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Blacks Must Control Their Own Community
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VOLUME LXXIII NUMBER 16—SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2013
PUBLISHED SINCE 1940
25 Cents and worth more
Black Unemployment rate lowest since 2009 By Freddie Allen NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – The unemployment rate for Blacks fell from 13.7 percent in June to 12.6 percent in July, the lowest jobless rate for Blacks since January 2009, according to the latest jobs report from the Labor Department. Although economists warn against being too optimistic about one month’s jobs numbers, some economists found it unusual for the Black unemployment rate to fall more than a percentage point from June to July, as the jobless rate for whites remained stagnant at 6.6 percent. The unemployment rate for Black men over 20 was 13 percent in June and 12.5 percent in July. The jobless rate for white men over 20 was 6.2 percent in June and rose slightly to 6.3 percent in July. The unemployment rate for Black women over 20 plummeted from 12 percent in June to 10.5 percent in July. The jobless rate for white women over 20 dipped from 6 percent to 5.8 percent over the same time period. The national unemployment rate fell from 7.6 percent in June to 7.4 percent in July and the economy added 162,000 jobs. Analysts at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank focused on the needs of low- and middle-income workers, estimate that it will take at least six years to reach full employment at this rate of job creation.
Despite falling more than a percentage point, the jobless rate for Blacks is still nearly double the unemployment rate for whites, a troubling statistic that has persisted for 50 years. According to EPI, “The average unemployment rate for Blacks over the past 50 years, at 11.6 percent, is considerably higher than the average rate during recessions of 6.7 percent. In only one year (1969), did the Black unemployment rate dip slightly below the recession average to 6.4 percent. Thus, over the last 50 years, the Black unemployment rate has been at a level typical for a recession or higher.” William Darity, a professor of economics and African and African American studies at Duke University in Durham, N.C. said, “The racial unemployment gap is a direct index of discrimination.” In an effort to combat the inherent discrimination that exists in hiring and employment practices in the job market, Darity has long advocated for a federally-funded program called the “National Investment Employment Corps,” that guarantees a job for every American 18 years or older. Darity said that the federal job guarantee proposal doesn’t presume that the reason why so many Black people are out of work is because there is something wrong with them. “The major reason that people are out of work is because there is not enough jobs out there,” said Darity. “If one group has the capacity to get privileged access to the available
THE BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT rate, despite a drop in overall unemployment in the country, is still double that of whites out of work. jobs, they will do it and that’s what is happening.” Funding the job guarantee program would require shifting resources from other antipoverty programs, programs that Darity and others believe won’t be as necessary as people start earning living wages on jobs that would address the “nation’s physical and human infrastructure, from building roads, bridges,
dams and schools, to staffing high quality day care.” Darity said that supporters for the National Investment Employment Corps drawing inspiration from American history. The Works Progress Administration, introduced during the Great Depression, provided more than 8 (Continued on page 7)
Girls will be accepted at Hales High School vide academic excellence for the community.” The school’s longtime tradition of providing academic excellence (to boys) will not change once girls start attending, added Brownfield. Students at Hales wear uniforms and take religion as one of their courses. There is also an International Baccalaureate Diploma program at the school named after Alexander of Hales, a Franciscan scholar. The switch by Hales follows a similar one by De La Salle Institute, formerly an allboys Catholic high school, which in 2002 began admitting girls to its campus at 3434 S. Michigan Ave. But unlike De La Salle where girls attend classes in a separate building, Hales will incorporate girls into
By Wendell Hutson For the first time in 50 years Hales Franciscan High School, a private all-boys high school is allowing girls to enroll beginning Aug. 19. The school at 4930 S. Cottage Grove Ave. has a student population of nearly 200 and cost $7,500 a year to attend. The change comes after the school’s board of trustees voted to start accepting girls at a recent meeting. Erica Brownfield, principal of Hales, said the move is a great opportunity for the school to reach more youth in the community. Since its 1962 founding Hales has attracted a predominantly Black student body, Brownfield said. “Historically this has been a place of academic excellence for men. Why not provide that for young women?,” asked Brownfield. “Our goal should be to pro-
HALES FRANCISCAN HIGH SCHOOL at 4930 S. Cottage Grove Ave. for the first time in 50 years is now accepting applications from girls for admission.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Julius Chambers, Champion of the Courtroom, Dies at 76 (See story on page 3)
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