Wednesday's NBC Nightly News highlighted the downbeat “State of Black America 2009” report, but failed to identify the group behind it, the National Urban League, as liberal nor note the left-wing policy prescriptions recommended in the report. Though NBC anchor Brian Williams acknowledged Barack Obama's election “was a reminder of the great strides this nation has made in race relations,” he warned that “today there was a reminder of how much work remains to be done to heal what has long been this nation's greatest wound.”
Reporter Ron Mott explained: “Two months on the job, President Obama today got a sobering message about the state of black America, detailed in the National Urban League's annual assessment of racial progress.” National Urban League President Marc Morial, the former Democratic Mayor of New Orleans, then charged: “The country's in a ditch, and black Americans have lost ground over the last eight years. Those are the facts, and those facts are not lies.”
Mott recited several metrics about black Americans, including how they are “more than six times as likely to be in prison” -- hardly something that President Bush caused -- before vaguely referring to how “today's report offers 31 recommendations to the President -- everything from mortgage counseling to health care, so that more blacks might see their dreams become reality.” Those recommendations, however, are a litany of left-wing, big government ideas, from “guarantee that all three- and four-year olds have access to full day, developmentally appropriate, high quality early childhood education” to “implement a comprehensive and universal health insurance system for all Americans.”
Much of the report is made up of essays, such as:
“Nothing Trickles Down: How Reaganomics Failed America” by William E. Spriggs, professor and chair of the department of economics at Howard University, examines the damaging aspects of Reaganomics, and how it was economically detrimental to African-Americans.
The report costs $19.95, but you can read the full list of essay topics and the recommendations in the Executive Summary.
The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide this transcript of the story on the Wednesday, March 25 NBC Nightly News:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: In that news conference we televised last night, President Obama was asked about his role as the nation's first African-American President. He noted he had about a day to think about it before he had to get to work, and it was a reminder of the great strides this nation has made in race relations. But today there was a reminder of how much work remains to be done to heal what has long been this nation's greatest wound. More from NBC's Ron Mott.RON MOTT: Two months on the job, President Obama today got a sobering message about the state of black America, detailed in the National Urban League's annual assessment of racial progress.
MARC MORIAL, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: The country's in a ditch, and black Americans have lost ground over the last eight years. Those are the facts, and those facts are not lies.
MOTT: According to the report, blacks are three times more likely to live in poverty as whites, more than six times as likely to be in prison, and blacks lag behind in home ownership and median household income.
ANN COMPTON OF ABC NEWS, AT PRESS CONFERENCE: Could I ask you about race?
BARACK OBAMA: You may.
MOTT: During his prime time news conference Tuesday night, the President was asked whether race played a role in any of the policy debates under way at the White House.
OBAMA: Obviously, at the inauguration, I think that there was justifiable pride on the part of the country that we had taken a step to move us beyond some of the searing legacies of racial discrimination in this country, but that lasted about a day.
MOTT: What's lasted longer, according to the report, is the slow but steady widening of the gap between whites and blacks in recent years on priority issues like economics, education and jobs. Soaring unemployment among African-Americans is also high on the list of priorities. In February, that number hit 13.4 percent, even worse for black men -- more than 16 percent, twice the national average. There are, of course, exceptions. Since we profiled her new personal fitness business in Atlanta a year ago, Amber O'Neill has doubled her work force.
AMBER O'NEILL, FITNESS TRAINER: What I've got right now is what I dreamed about, but when I got here, my dreams got bigger.
MOTT: Today's report offers 31 recommendations to the President -- everything from mortgage counseling to health care, so that more blacks might see their dreams become reality, too. Ron Mott, NBC News, Atlanta.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
70% of children born out of wedlock among African Americans
March 26, 2009 - 01:36 ET by RpeggioWhy don't they listen to the likes of the cold hard fact truth tellers like Bill Cosby and even Obama at times, and take a hard look at the real problems in their communities. The National Urban League comes out with that report the same week the report comes out that 70% children being born out of wedlock among African Americans! And the links between crime, poverty, and single-motherhood know no colors, it's a lousy formula for children of any racial group.
And how about the insane homicide rates in Detroit, Chicago etc., and many being black on black unfortunately....it's horrific yet I see little outcry about that every night on the news? Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson must not see the PR bonanza and money to be made in tackling that problem. The black on black homicide figures in Chicago and Detroit are larger than the military death toll for American soldiers in Afghanistan! It should be headline news material every week until it's fixed, but it's not.
And the ironic thing is that our new President was neck deep in those high black on black murder rates in Chicago....what did he accomplish while organizing communities and as their Senator? Zilch...matter of fact, the homicide rate went up during his tenure there. So get off the high horse, roll up your sleeves Urban League, Al, Jesse etc. and address the real problems....70% out of wedlock mothers having babies, usually with no father in sight, and kids killing each other in the streets at escalating alarming rates. That's an ugly report for Brian Williams to give and hard for him to just bash Republicans on, but as Cosby and even Obama has said, they have to deal with the real problems in their communities, in this country as a whole.
And they may want to take a look at gangsta rap and after school activities and what kids are involved in during and after school....they gotta wake-up, too many kids are dying and throwing more money into schools doesn't solve everything all by itself.
Rpeg...
March 26, 2009 - 02:03 ET by HillbillyKingThis may seem cynical, but I think it's a case of cure v/s treatment.
What I mean is, if Jesse an Al and everyone else actually "cured" what ills the black population then they're workin themselves out of a job so to speak.
But, if they just talk and take little or NO action then they are "treating" the problems and thereby ensuring constant "employment".
Of course I've vastly oversimplified the situation. Yet, I'm at a loss to explain how/why when the answers are so evident why/how no action is taken if not for the fact that the powers that be truly do not want to solve the problem.
I just can't shake the feeling that with this, as with so much else that plagues society, "we" are just treating the symptoms instead of curing the disease.
If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you.
Don Marquis 1878-1937
Ya know...
March 26, 2009 - 01:47 ET by HillbillyKingIf most black Americans followed this guy's advice, then the rest of the "recommendations" provided in the SBA would pointless:(from the abstract section)
ESSAY 12
WEALTH FOR LIFE
By Earl G. Graves, Jr.
Black Enterprise Magazine
Racial barriers and attitudes traditionally have complicated African Americans’path toward financial empowerment, with the ramifications reaching well beyond our earning power. However, if we are able to close the wealth gap—the stubborn imbalance in the net worth of African Americans versus that of white Americans—then we can finally begin to bridge those other persistent disparities and cure the ills that plague our community. If we ever hope to strengthen our families, communities and institutions, then we must adopt and apply principles to build, keep and transfer wealth. The following 10 principles are designed as a set of guidelines for creating wealth in the midst of the day’s economic challenges—wealth that can be maintained and passed on for the benefit of future generations.
1. Live within your means;
2. Maximize your income potential through education and training;
3. Effectively manage your budget, credit, debt and tax obligations.
4. Save at least 10 percent of your income;
5. Use homeownership as a foundation for building wealth;
6. Devise an investment plan for retirement needs and children’s education;
7. Ensure that your entire family adheres to sensible money management principles;
8. Support the creation and growth of minority-owned businesses;
9. Guarantee that your wealth is passed on to future generations through proper insurance and estate planning;
10. Strengthen your community through philanthropy.
(e.m.)
Otherwise, it seems like the recommendations are just callin for more of the same failed policies that have created the problems in the first place.
It's difficult to pity a populace that deifies the very leaders that continue to oppress them.
If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you.
Don Marquis 1878-1937
Yup
March 26, 2009 - 02:07 ET by RpeggioThose are words everyone should live by.
And you're spot on about focusing on the true core problems and not just the symptoms....and the fact that the Sharpton's and Jackson's, on the whole, aren't that interested in the cure.
As Chris Rock says, the money's not in the cure, it's in the medicine!
Racism is big business...
March 26, 2009 - 05:54 ET by jdripperFrom Al Sharpton, to Jesse Jackson, to white liberals there are too many people making money from racism for it to ever be declared dead and gone. Not just making money, but big money.
Jesse Jackson makes almost a half million dollars a year and Sharpton makes even more. The staff of the National Urban League would have to get real jobs and actually do something productive if racism was declared finished.
What the country needs again is another Daniel Moynihan no wait silly me he was white. We all know that whites cannot be trusted to tell the truth on racism.
Jack
"If at age 20 you are a conservative then you have no heart. If at age 30 you are a liberal then you have no brains." Sir Winston Churchill
Walter Williams once made a
March 26, 2009 - 06:47 ET by gopsteveWalter Williams once made a great point...I paraphrase...
If you could wave a magic wand and make racism go away...how much better off would "Black America" be?
It's easier to blame than to take responsibility.
oh no no no no no
March 26, 2009 - 07:05 ET by AJBHey... with the election of Comrade Glorious Supreme Leader for Life Obama, blacks were to RISE out of their funk. Obama was supposed to CHANGE their life in extraordinary ways. You mean he HASN'T? Why the people I saw interviewed on TV were certain they'd all get money, TVs, new cars, better homes... all for voting for Comrade Leader.
You mean that hasn't happened? What? They have to earn their way in life just like the rest of us? Why, that's RACIST. No person of color can expect to compete in today's society. They must be given everything they have. Isn't that what I hear from Jessee Jackson and that airbag Sharpton? Hmmm... all my friends of color who work hard, save, invest in their future and their children will be SO confused.
It is all Bush's fault....
March 26, 2009 - 07:11 ET by scootr29It is all Bush's fault....
mission statement :
March 26, 2009 - 07:12 ET by AgnosticThe new media mission statement:
Lower the bars across the board so the Obama administration can bask in the glory of their victories.
The way the media has talked about foreign relations, the media and domestic issues in America the Obama administration merely has to not screw things up and the media can easily make him a success. Unfortunately the inclinations of social upheavel and community unrest will not lay dormant and President will feel the need to take actions. Even with the best intentions if you start from such a morally and intellectually dishonest position of the 'Community Organizer' then you are likely to fail.
A person may be won over with logic and reason but the masses must be bought with spectacle and platitudes. - 2008 Elections
Baltimore helps set the bar
March 26, 2009 - 07:25 ET by BKeyserI don't know about other cities, but I would be surprised if my hometown of Baltimore isn't a pretty solid representation of the State of Black America.
Tons of money is poured into the educational system and yet in Baltimore City, where the population of students is 89% Black, the reading and math scores continue to lag behind other districts by as much as 10 points.
So why is this the case? Maybe because in Baltimore at least (and while I don't know the actual facts, I'd suspect Detroit might also qualify), residents vote in crooked (yeah I know, they're all crooked, but these guys and gals are mob-like crooked) pols who steal from the coffers and sacrifice their own constituents for the sake of some political power. Sheila Dixon, Mayor of Baltimore City, is the perfect example.
Conditions are horrible- drugs being the main culprit, but the residents sit back and watch as their own elected officials steps on their heads on the way to...what? Jail? It's sad really.
And on top of all that- somehow, White America is blamed. Statistics don't lie- the funding is there, the hope is there, but the desire to change is not. If Black America wants to rid itself of the very real problems it faces, it needs to begin by cleaning up it's own house. Otherwise, all it will ever see is more money thrown it's way, which merely fuels -rather than douse the fires.
a new reality
March 26, 2009 - 08:13 ET by AJBJohn Stossel (ck sp) did a great report. He went to NY and interviewed business people there who were black and, appaently, very successful. BUT, they were immigrants, not saddled or shackled with the Jessee (shake-em-down) Jackson or Al (everybody hate me) Sharpton mentality of 'I'm black so you MUST be racist'. He asked them why then suceeded where other blacks born in this country couldn't make a go of it. Their answer? Simple. Where they come from, if you don't work, you don't eat.
Its time we stop using the 'I'm Black' excuse and have everyone start pulling their own weight. End affirmative action (which probably got Comrade Glorious Supreme Leader for Life Obama into law school and definitely go Colin Powell his stars in the Air Force). End special treatment. Treat everyone fairly and the same. And if you believe that, they call you a racist because they don't want their shakedown to end :-)
Uhbama and the Urban League
March 26, 2009 - 08:05 ET by HockeyKidUhbama and the Urban League both know that they can't afford to admit that racist excuses don't hold water anymore. It's already been mentioned that racism is big business in America. It's true, and the race hucksters know it.
As for Uhbama, he can't function on a minute-by-minute basis without having someone to blame for his troubles. He can't open his mouth without blaming President Bush for everything, even situations of his own making. He also needs The Spectre of Racism as a shibboleth with which to beat anyone who dares suggest he's not doing a good job. It's just like "post-partisanship"--there's no such thing in the world of Barry Uh, though he'll tell you otherwise.
He's a socialist, a fraud, a liar, and a con artist. Who cares whether he's the product of two races--or two baboons, or two weasels for that matter?
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
I could care less about the
March 26, 2009 - 09:38 ET by dborschjr68I could care less about the state of "black America", to be quite honest.
We all know that if this article was about the "state of white America", it would obviously be racist and hateful.
It's times like this I wish the Spanish, the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the English, wouldn't have involved themselves in the slave trade via their sea-faring abilities, taking slaves from Africa that were the result of African tribal civil wars. (Tribe A defeats Tribe B, sells the men and women and children to the traders, and look for more tribes to conquer and sell.)
I have yet to see any fruit that has developed from slave trading. It was a senseless endeavor. And look at what it has done to America ever since.
======================
Brace yourself
For the backlash
Of your ignorance.
Make no mistake,
March 26, 2009 - 13:56 ET by IamTinmanMake no mistake, this report WAS about "the state of white America", as viewed through the eyes of the Urban League. The average african-american will never see or read this report, but academics and government policy wonks will wave it around as proof of racism and neglect. disregarding the billions spent on failed entitlement and quota systems.
There are millions of hardworking african-americans who are every bit as important to this nation as any other citizen, but the media and self aggrandizing leeches like Jackson and Sharpton will never let their stories and successes be told. They would rather portray them as poor and downtrodden lest we tighten the federal purse strings and knock them off their gravy train.
If I was to wish for something it would be that we quit concentrating on those things that separate us, but focus instead on those traits that most americans of any background have in common. A desire to build a better life for ourselves and those who follow us, while recognizing that nothing is going to be free, there will be a price to be paid for achieving the american dream.
When are people going to
March 26, 2009 - 09:36 ET by rowdygirlWhen are people going to finally realize that THEY are responsible for their own actions? Apparently because I'm white, I am causing blacks to go to jail, be unemployed and never be able to buy a house. WOW ! I had no idea I had so much power.
I'm a divorced, 48 yr old white female, working an administrative job and trying to get by. I live from paycheck to paycheck. There is very little left over after paying the necessisties. I didn't go to college and I can't afford to go now because I'm ineligible for loans and grants. I don't have 14 children so I can't qualify for a free education, and I make too much money for public assistance.
So.. since I'm not black, who do I get to blame for missing my share of the American Dream?
rowdygirl
March 26, 2009 - 09:43 ET by sherylsimsSome people are never going to learn that they are responsible for their own actions, because nobody is even trying to teach them. In their view of reality if you have more kids, you get more welfare, and if you buy a house you can't afford you get bailed out because "everyone deserves a chance" or some other bullcrap. Nobody NEEDS to learn accountability for their actions because there is always a nanny government program standing by with a tissue and a handout. There isn't even a sense of stigma to taking the stuff anymore. Society has taught them it is their birthright to be cared for in every way with no giving back necessary. No learning because that isn't in the agenda.
rowdygirl...
March 26, 2009 - 09:46 ET by dborschjr68"So.. since I'm not black, who do I get to blame for missing my share of the American Dream?"
You could always play the Hillary Clinton card and say that your life is rough because you are a woman in a man's world. After all, it is a well-known fact that all men oppress women in matters of business. At least, that's what the left has told me for years, so it must be true.
Maybe you should lose your job and apply for unemployment, as it seems to be a very chic and "in" thing to do these days. Think of all the time you could now spend doing nothing, and getting paid for it.
And no one on the left would slight you, as it is glaringly obvious to them that you simply couldn't compete against the oppressive and dictatorial men in the business world. They would champion your cause, feel your pain, and reward your victim mentality.
rowdy, of course I'm being sarcastic. The answer to your question is "No one". True, moral, and solid Americans never look to blame anyone for their situations, regardless of gender or race. You are definitely counted among that group.
======================
Brace yourself
For the backlash
Of your ignorance.
Lets see now
March 26, 2009 - 10:43 ET by cvgbuckeyeLets see now. Its been one hundred and forty four years since the abolition of slavery in the U S. I am 63 years old and the most recent of my relatives to have ever witnessed it personally would have been my great, great, great, great grandfather, as a child.
Lets see now. It has now been 45 years since Lyndon Johnson's great society which was designed, along with civil rights legislation (to replicate laws that were already on the books), equal opportunity laws (to replicate laws that were already on the books), racial quota policies, trillions spent on welfare.
So where are we today? The NFL and the NBA and college athletics are dominated by African American athletes of whom 70% know little if anything of who their fathers are, obviously not of their own faults. AND according to most "Black Leaders", we are in worse condition than ever. AND you know what; that is the only thing that they are right about.
Soooooooooo; what should we do now, where do we go from here? Lets see if we can spend even more money and then it follows that it will get even worse;RIGHT!!!
OR, we can elect a Marxist, black president to supplement a Marxist cogress and news media that will throw us into socialism at best and communism at least and fascism by his wishes. That way, we can ALL move back to the 1800's and we can ALL be enslaved.
Good idea!
Racism
March 26, 2009 - 15:16 ET by slickwillie2001When a White Congressional Congress is allowed, America will be over racism.
HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE
March 26, 2009 - 22:13 ET by WesenHOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE "LE-A"???
Teachers can especially appreciate this.
OKAY. How would you pronounce this child's name:
"Le-a" ???
Leah?? NO
Lee - A?? NOPE
Lay - a?? NO
Lei?? Guess Again.
This child attends a school in Livingston Parish, LA. Her mother is
irate because everyone is getting her name wrong. It's pronounced
"Ledasha". When the Mother was asked about the pronunciation of
the name, she said, "The dash don't be silent."
SO, if you see something come across your desk like this, please
remember to pronounce the dash. If dey axe you why, tell dem `the
dash don't be silent.`
It's unproven whether this
March 26, 2009 - 22:19 ET by balboaIt's unproven whether this is true, actually, according to Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/racial/language/le-a.asp
Wow wierd
March 26, 2009 - 22:35 ET by general companyThis child attends a school in Livingston Parish, LA.
I am currently in Livingston, and I think I know her mother? Ledasha? Could be french for fast runner? : ]
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg