Judy A. Smith: Ask Judy: 'I Didn't Go To School For This'
What You May Not Know About The Fight Against AIDS
In an article for TheGrio.com, Ms. Morris asks whether or not black unemployment should be considered a serious human rights issue.. At last count, black unemployment was at 16.5 percent, nearly twice the overall unemployment rate of 9.7 percent for the entire country. Black male unemployment exceeds 19 percent, and black teen unemployment is roughly 41 percent. The magnitude of this problem reminds us that perhaps we should reconsider how we frame the issue so that we can properly understand what it's going to take to solve this problem.
I like the way Morris couches the unemployment issue in terms of human rights because it reminds us that human rights violations don't just occur overseas. They also occur in the United States. The United Nations is seriously considering investigating human rights abuses within the US as they pertain to African Americans, primarily because in America, we have a two-tiered society. African Americans are several times more likely to go to prison than whites, we do not get adequate funding for schools in our communities, and we are far more likely to be in the unemployment line. For some reason, we have a multitude of elected officials who simply accept the disparities as they are, rather than making it a priority to correct them.
President Obama, in his persistent commitment to not directly address these problems aggressively, finds himself in a political quandary. If he does what's right and deals with the human rights problem of black unemployment, his work will be consistent with his core liberal values. At the same time, the systemic structures that created and maintain these abuses are the very same structures that give Obama the power that he has. Therefore, it may take outside intervention to shame the Obama Administration into taking the black unemployment situation seriously.
Morris goes on to mention that the differentials in black vs. white unemployment are not simply due to African Americans having less skill or education. She shows that even for African Americans with a college degree, their unemployment rate (8.4 percent), is nearly double that of educated whites (4.4 percent). I've personally witnessed the discrimination challenges of educated African Americans, as I saw my university attempt to explain why my academic department hasn't granted tenure or promotion to any black man in over 100 years of existence. I could understand why I was passed over (for being too controversial -- business schools don't like black men like me), but to say that no black man in the history of the world is or was qualified for a certain job is a bit ridiculous and delusional. The bottom line is that many of us go through this frustration, and the "angry black middle class" is alive and kicking.
I hope that the United Nations continues to dig into this issue. We also plan to drill into similar matters at the Institute for Black Public Policy. When it's all said and done, the "permanent black depression" is not something we should accept. If America is going to be a country that lives up to it's values, then it is critical that we remind our political leaders to do the hard work necessary to make America fair and just for everyone: This work must be done by all of us, even if our president is black.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book, "Black American Money." To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (41)
Add a comment
By: Bojangles on 7/19/2010 7:35PM
NAg, bitch, moan , complain, I think the goverment is putting sometype of "lazy" drug in black comunities drinking water. this "lazy" drug makes black males sit around da house smokin da chronic and playing da San Adreas on playstation, . ME a blak man work? when the heat gets hot in tha kitchen ill go to prison so the white man can take care of me , mama you find your own job im kicking it wit da homies in the pen.
Reply to this Comment | Report This