Tavis Smiley’s 10th annual State of the Black Union will be held next weekend in Los Angeles. In these difficult economic times, the attendees can save money by reading a new report from the Center for American Progress.
The report, “Minorities and the Labor Market in the Recession by the Numbers,” concludes:
Even before the recession struck, minorities faced a more precarious economic situation than whites, especially in the labor market. Now, 13 months into the downturn, it is clear that they have been hit hard.
The numbers include:
- 12.6 percent: The unemployment rate for African Americans in January 2009, an increase of 3.7 percentage points since December 2007 and the highest level since 1994.
- 43.8 percent: The increase in the number of unemployed African Americans from December 2007 to January 2009. In January 2009, 2.2 million African Americans were unemployed.
- 55.4 percent: The share of the African-American population that had a job in January 2009, 2.4 percentage points lower than in December 2007 and the lowest level since 1994.
- $593: The usual median weekly earnings of African American workers in the fourth quarter of 2008 (in 2008 dollars)—$148.57 less than white workers’ usual median weekly earnings during the same period.
The state of the black union: black folks got it bad and that ain’t good.
BTW, Wells Fargo is the “title sponsor” of Tavis’ talkfest. I may tune in to see whether he acknowledges their role in creating the home foreclosure crisis. After all, Tavis is big on holding folks accountable.
Will Tavis ask Wells Fargo to give an accounting of what it did with the $25 billion in TARP funds it received? American taxpayers and curious minds at the Congressional Oversight Committee and the Government Accountability Office want to know.
Tavis could also ask the $700 billion question: Should the Federal government nationalize troubled banks like Wells Fargo.
Just asking.
