Dr. Boyce: Black Unemployment Stays High While Whites Get Another Decline
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
The recent jobs data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was not necessarily a boost for the Obama Administration. Black unemployment remained steady at 14.1 percent this month. The number is not as high as the 16.7 percent mark from one year ago today, but is still more than twice as high as the unemployment rate for both white men and white women.
Black men saw their unemployment rate drop from 14.8 percent to 14.3 percent. With the drop, African American males still have the highest unemployment rate among any gender/racial group in the country. Some see the decline as a sign of relief, but the rate is very high compared to the unemployment rate for white men, which stands at 6.9 percent.
Black women saw an increase in their unemployment rate from 11.5 percent to 12 percent. Black females have an unemployment rate that is 76 percent higher than white women, who saw their unemployment rate drop from 6.8 percent to 6.5 percent. White males witnessed a drop in their unemployment rate from 6.9 percent to 6.8 percent.
Black teens saw their incredibly high unemployment rate rise from 36.6 percent to 37.9 percent. This compares with 22.8 percent for white teens.
We can see from the data that both white men and white women experienced declines in their unemployment rates. African Americans, as a whole, saw their rate remain steady. We can express some degree of appreciation for the fact that black male unemployment declined, but this must be measured against the fact that the rate was incredibly high to begin with.
One of the most interesting things about the recent presidential campaign is that the Obama Administration is being attacked consistently by mostly white constituents, who are angry about having a white unemployment rate of 7.2 percent. This has led to even the president’s supporters saying that his administration has been weak on economic policy.
So, this leads to the obvious question: If whites have a right to be angry about 7.2 percent unemployment, how should African Americans feel about 14.1 percent? Does it make sense that the strongest supporters of President Obama (African Americans) are the ones who are suffering the most economically, the ones most likely to remain silent and also the last ones to be mentioned in Obama Administration’s policies?
Another point to chew on is this: The unemployment rates that many whites are complaining about today are the same rates that African Americans would be expected to celebrate. If African American unemployment were to reach the 7.2 percent mark enjoyed by whites and black people were to complain as much as whites are doing right now, they’d look at us like we’re crazy. So, just like during slavery, African Americans are expected to feast and enjoy the scraps that whites would gladly throw in the trash.
The black teen unemployment rate, which stands at an unacceptably high 37.9 percent, likely plays a role in the large numbers of teen homicides taking place right in President Obama’s hometown of Chicago. When I went to visit the city this year, there were some who were outraged over the fact that the president and senior advisor Valerie Jarrett used the services of 300 police officers to protect their wealthy friends at the wedding of Valerie’s daughter, all while black children were being murdered right down the street. Sadly enough, the president didn’t mention a word about the genocidal violence in his home city and instead went to console the small number of victims at the shooting in Aurora, Colorado.
When young people have jobs, educational opportunities and programs for engagement, they are less likely to be out in the streets getting killed. The Urban League’s recommendation of targeted economic policy for communities hardest hit by the recession is one of those Black Agenda items that the president could have pursued that would have improved the black unemployment rate. Part of the reason that black folks are put at the bottom of the economic priority list is that some of us enjoy being at the bottom of the list. When we don’t open our mouths, our community does not get fed, and perhaps we should get away from our love of style over substance.
These thoughts are not meant to rain on the parade of those who are in a perpetual love affair with President Obama. He is a great man, and makes a lot of people happy (these remarks are not personal). It’s to highlight the blatant hypocrisy that many of us have come to accept and that many politicians serve to perpetuate. The bottom line is that if whites have a right to complain about 7.2 percent unemployment, then blacks have the right to scream and holler about 14.1 percent unemployment. Anyone who disagrees with this assertion is probably a racist.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. To check out Dr. Watkins in the Janks Morton Film, Hoodwinked, please visit this link.
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments
boyce shut the h**l up. instead of using your platform to educate our people, you use it for profit, hate and jealousy.
i find it peculiar that an educated person like yourself blame obama for black unemployment and don’t mention one time in your article that the racist teabaggers in the senate and congress should share in the blame of black unemployment.
either you’re oblivious to how our government works, are you just hate obama and tying to make a profit. if it’s not hate and jealousy, then i one would assume you don’t understand how our government works..which makes you an educated fool.
i for one believe it’s self hate and jealously of another black man for profit. you’re jealous of every black person on tv excluding roland martin who works on cnn, the only network you never attack they invite you on as a guest occasionally when they a black race hustler.
other than cnn, you’re banned from all other the other networks. you have created too many black enemies and none of the white executives will ever hire you for a tv gig after your fight with bill oreily.
black and white both dislike you due to your lack of understanding that you should treat people the way you would want to be treated. someday you will learn, you can win more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.
good luck with ybw, your ghetto style video’s with yvette (filmed in someone’s kitchen with a pot of beans on stove) is about as close to a camera you will ever get to the real thing!
Dr. Boyce, sooner or later these negroes will learn! Take off the blinders negro & cease w. the idolatry!
@dalie, i mean the datruth…
keep sippin on that tea with boyce and you’re find your black a*s back on the plantation!
Mentally his black a*s is on the plantation which is worse than being there physically. Watkins and Carnell are just feeding into the ignorance of “colored” people. You’re right; Watkins is just a jealous hater because the President is everything he wishes he was. He doesn’t have the guts to be a real Black man. People like datruth are just confused and misguided and exemplifies “the blind leading the blind”. They all want to blame the President for s**t that’s been here since the Black people were first brought to this country. Nobody but a d**n fool would blame the President for anything remotely negative related to the African-American Community.
The notion that the President owes Black people something just because he’s Black and the fact that Black people voted for him is the stupidest s**t I’ve ever heard. If any person of color stays home and not vote just because they feel the President hasn’t done enough doesn’t deserve the right to vote period.
Thanks well said!
the senate republicans killed the jobs bill this year that would have created 1 million jobs why wasn’t this mention. Why point out security service used by Valerie. Singers, Reality stars, etc use security all the time. Really, lets look at facts that we have the most obstructionist congress and senate in all our country 200+ years.
Thanks Dr. Watkins, When Raheem grows up he will appreciate your much needed service to Black people specifically, humanity generally.
@ ef u, i mean efia.
is the service you’re talking about from boyce the same service offered by tavis smiley and west…where they exploit the suffering of black people to become millionares while the people they claim to support stay poor.
how much of that money from the black union did tavis give back to the black community. how about west from the books we bought, and have you ever heard of boyce giving back, leading a protest, march, etc.
your dumb a*s can appreciate their service if you wish. i will leave no tips for these race hustlers, this is what i call bad service. lol
My a*s!!!!
Efia, it does seem to me that Boyce seems to give passes to the Congress and to state gov. for their part in the cutting of thousands of public sector jobs that Black people used to hold. Republicans have blocked the jobs proposals that our Prez has sent forward. h**l, these guys even blocked the cash settllement for the Black farmers. Listen, I get it that Obama has not displayed the most astute political skills vis-a-vis the congress on either party. He should have forced Tim Geithner to deal with the subprime mortgage crisis which hammered our Black communities or the Prez should have fired him. Alas, there is not a Black national movement to put pressure on Obama like the gays, Latinos, veterans, feminists, etc. Boyce, Tavis, and Cornel do not constitute a movement nor are they seen as very credible by our people for whatever reasons.
Actually, Barack Obama himself explained his indifference towards the black community when he told everyone that he “is not the president of the black america”, yet he has not made that disclaimer toward any other group of people!
it ez when you own all the land…land create jobs….growing food….chicken farms create restuarants jobs….and eggs…cow create reastuarant jobs….by the 10′s millions….the packaging system creates anothen 5 million jobs…..recycling use for packaging and other thing create two to three million jobs and if you build communities to spend that money back in to your on community you create another few million jobs….this is with out the conputer…at 11 thousand dollars a years you create a product to sell and create jobs…..but you got to build communities to create your market…..the aisan are not going to give you nothen….the spanish are not going to give you nothen
it ez when you own all the land…land create jobs….growing plant food….chicken farms create restuarants jobs….and eggs…cow create reastuarant jobs….by the 10′s millions….the packaging system creates anothen 5 million jobs…..recycling use for packaging and other thing create two to three million jobs and if you build communities to spend that money back in to your on community you create another few million jobs….this is with out the conputer…at 11 thousand dollars a years another thousand for taxes…and 500 for medicare insurnace…so we will need insurance companies…. you create a product to sell and create jobs….food will do it right now…..but you got to build communities to create your markets…..the aisan are not going to give you nothen….the spanish are not going to give you nothen……every black yard i mean back yard or front yard should be growing food and we should have regional people that go around to buy the food, then state people that talk to the people nation wide and any black man that make over 5 million dollars should put at least 1 million in the pot right now and it there investment but long term 7 years but the name got to stay in and investment group that do not show names only numbers or code for that account…..just like the white men that hide all their white investor’s…we create a number system for investment name it like a “id” and a “pass word” that you create and only you have…don’t ever put your real name on it unless you..you want to its you choice
it ez when you own all the land…land create jobs….growing plant food….chicken farms create restuarants jobs….and eggs…cow create reastuarant jobs….by the 10′s millions….the packaging system creates anothen 5 million jobs…..recycling use for packaging and other thing create two to three million jobs and if you build communities to spend that money back in to your on community you create another few million jobs….this is with out the conputer…at 11 thousand dollars a years another thousand for taxes…and 500 for medicare insurnace…so we will need insurance companies…. you create a product to sell and create jobs….food will do it right now…..but you got to build communities to create your markets…..the aisan are not going to give you nothen….the spanish are not going to give you nothen……every black yard i mean back yard or front yard should be growing food and we should have regional people that go around to buy the food, then state people that talk to the people nation wide and any black man that make over 5 million dollars should put at least 1 million in the pot right now and it there investment but long term 7 years but the name got to stay in and investment group that do not show names only numbers or code for that account…..just like the white men that hide all their white investor’s…we create a number system for investment name it like a “id” and a “pass word” that you create and only you have…don’t ever put your real name on it unless you..you want to its you choice….what the white man is doing is setting up a war bewteen blacks and spanish over jobs..right now
I wonder what the unemployment rate for Blacks were back in 1700s??????
The robber baron companies are the ones who do all the hiring and firing…NOT THE PRESIDENT OF THE USA…They are the ones who discriminate against Blacks…They are the ones responsible for the disparity of wages between Blacks and Whites and women(Black and White)…..
I said in my last comments if this blog come out with another piece of dung I would unsubscribe ….I will unsubscribe today….
Oh really; you mean the President doesn’t do all the hiring? d**n, I wonder who else know that.
Great article Dr. Boyce! In these dire times all our public officials should be held accountable. We r the only grp that foolishly hands over our votes w/o asking for anything, receiving nothing n return. Giving the prez pass after pass on everything b/c he is blk, as he continues to ignore our needs @ every turn. Its no wonder we r scorned & ridiculed by all. We have no pride as a race & seem only to b interested n symbolism & not substance.
Where are our so called Professional African AMERICANS? Are they that caught up in the thrill of being socially accepted that they can’t design a system of INDEPENDENCE that would catapult us to a position of owning? In that position of owning it would enable us to employ one and other like All other Folk do( now white owned corporate is another SUBJECT ) for those who share the same like principals. I must agree-if you can’t shelter and feed your self -your useless in America. That could be one of the reasons the immigrants are so instrumental in the American employment system of not hiring African Americans- and don’t provide educational opportunities to uplift us out of the oppressed state of which we where brought here to be in from the get go.
Now look at the penal institutions and it’s function of cheap labor,and the privatization of it’s services-and look who’s the SLAVES that are the COMMODITIES of the new SLAVERY in America.
What the heck-hey yall- LETS
Boycott Christmas 2012
HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES are not new to the Black community. Basically, these big companies are sitting on trillions of dollars in profits…shipping jobs overseas…and using tax loopholes, and any other benefits that they can get to get more profits. They don’t even consider the problem of “unemployment.” Their goal is MORE PROFITS…so if they can make more $$$ — and get by with paying less than 15% in taxes…because of the TEA-PUBLICANS…obviously they will.
NO CORPORATIONS ARE NOT PEOPLE…they don’t have feelings, hearts, families, or compassion. That is why they must be regulated and they must pay their fair share.
Historically, African American Men had been employed by the Government, and sustained their families with a Mid-Class upbringing as a result of this. One of the first things that occurred in the Obama Admin. was the freeze on Government jobs, due to The Great Depression of 2008. The second thing that occurred by Congress’ doing was to place USPS on notice. Their desire is to abolish USPS. Now, Historically, the African American Male had been able to sustain his family with these Good Government Paying Jobs, but now there gone.
All around us, Systematically we are being “Squeeze Out”. Now in no way am I letting Obama off the hook, however I am observing the behavior of this Nation. And if the Party of the GOP succeed, the AA may lose EVERYTHING our Ancestors fought and died for, Good Government Jobs; The Right To Vote; And Affordable Housing.
It is sad to see such division against one who apparently is trying his best to tell the facts. True Congress amongst other official government leaders are to share in the responsibilities of gainful employment to the American people. However, would it not be at least somewhat rationale to submit a reformed bill simular to the one that forced companies, universities, etc to hire X amounts of qualified peoples of various races, genders, and, disabilities? All these private sector jobs are closed doors as are some government entities. Although these corporations claim to allow all perspective employees to be hired, they look to their families, church members, etc first. Moreover since the proprietors of said establishments are prejudice against cultures they do not understand or feel superior towards, they will not hire them (us). Therefore when such blatant bigotry is being pushed into the faces of the American people, as a leader, it is the responsibility of the president to act!!! Lastly the writer of the article made a valid assessment of what is taking place in our urban setting each day. Whether minorities are being murdered through violence, lack of medical care, lack of nutrition, or, stress secondary the preceeding issues, it is genocide. Why should minorities in the US be excluded from the Internation stage on the basis of our identification as Americans from such a title (victims of genocide)? I tell you the truth, if we were in Africa or Eastern Europe the international community would open their arms in order to rescue us from our curel and mericless captors known as the US. So Bravo on your indictment against this corporate state.
Dr. Boyce Watkins What is wrong with you? is this what a PHD means? ENVY, JEALOUS, NEED ATTENTION, DOWN RIGHT RETARDED. Man you always keep s**t going trying your best to turn blacks away from president Obama, if all blacks vote for Mitt Romney and he make president it will be very sad for poor blacks. This is what you want to happen every poor black on the streets no where to live no way of getting food because Mitt Romney will CUT-IT-ALL-OUT food stamps at the top of his list. Boyce you know this, and it’s a shame you’re doing this to people that can’t think for themselves. Man why don’t you write an article on Congress? why they want pass the jobs bill Obama put before them if they had pass that bill it will be more jobs born today than ever you know what’s going on. But i know it’s Obama fault put it out there someone going to believe it you are very LOW-DOWN.
In 2007 the end on Bush term the unemployment rate for Blacks was 9.2% @ the end of 2008 President Obama 1st year the Black unemployment rate was 15.6%, it’s now 14.1%
In 2007—- Bush and his white American boys stole BILLIONS of DOLLSARS from the HOUSING INDUSTRY- Predatory Lending etc.,and Wall Street,as well as other financial institutions, and not one Tea Partier or people who like to compare the State of African Americans unemployment rate unsr President Obama-to the ilk of a Bush administration said nor or saying a d**n thing about it- I find it to be awfully RIDICULOUS. The SELECTION of President Obama seem quit OBVIOUS- a brilliant plot to take the attention off the THIEVES who STOLE all that money from AMERICAN PEOPLE– yet not a matter worthy of exploring- as long as white Folk did it–it’s all good
amongst those who are so FULL of Hate that they are more comfortable at attacking Obama- well h**l he didn’t take all of the JOBS over seas, which caused Americas Unemployment to be at such a high for All Americans.
Boycott Christmas 2012
I’m boycotting all holiday spending. I am going to try to live only on the necessities of life and nothing more.
Education plays a part in this. Youths need to be motivated and they need to make good grades in school. If they are poor, they might get scholarships.
Youths need the right friends so they won’t make poor choices that will follow them into adulthood.
From there, these youth need to keep up with the effects of globalization and tech advance.
Parents and churches need to step up and prepare people for these things. Too many are not ready for the cold world
There is no greater example of an inferiority complex than the ideas being expressed here by supporters of President Obama. In American politics loyal constituents are supposed to be rewarded for their support. Thus, it’s okay for the POTUS to specifically address concerns of homosexuals, Hispanics, Zionists, and anybody else except Afrikan Americans. Afrikan Americans obviously don’t deserve similar attention from the POTUS.
Obama’s supporters say the Re-thugs in Congress are blocking his efforts. The POTUS did not need Congress to “grant immunity from deportation to undocumented immigrants brought to America as children, and give them work permits to stay in the country.”
Unemployment, because it drives crime and several other issues facing Afrikan Americans, is the most critical issue we face. And the statistics being quoted here by Dr. Watkins don’t tell the real story. Dr. Julianne Malveaux pointed out earlier this year:
“The data that comes from the Employment Situation report is, probably much lower than the reality of African American unemployment. When we include those marginally attached to the labor force (stopped looking, etc.), as well as those part time workers that want full time work, the unemployment rate for the total population is not 8.5 percent, but 15.2 percent. And the estimate of the African American unemployment rate would be not 15.8 percent, but a whopping 28.3 percent.”
The highest unemployment rate during the Great Depression was 24.9 percent. In 2012 we have a self-proclaimed Black president and a Black depression, and we are not supposed to expect the President to address this crisis. That’s a crock of bovine excrement!
Politicians from both parties sacked the treasury toward the end of the Bush term. Then the Republicans ran a candidate they knew would be perceived to be an old fart, & was an old fart, & impressed no one. McCain was bound to lose! Mainstream Republicans were embarrased by his choice of ruuning mate. Meantime Sarah & her whole fam damly are on the celebrity circuit getting rich like the Kardashians. McCain was the Republican sacrifice intended to distract us all. Obama won more White votes than any democratic candidate since Jimmy Carter and that includes Bill Clinton. This whole past election was a sham to deflect attention away from all the missing money. e.g., Harry Reid was a dirt poor little Mormon boy from Searchlight Nevada. Harry has always been in politics suddently he is a multi-millionaire. Nancy Pelosi has more inside benefits that help both herself & her businessman husband enrich themselves as has now been disclosed that she made millions on insider info on the recent Visa stock issue. Millions! It goes on & on & on meantime the power behind the puppet president is unknown. There are suspicions as to who is really behind the throne pulling the strings but we will not know or find out until years from now. The rich get richer even in these tough economic times, including Obama, & the voters are totally in the dark as to whom to really trust. There are no 4.5 million new jobs when you take the governments own statistical numbers into account there are probably a little over 300 thousand + net of previously lost jobs.
As to all the comments about returning to the plantation – there are no plantations left either – they’ve all been burned down! Meantime, the value of the US dollar plummets, inflation errodes our buying power & we move closer to becoming a third world country every day. General motors can only sell tax subsidized vehicles – everytime GM sells a vehicle it costs the American tax payer & how about all the dealerships that were closed, etc. ??
Our farmers are making more money collecting our tax dollars through crop failure insurance & things only get worse. Suddenly it seems the government is getting ready for big trouble as they load up on amunition & guns that are not the normal government issue. Individual citizens are also loading up on amunition and guns in fear that there will be violence during or after the election. What improvement can we really expect regardless of who is named the winner of this election in November? One thing we all know for sure is that we will all be paying more taxes
and we will continue to keep borrowing money to fight this dumb war in Afganistan, etc. We’ve become numb & indifferent to all the young American soldiers being killed in huge numbers. There is no way to expect a peace dividend as touted at the democratic convention because there is no peace dividend, it’s an empty promise because we have been fighting these wars with money we never had in the first place. Borrowed money! To those that think unemployment is high now, wait until we bring back our thousands of shell shocked soldiers from these wars. Times are really tough now for some but things don’t look too rosy for the immediate future without more sacrifice. That was the message from the democratic convention feel good about getting ready for even more sacrifices in your life style as your disposable income gets eaten away. Try explaining to your kids why you’re not taking your family out more often or planning a nice vacation.
I wonder if Dr. Boyce really believes Obama is a great man? How can anyone believe someone who supported NATO’s illegal invasion of Libya with US taxpayer’s $$$$$ is in anyway approaching greatness. How can anyone admire a President who goes on the Jay Leno Show, patting himself on the back after the overthrow of Libya’s legitimate regime…which resulted in the deaths of 50,000 Libyans..and the “ethnic cleansing” of THOUSANDS of Black Libyans…which is continuing….
http://blackagendareport.com/print/content/butchering-gaddafi-america%E2%80%99s-crime
The Butchering of Gaddafi Is America’s Crime
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
“Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton appeared like ghoulish despots at a Roman Coliseum, reveling in their Libyan gladiators’ butchery.”
Last week the whole world saw, and every decent soul recoiled, at the true face of NATO’s answer to the Arab Spring. An elderly, helpless prisoner struggled to maintain his dignity in a screaming swirl of savages, one of whom thrusts a knife [4] up his r****m. These are Europe and America’s jihadis in the flesh. In a few minutes of joyously recorded b********y, the rabid pack undid every carefully packaged image of NATO’s “humanitarian” project in North Africa – a horror and revelation indelibly imprinted on the global consciousness by the brutes’ own cell phones.
Nearly eight months of incessant bombing by the air forces of nations that account for 70 percent of the world’s weapons spending, all culminating in the gang-bang slaughter of Moammar Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and his military chief of staff, outside Sirte. The NATO-armed bands then displayed the battered corpses for days in Misurata – the city that had earlier made good on its vow to “purge Black skin” through the massacre and dispersal of 30,000 darker residents of nearby Tawurgha – before disposing of the bodies in an unknown location.
First of all, we should get rid of the Thugs, Gangsters, The Belly -Driven Vultures and The Greedy Free-Loaders, out of our Government, State, Local, and Federal. Especially our Racist Tea-bag Congress and Senate. It is time to Completely Over-Haul our Government, the Unfair and Unjust Laws and The Entire Racist System…Our Government Should be Constructed, in a Uniform Way,so That it is Fair and it Works for Everyone…We Need Diversity Throughout our Entire Government and Our Media,which is Funded, With our Tax-dollars.
During NATO’s war of aggression on Libya I described Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy as the Evil Triplets because of the war crimes their armed forces ommitted against innocent civilians in Libya. However, it was clear to those of us who followed the war closely that Obama was the primary facilitator of this diabolical scheme. This point has been validated by a reporter who was granted extraordinary to the POTUS.
How President Obama Made The Most Controversial Military Decision Of His Presidency
http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-lewis-vanity-fair-profile-how-obama-made-the-decision-on-libya-2012-9
[Obama sent his staff fromthe meeting saying that he wanted an alternative to the no-fly zone — somethingreal that actually solved the problem in Libya. At the team's next meeting in the Situation Room, they presented the option to push for a U.N. resolution to take "all necessary measures" to protect the people of Libya and use America's faster, more powerful air force to eviscerate Qaddafi's army. The Europeans would be in charge of the clean-up. This option was distasteful to basically everyone, but Obama.
As you know, Obama decided against inaction —"That's not who we are," he told Lewis. “Then Obama went upstairs tothe Oval Office to call European heads of state and, as he puts it, 'call their bluff."]
“That’s not who WE are.” — Barack Obama, The Butcher of Libya, the country which had thehighest standard of living in Afrika.
Dr. Boyce, you need to concentrate your energy towards educating more people of color to graduate from high school and going on to college. I hear young and older people of color using profanity like there is no tomorrow. White people are more qualified for many jobs than people of Color because they are more educated. White pople do use profanity, but I do not hear it expressed in public as I do from people of color. For instance, I was riding the number 4 train in NYC and there were a group of Black teenagers in the same car having a loud conversation. Every other word was “MOTHER-F AND/OR FU. I turned to look and one of the teenagers said to me “what the fu… are you looking at.” Dr. Boyce, devote your time and energy to these loss souls. Don’t be a hypocrite like many so-call Christian fanatics.
Ruben
…but of course. He’s not “the President of Black America” he’s the President of all AmeriKKKA