Black America 'In Trouble'

"Themed 'Opportunity Compact,' the 2006 edition of an annual report by the liberal think tank National Urban League (NUL), relays mostly negative trends in disparity between blacks and whites.

'The state of black America is in trouble,' said NUL's president, Marc Morial, in a statement accompanying the report.

Published annually since 1976, 'The State of Black America' assesses progress made in education, health, housing, jobs, social justice and discrimination. The 2006 report, released yesterday, found that in terms of equality there has been little improvement over the last few years, and even slippage in some areas."

"Home ownership, an increasingly difficult goal for many Americans, has increased for blacks over the years due to fair-housing legislation aimed at diminishing discrimination in selling and lending practices. Though federal figures show that black home ownership increased by 1.3 million during the 1990s, according to NUL's report, that rate remains at nearly 50 percent of households, compared to 70 percent for whites.

Lance Freeman, professor of urban planning at Columbia University, said that an increase in home ownership for blacks does not mean comparable increases in home equity, which would begin to address the staggering disparity in 'net worth.' In the report, Freeman states that a high level of residential segregation between blacks and whites continues a dual housing market in which many blacks are limited to buying homes in neighborhoods with higher poverty rates, fewer or poorer amenities and services, and consequently lower property values."