Relevant Articles and Reports

Blacks See Growing Values Gap Between Poor and Middle Class
Optimism about Black Progress Declines

Pew Research Center

Released: November 13, 2007

Report Summary

African Americans see a widening gulf between the values of middle class and poor blacks, and nearly four-in-ten say that because of the diversity within their community, blacks can no longer be thought of as a single race, a new Pew Research Center survey has found. The survey also finds blacks less upbeat about the state of black progress now than at any time since 1983. Looking backward, just one-in-five blacks say things are better for blacks now than they were five years ago. Looking ahead, fewer than half of all blacks (44%) say they think life for blacks will get better in the future, down from the 57% who said so in a 1986 survey.

Report Defines Challenges Ahead for Black Women

National Public Radio News and Notes

March 10, 2008 · The National Urban League has issued its annual State of Black America report. This year's findings focus on socioeconomic and health challenges facing African-American women. Economist and Bennett College president Dr. Julianne Malveaux offers her analysis.

The National Urban League’s 2008 Report, The State of Black America®, Recommends a Blueprint for Economic Equality to Close Gaps Between Blacks and Whites

'We used to Think there was a Black Community'

The Guardian, Thursday November 8 2007

With her towering afro and radical rhetoric, Angela Davis was one of the iconic faces of black politics in 1970s America. She talks to Gary Younge about Barack Obama, the racism of the black middle class, and how it feels to be remembered as a hairdo.

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union'

Philadelphia, PA | March 18, 2008

All the Men Are Black, All the Women Are White, and Some of Us Vote: A Remix

Obama 'Race Speech' Analysis by 11 BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board Members

A Discussion about Race & Gender

A continued discussion about race & gender in the Presidential campaigns with Jon Meacham of Newsweek, Patricia J. Williams of The Nation, Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post and Rep. Fletcher N. Smith, Jr. of South Carolina.

White Men Hold Key for Democrats

In a Democratic presidential nomination race that pits a black man against a woman, the victor may well be determined by white men.

Obama's Bid Turns Focus On Class Split Among Blacks

Obama is the Change that America has Tried to Hide by Alice Walker

Race and Gender in Presidential Politics: A Debate Between Gloria Steinem and Melissa Harris-Lacewell

Obama, Race and the African American Community

Around 75 people gathered at the Ambrose Church on West 130th Street in Harlem for a discussion organized by the Harlem Tenants Council on race, the African American community and Barack Obama. Activists from a variety of causes including police brutality, housing and political prisoners talked about what the candidacy of Obama meant to the black community.

Black Youth and Empowerment: Sex, Politics, and Culture

This project will examine the attitudes, resources, and culture of African American youth ages 15 to 25, exploring how these factors and others influence their decision-making, norms, and behavior in critical domains such as sex, health, and politics. Arguably more than any other subgroup of Americans, African American youth reflect the challenges of inclusion and empowerment in the post–civil rights period. When one looks at a wide array of some of the most controversial and important issues facing the country, African American young people are often at the center of these debates and policies. Whether the issue is mass incarceration, affirmative action, the increased use of high-stakes school testing, HIV and AIDS, sex education in schools, or welfare reform, most of these initiatives and controversies disproportionately impact young, often vulnerable African Americans. However, in contrast to the centrality of African American youth to the politics and policies of the country, their perspectives and voices generally have been absent from not only public policy debates, but also academic research. This research project will fill that void, placing African American young people at the center of our analysis and action.

Study Sheds Light on Attitudes of Black Youth

A new study focuses specifically on the beliefs and actions of African-Americans age 15 to 25. The study's lead researcher, University of Chicago political science professor Cathy Cohen, discusses the findings with Tony Cox. Also joining the conversation: Bakari Kitwana, author of The Hip-Hop Generation.

Study Examines Attitudes of Black Youth Toward Sex

A recent study shows more than half of new HIV infections in the United States occur among 13 to 24 year olds. Cathy Cohen, author of The Black Youth Project, discusses the attitudes, perceptions and challenges black teens face regarding sex.

Black is Not Enough: Thoughts on Race, Gender, Sexuality and the Black Left

Recently Left Turn spoke with a few Black activists, organizers, educators, and cultural workers to examine the intersections of race, politics, gender, and sexuality. From coming out experiences, to stories of coming to political consciousness, examinations of the meanings of Black, queer, and left, to opportunities and challenges for working in solidarity with other people of color, the group began what must be an ongoing conversation among the Black left. What follows are excerpts from that exchange.

Katrina, Black Women, and the Deadly Discourse on Black Poverty in America

This article explores the suffering and resilience of Black women who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. It also explores the ways in which the pre-existing national discourse on poverty, race, and gender set the stage for victim blaming and the neglect of poor Black women and children after the storm. African American women in the Gulf Coast region are some of the poorest in the nation. Women in general are more vulnerable in times of natural disaster because they are the primary caretakers of the young and the old. These factors and others meant that poor Black women were among those most severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina. They also had minimal resources to cope with the disaster and its aftermath. However, instead of sympathy and support, some conservative pundits have sought to link the suffering caused by Katrina to the lack of patriarchal Black family structures, which they argue could have helped individuals survive in the crisis. Contrary to these stereotypes, many Black women have not only been resilient and self-reliant, but creative and heroic in the face of crisis. It is their stories that offer hope for the future of New Orleans and our nation.

Katrina: Unmasking Race, Poverty, and Politics in the 21st Century

In his allegorical tale “Racism's Secret Bonding,” legal scholar Derrick Bell imagined the occurrence of fourth of July “racial data storms.” During these storms, the consciousness of each and every White American was flooded with full information about the slave trade, slavery, lynching, Jim Crow, and contemporary discrimination, as well as a powerful emotional appreciation for the human suffering entailed by these conditions. Bell's “racial data storms” created great turmoil, anxiety, and demands for action. These demands focused on preventing future waves of “racial data storms” but also sought significant progressive policy intervention against discrimination and inequality. Bell mused that by the time the “racial data storms” had stopped, they “left behind them the greatest social reform movement America had ever known” (1992, p. 150).

Deviance as Resistance: A New Research Agenda for the Study of Black Politics

This paper explores the possibility of constructing a field of investigation based in African American Studies and borrowing from queer theory and Black feminist analysis that is centered around the experiences of those who stand on the (out)side of state-sanctioned,
normalized, White, middle- and upper-class, male heterosexuality. This would entail a paradigmatic shift in how scholars of Black politics and more broadly African American Studies think and write about those most vulnerable in Black communities—those thought to be morally wanting by both dominant society and other indigenous group members. Using a theoretical framework for studying Black politics that highlights the construction and malleability of categories as well as the work of processes of normalization found in queer theory in tandem with the detailed understanding of power, in particular as it is structured around and through axes such as race, gender, and class found in African American Studies, we might gain new insights into the everyday politics of those at the bottom in Black communities.

Despite the feelings of some in Black communities that we have been shamed by the immoral behavior of a small subset of community members, those some would label the underclass, scholars must take up the charge to highlight and detail the agency of those on the outside, those who through their acts of nonconformity choose outsider status, at least temporarily. An intentional deviance given limited agency and constrained choices sits at the center for this field of research. These individuals are not fully or completely defining themselves as outsiders nor are they satisfied with their outsider status, but they are also not willing to adapt completely, or to conform. The cumulative impact of such choices might be the creation of spaces or counter publics, where not only oppositional ideas and discourse happen, but lived opposition, or at least autonomy, is chosen daily. Through the repetition of deviant practices by multiple individuals, new identities, communities, and politics might emerge where seemingly deviant, unconnected behavior can be transformed into conscious acts of resistance that serve as the basis for a mobilized politics of deviance.

Immigration and the Future of Black Power in U.S. Cities

As a result of urban immigration and White flight over the past three decades, the demography of U.S. cities has changed rather dramatically; approximately one-half of the largest hundred cities are now composed of minority majorities. Many urban scholars expected these demographic shifts to enhance the prospects for minority electoral alliances. In reality, however, few such alliances have emerged. This paper looks to explore the barriers to effective coalition building between native-born African Americans and their immigrant counterparts. In the first half of the paper, I explore the psychological barriers to mass coalitions, focusing on the negative stereotypes and perceived zero-sum conflict that exist between native-born African Americans and Latino immigrants. The second half of the paper argues that material and symbolic incentives fuel ongoing competition between Blacks and Latinos in the political sphere. The paper concludes with a discussion of how immigrant-induced diversity coupled with existing racial hierarchies work against future Black empowerment. Even when changing urban demography makes Whites a numerical minority, White voters often retain their status as urban power players through their ability to divide minority voters at the polls. Divisive electoral strategies that offer political rewards to one group at the expense of others threaten Black incorporation in the urban arena. Unless minority leadership changes the incentive structure embedded in the traditional modes of municipal governance, Whites will persist in their economic dominance, while disadvantaged immigrants and Blacks will continue to make political choices that yield small, short-term rewards at the expense of greater social and economic justice.

Post-Katrina New Orleans Death Rate Shoots Up

Black Witnesses Testify Racism Influenced Katrina Response

A Game of Monopoly (Hurricane Katrina)

1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says

New Sociological Study Shows Blacks Who Kill Whites Are Most Likely to be Executed

Women in Prison Fact Sheet

Over a five-year period, the incarceration rate of African American women increased by 828%. (NAACP LDF Equal Justice Spring 1998.) An African American woman is eight times more likely than a European American woman is to be imprisoned; African American women make up nearly half of the nation’s female prison population, with most serving sentences for nonviolent drug or property related offenses

Women in Prison: Solutions for a Growing Problem

Ed Gordon continues a discussion about why there's a significant increase of women who are arrested and entering the U.S. prison system. He talks to Ann Jacobs, executive director of the Women's Prison Association, and Paula Johnson, law professor at Syracuse University.

'Root Shock': Urban Renewal and Black Neighborhoods

NPR's Tavis Smiley has a conversation with Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove about her book Root Shock, which explores urban renewal programs between 1949 and 1973 and their impact on African-American neighborhoods.

James Baldwin: Urban Renewal is Negro Removal

Not Like It Used to Be: Teens Rally for 'Hood

Rape is a Crisis in Black Communities

Rape and Race: We Have to Talk About It

Shocking Study on Black Teen STD Rates Raises Troubling HIV Questions as Well

Sex Infections Found in Quarter of Teenage Girls

Julian Bond Speaks Out on Behalf of People Living with HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS Numbers Worse Than Previously Thought

The Color of AIDS: Bringing "Risk" Up to Date

Black Sexual Health: Condition Critical

Keith Boykin: 'Beyond the Down Low'

Number of Blacks Joining Military Down