America has made tremendous progress on race relations and we’re a long way from the eras of slavery and segregation; we’ve even had a black president. But the anti-American narrative CBS Mornings pushed on Friday would have viewers believe that America was only worth a pathetic letter grade of “C+” and that it would take a frightening “180 years” for there to be true “parity” between white and black Americans. That was... unless we enacted sweeping socialist policies.
CBS welcomed Marc Morial, president of the left-wing National Urban League and husband to CBS reporter Michelle Miller (which they did disclose), who brought with him the “State of Black America” report his organization published just that morning.
Convenient, right?
“Now, this report assesses how black Americans are faring economically and socially compared to white Americans. They gave it a score of just under 76 percent. 100 percent would be full equality,” co-anchor Gayle King announced. Chiding: “76 percent when I was in school was a C+, never great. I used to get in trouble for getting a grade of C+.”
Morial explained how the actual number crunchers at the National Urban League came to their determination that America was awful:
So, thanks for having me, and good morning. We look at 300 data sets, and those data sets include everything from unemployment rates, death rates, health insurance pickup rates, capital formation rates, and when we put them all together they are an index. And so, the status of white Americans is at one, and black Americans is a percentage of one.
So, the comparative would be –let's look at family income, median family income for blacks. Maybe $45,000, maybe for whites, $75,000. So that's a fundamental idea with the comparison is.
“And so, that 75 percent represents, Gayle, a little bit of a change over the last three or four years, but at that rate, we're 180 years away from parity,” he warned. “That's the number that drew my attention. 180 years. Why, Marc? How?” she implored him to explain.
Morial started throwing out liberal talking points hinting at Jim Crow 2.0 and whining about pushback to racist DEI programs:
I think one of the reasons is is because while there are those who push for progress, there have also been those who push against progress. Witnessed today, the over 1,000 bills that have been introduced at state legislatures to make it more difficult for people to vote. Witness today the effort to, in effect, push back on DEI which is simply an effort to push back on equal economic opportunity.
“I mean, there is a resistance movement to the kinds of change that the nation needs. And there was one in 1964, and there's one in 2024, and it’s intensified,” he lamented.
Then came the policy solution. “Yeah. 180 years seems like a daunting number to look at…Is there a way for us to narrow that gap in those areas quicker than that?” co-anchor Nate Burleson wanted to know.
In addition to the liberal talking points about voting, he wanted policies that would take “a hard, hard line to address the issues of economics, poverty, the economic divide, and the racial wealth divide.” He wanted something akin to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society and the War on Poverty; socialist spending programs which only served to make things worse.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CBS Mornings
March 1, 2024
7:30:22 a.m. Eastern(…)
GAYLE KING: That, of course, was addressing the country right before he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. That landmark piece of legislation made it illegal to discriminate based on race and color, religion, sex, and national origin. 60 years later, the National Urban League says there's still work to be done.
It is all outlined in his 2024 state of black America report that comes out today. Now, this report assesses how black Americans are faring economically and socially compared to white Americans. They gave it a score of just under 76 percent. 100 percent would be full equality.
The president of the National Urban League, Marc Morial, joins us at the table. Good morning to you.
MARC MORIAL: Good morning. Great to be with you all.
KING: You're well-known in this building. Also known as Michelle Miller’s better half.
MORIAL: Mrs. Michelle Miller.
KING: Mr. Michelle Miller, if you please. We’re very glad to have you.
MORIAL: Appreciate it.
KING: 76 percent when I was in school was a C+, never great. I used to get in trouble for getting a grade of C+. How did you come up with this score? What exactly does it mean?
MORIAL: So, thanks for having me, and good morning. We look at 300 data sets, and those data sets include everything from unemployment rates, death rates, health insurance pickup rates, capital formation rates, and when we put them all together they are an index. And so, the status of white Americans is at one, and black Americans is a percentage of one.
So, the comparative would be –let's look at family income, median family income for blacks. Maybe $45,000, maybe for whites, $75,000. So that's a fundamental idea with the comparison is. And so, that 75 percent represents, Gayle, a little bit of a change over the last three or four years, but at that rate we're 180 years away from parity.
KING: That's the number that drew my attention. 180 years. Why, Marc? How?
MORIAL: Let's say this, the Civil Rights Act of '64 that President Johnson signed has had a dramatic impact on America. Look at you and Nate. Look at others who work here at CBS. It's just an example. There were no blacks, there were no women sitting at any anchor desk in 1964.
I think one of the reasons is is because while there are those who push for progress, there have also been those who push against progress. Witnessed today, the over 1,000 bills that have been introduced at state legislatures to make it more difficult for people to vote. Witness today the effort to, in effect, push back on DEI which is simply an effort to push back on equal economic opportunity.
KING: Yeah.
MORIAL: I mean, there is a resistance movement to the kinds of change that the nation needs. And there was one in 1964, and there's one in 2024, and it’s intensified.
NATE BURLESON: Yeah. 180 years seems like a daunting number to look at.
MORIAL: Yes.
KING: Because none of us will be here.
BURLESON: Right.
KING: In this room.
BURLESON: Right. Is there a way for us to narrow that gap in those areas quicker than that?
MORIAL: I think we could accelerate by, number one, ensuring that the access to the right to vote and democracy is unfettered. Number two, by taking a hard, hard line to address the issues of economics, poverty, the economic divide, and the racial wealth divide. I think we also can make a difference if we focus on children. For example, the child tax credit, which passed in the early days of the Biden administration but then expired, cut child poverty by one half in a short period of time.
Are there things that we can do? Look, what's dramatic is that the Civil Rights Act of '64, the Voting Rights Act of '65, the great society programs in the middle 1960s probably cut the American poverty rate in half in a 15-year period. So can we? Yes.
BURLESON: There are ways.
MORIAL: There are ways.
(…)
