensive, inclusive and on-the-ground recovery is necessary to ensure a healthy future for our nation and that we cannot expect to successfully move forward when we are leaving so many behind,” added Morial.
The Report offers a number of insightful solutions across critical areas including, job creation, transportation, education, city revitalization and criminal justice.
See the full 2015 State of Black America -‘Save Our Cities: Education, Jobs + Justice’ Report HERE.
