Solution to inequity in US lies in blacks

US President Barack Obama announces executive actions on US immigration policy in Washington, DC, on November 20, 2014. PHOTO | JIM BOURG |  AFP

In Summary

• In 2007, I saw Obama give a speech in Las Vegas to a group of journalists. He pointed out that the subliminal impact of having a black family in the White House would significantly lift up the possibilities for blacks in America.
• According to the Black Star Project, almost half of black children live below the poverty line. Blacks account for about 12 per cent of the population but 44 per cent of those in prison. One in 10 black men have lost their right to vote due to felony convictions.

By RANDALL SMITH
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Everyone has now heard of Ferguson, Missouri. Even Vladimir Putin.

An economically starved town north of the St Louis Airport, Ferguson is another community in America where the black majority now eke out a living after a more prosperous white population moved to the suburbs.

But Ferbus is in the news this week after a grand jury decided not to charge a white police officer in the killing of a young black man. The decision has set off demonstrations and violence across America.

The Russian press has reacted with glee, speculating that Putin would have done a better job. Of course, the Russians have their share of unresolved police violence against minorities, especially in Chechnya.

Ferguson is not a surprise to anyone who has followed the human rights struggle in America. Martin Luther King Jnr protested non-violently against discrimination in the 1960s, but our economic and social systems have continued to hurt minorities despite the election of Barack Obama as president and an overhaul of the legal structure.

According to the Black Star Project, almost half of black children live below the poverty line. Blacks account for about 12 per cent of the population but 44 per cent of those in prison. One in 10 black men have lost their right to vote due to felony convictions.

Seventy per cent of black children can’t read in the fourth grade. Less than half of black men graduate from high school. Two thirds of black children are born out of wedlock. Light-skinned blacks are much more likely to get a job than those who are dark skinned.

So the situation in America is much larger than what happened in Ferguson, and it will not be solved by news pundits, academics, politicians or business leaders. All have tried and failed.

SIGNS OF PROGRESS

My belief is that the answer lies in America’s black community, and I can already see signs of progress.

The group, Black Star Project, works with all kinds of black and Latino churches, synagogues and mosques in Chicago. The goal since 1996 is to lift up young people wherever they find them, and to take advantage of a strength in the black community — the church.

In 2007, I saw Obama give a speech in Las Vegas to a group of journalists. He pointed out that the subliminal impact of having a black family in the White House would significantly lift up the possibilities for blacks in America. It might also help change some of the racist attitudes that are still too prevalent.

Another sight is the increasing diversity of families. My own has ethnic backgrounds from the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

Regularly, I see mixed race couples and young people who have friends of all racial backgrounds.

We need more people of colour in Congress. We need more in our police force. We need more in law and industry. We need more in academia.

The problem is that progress is happening but not fast enough.

Obama has an opportunity to shine in this moment, and he has the power of the presidency. It should not be forgotten that President Abraham Lincoln ended slavery on January 1, 1863, with the stroke of a pen — not an act of Congress.