6 2018 STATE OF BLACK AMERICA®The first State of Black America®, published in 1976, was painstakingly typed on typewriters. There were no easy fixes for mistakes. Today’s backspace or delete key options were yesteryear’s liquid white out or white out ribbon. The same year that the National Urban League began tracking racial equality in America, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple computers. Over the ensuing four decades, publishing the State of Black America has become remarkably easier and efficient, thanks to today’s advances in technology—but the goal of racial equality in America can often feel as far-fetched a reality as the dream of pocket-sized, portable phones in 1976. Despite the undeniable—yet slow—gains of African Americans and Hispanics, a significant portion of the equality pie is missing. Income disparities remain a distressing hallmark of our economy with African Americans and Hispanics earning a median household income of $38,555 and $46,882, respectively, compared to a white median household income of $63,155. People of color are persistently under or unemployed. Nationally, African Americans have the highest unemployment rate at 7.5 percent, followed by Hispanics at 5.1 percent. The work we do today to narrow our nation’s long existing racial gaps in income, wealth and educational attainment will be powered and profoundly shaped by the global 21st century digital revolution; success will be determined by our access to and strategic use of emerging technologies. Historically, while great industrial breakthroughs have profited our nation, African Americans have often been exploited, rather than elevated by these advancements. Blacks could not participate in the farming revolution at its start because they were enslaved. During Reconstruction (roughly from 1865–1877), free Blacks struggled to keep the property they owned and were largely unable to afford farming’s new and expensive tools. While white farmers increased crop yields and cultivated their wealth, Blacks were relegated to the sidelines, watching as opportunities for economic self-reliance and generational wealth building passed them by.The industrial revolution, highlighted by the rapid development of railroads, steel mills and advanced manufacturing, would be the next great era. Despite the period’s economic opportunity, African Americans—once again—found themselves on the outside looking in. As the Great Migration relocated Blacks from the rural South to the North’s bustling cities with no housing, access to jobs and little more than the clothes on their backs, the National Urban League and its mission of economic empowerment was born. FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK6 2018 STATE OF BLACK AMERICA®BY MARC H. MORIAL, PRESIDENT & CEO, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE
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