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Employment gains from '90s are evaporating for African Americans By Donald I. Hammonds, Post-Gazette Staff Writer Post-Gazette
July 23, 2003
As members of the National Urban League prepare to meet in Pittsburgh, they do so against this somber backdrop: Almost all the gains made during the 1990s have vanished.
After falling to a record low of 7 percent in early 2000, the jobless rate for African Americans has been rising at its fastest pace in more than 20 years, hitting 11.8 percent in June.
And the gap between black and white unemployment -- after narrowing during the past decade's record expansion -- is widening again, with the rate for whites in June standing at 5.5 percent, less than half that for blacks. Blacks now represent one in every five unemployed Americans and one in every four long-term jobless -- those seeking but unable to find work for six or more months.
"The great cause for concern is that the high unemployment is occurring against what was the lowest unemployment rate for black Americans," said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, which kicks off its 2003 Annual Conference later this week at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. "The issue not only is what the federal government can do but what the states, cities and private sector can do."
In a its annual report on the state of blacks in America scheduled for release today, the National Urban League notes that the number of blacks able to achieve middle-class status through manufacturing work is shrinking while the number returning to poverty is rising.
That's partly because the nation's factory sector was hit hard by the latest slump, and that blacks were among the last hired and thus the first fired when layoffs occurred. Moreover, about the only jobs laid-off blacks have been able to get when able to find work have been in the relatively low-paying service sector.
But opportunities in other sectors have contracted, as well. "There have been a lot of layoffs in the service industry,'' Morial noted, citing hits that hotels, airlines and other hospitality industries took following the post-9/11 slump in travel.
The situation is not any better in Pittsburgh. Even though the latest local jobless figures for blacks date to 2000, a time when the region's economy was still growing, 10.3 percent of the blacks in what then was the six-county metropolitan area were unemployed. Labor experts say that number clearly has risen since then.
On the positive side, the number of black-owned businesses in the country is on the rise, as is the number of African American middle class families and the percentage of home ownership among blacks.
"I think this has much to do with the overall growth in the '90s and affirmative action in higher education producing more African Americans with the skills to be successful in businesses,'' Morial said. "Diversity programs in the state, local, and federal and private sectors also increased the number of African American businesses and their success rate."
Even with these gains, Morial said, gaps remain between black and white Americans, ranging from the rate of home ownership to the rate of income growth and business formations. "The equality gap is still there,'' he said.
Some experts say African Americans also have been hurt by their failure to develop the kinds of networking skills and social support systems that other groups, particularly Latinos, have had for decades.
While Latinos have relied on deep cultural ties and loyalties, bringing family members and friends into the work world when they could, it's felt by some critics that African Americans suffer from fragmentation and a lack of strong support systems.
Morial said he doesn't fully agree with that perspective. "You have to network with somebody who can make something happen for you, not just talk to somebody who is, like you, somebody looking for a job.''
But what may be making the difference for others is the ability to network with people who can make something happen, he said. He noted that the Urban League has a number of programs underway designed to improve economic conditions in the African American community, training people how to invest and manage their money to assisting business start-ups.
One of the biggest initiatives, he said, is in preparing African Americans to own their own homes. "We have everything from counseling programs to loan assistance programs. The most important piece of wealth for most Americans is their home -- particularly for first-generation home equity builders."
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