“Before the Tipping Point”
by Ray Allen
“I believe that, as long as there is plenty, poverty is evil.”
— Robert Kennedy
I want to encourage you to read the recent report released by the State of Black Madison Coalition, titled “The State of Black Madison 2008: Before the Tipping Point.” You can obtain a copy by downloading it off The Madison Times’ Web site. The report provides an objective and statistics-based insight into the conditions affecting Madison’s African American population. The report was sponsored by Urban League of Greater Madison, Asset Builders of America, The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute, 100 Black Men of Madison, Genesis Development Corp., and The Madison Times.
The report’s findings are disturbing:
• African Americans are incarcerated at more than 13 times the rate for the community at large.
• Thirty-seven percent of Blacks live in poverty, compared to 11 percent of the community as a whole.
• The unemployment rate for Black adults is 2.5 times that of the full community.
• Blacks own less than 1 percent of all businesses, although they make up 5 percent of the population.
• Forty percent of Black students drop out before completing high school.
• Only 2 in 10 Black families own their own homes, while the figure for the entire community is 6 in 10.
The report should serve as the basis for an honest dialogue, not just about race, but on a variety of topics, including education, employment, culture, and economic development. The data provided in the report provides a foundation for a broad community discussion on how we can correct these negative trends.
The challenges facing African Americans in Madison and Dane County are major. Anyone taking exception to this ignores the reality of race and poverty.
But the report is more than a snapshot of the current condition; it is also a starting point to begin corrective action. The urbanization of Madison has placed the city at a unique point in its history. It is my hope that this community will see the report as an opportunity to demonstrate that the combined goodwill and efforts of our city can overcome the negative challenges which have and will come before us.
The report also points to the fact that many of the solutions must come from the African American community as a whole. Dropout and graduation rates are only changeable with the encouragement and support of family and mentors. While the educational system should provide service and assistance, the community must encourage and instill in our youth the need for educational achievement.
The unemployment rate for African Americans in Madison has remained around 10 percent for years, so much so that it is never reported when unemployment data is reported by the media or local government. In a city where the average unemployment rate is around 2 percent, what would be the reaction if the general rate were 10 percent?
You cannot have effective economic development planning without addressing the labor challenges facing populations that are neither White nor highly educated. Job creation which embraces all populations not only creates larger growth in the economy; it also reduces many other direct and indirect costs related to social services and related spending.
As the coalition moves forward with the establishment of community forums, I encourage your involvement. Your engagement will design the map for the next course of action. To quote Dr. John Odom’s commentary in the preface to the “State of Black Madison” report: “This study, then, transcends a gathering point for complaints and rather is intended to tip Madison toward social progress for all her citizens, especially her youth.”
Ray Allen is owner and publisher of The Madison Times.
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