In part two of our look at race and ethnic reality, we'll take a look at
employment and unemployment, Affirmative Action and quotas, racial equality in
politics, crime and prison sentencing, poverty, welfare, housing, and who really benefits the most? Finally, we’ll address the issues
of reparations, the future of race relations, and what does all this mean, if
anything?
Employment
When it comes to labor force participation, 63.1% of Blacks are
in the work force. 65% of Asians are actively involved as are 62.3% of White and
66.9% of Hispanics. Meanwhile, 65.3% of those who claim to be mixed race participate
in the work force.
Whites and Asians occupy the majority of professional and managerial
jobs with Asians holding most of the STEM and healthcare professions while Blacks
fill most of the community and social services occupations (Black males work
the majority of transportation and utility jobs while Hispanics dominate the construction
and hospitality industries per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Examining income levels by race (based on 2023 data), we
find that the median household income for Whites nationally is $89,050. For
Hispanics, it’s $65,450. The median income for Black households is $56,490.
Native Americans earn $57,270. The
highest household income belongs to Asians which averages $108,700.
The national unemployment rate is 4%. Among Whites, it’s 3.6%
and 3.5% for Asians. In the Hispanic community, the unemployment rate is 4.6%
(4.9% for Mexicans and 5.9% for Puerto Ricans). However, the highest percentage
of unemployment belongs to Black Americans with an average of 6%.
Affirmative Action and Quotas
Affirmative Action came into being through two separate measures.
First in 1961 when President John Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925 which
required government contractors ensured equal employment opportunities for all applicants. Second was in 1965 when
President Lyndon Johson signed into law Executive Order 11246 prohibiting
employment discrimination by federal contractors and requiring them to adopt a
plan to employ minorities. By the 1980’s, this had been expanded to include
gender and religion. It was also expanded to include education and other areas.
Basically, it federal dollars touched it, there had to be an affirmative action
plan in place.
Some institutions used this as a de facto “quota” system,
rather than as intended. Thus, individuals were hired or accepted based not on
their skills, experience, or test scores, but on skin color and gender. The
overall result was a drop in performance which affected productivity and
employability. Fortunately, that was done away with by the Supreme Court in a 2023 ruling against Harvard College. At
long last, ability returned to the forefront.
Politics
What about politics? Whites make up about 59.3% of the
population. Hispanics are 18.9%. Blacks comprise 12.6%, and Asians are about
5.9%. When we look at the make up of Congress, of the 431 members, 301 identify
as White. 61 are Black, 46 are Hispanic, 18 are Asian, and 5 say they are racially
mixed.
Of the 99 Senate
members, 83 are White. 7 are Hispanic, while 5 are Black and 3 are Asian with 1
Native American (not including Elizabeth Warren), and of course, there was
Barack Obama who was bi-racial although popularly identified as Black.
When it comes to federal judges, the majority (65.80%) are
white. 14.44% are black. 9.11% are Hispanics. 6.63% are Asian, 2.84% are mixed
race, and an embarrassing 0.47% are Native American. Additionally, 52.7% of
federal judges are male. Currently, there is one Black governor, one Native
American, and one Hispanic.
Crime and Punishment
When it comes to crimes, Black Americans were 50% more
likely to be victims of non-lethal violent crimes than Whites according to a
report by the Council for Criminal Justice (CCJ). In both instances, the assailant
was more likely to be a black male than not. In comparing Hispanics and Blacks, Blacks
were 40% more likely to be the victim than Hispanics.
There was no difference in non-lethal victimization
between Hispanics and whites although Hispanics were 2x more likely to be
robbed than Whites whereas Black females were twice as likely as Hispanic females
to be the victim of rape or sexual assault. In short, Blacks were more likely
than other races or ethic groups to be a victim of crime while at the same
time, most likely to have been the perpetrator of the crime.
An FBI Uniform Crime Report from 2019 seemed to back up the
CCJ data. According the UCR, Black Americans accounted for 55.9% of all murders
committed. Whites accounted for 44.1%. When it came to the race of the victim,
54.7% were Black while 42.3% were White, and roughly 3% were “other”. The
pre-capita “offending rate” was eight times that of whites as were their victim
rate meaning that statistically, Blacks (especially males) were more likely to
commit violent crime than any other race and that Blacks in general were more
often than not to be the victim of a violent crime.
According to a victimization report conducted in 2004, blacks
were 56% more likely to be the offenders when it came to carjackings compared
to 21% for Whites and 16% for Asians. Blacks were 12% more likely than any
other races to commit an armed robbery. Hispanics, on the other hand, comprised
40% of those sentenced for federal crimes.
Per a report by The Sentencing Project, Blacks are the most incarcerated
group in America. Black offenders are 5 times more likely than Whites to be
sentenced to prison. Hispanics will go to prison almost 2.5 times more often
than White offenders. Native Americans will be incarcerated more often than
Whites but less than Hispanics.
Blacks are also more likely to be jailed on misdemeanor charges
than any other group, but they are also more likely to violate probation.
Hispanics are more likely than not to serve time in a federal prison. Asians
are least likely to be jailed for any reason.
Black women are more likely than White or Hispanic women to
do time. Asian women behind bars are virtually a statistically null category.
The Sentencing Project also reports that while there has been a decline in incarceration
rates overall, the Black prison population has declined the most.
Echoing the above, the Prison Policy Initiative pointed out
that while Blacks are roughly 13% of the U.S. population, they make up 37% of
those behind bars. However, based on percentage of population, a discorporate
number of Native Americans are incarcerated compared to any other race or
ethnic group. Lastly, it should be noted that the U.S. imprisons more of its
population than any other country on the planet bar none.
So, with legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting
Rights Act of 1965, Affirmative Action, federal incentives for Historical Black
colleges, and various federal and state programs, not to mention academic
courses and majors, why isn’t the situation better?
Black, Hispanic, and Asian enterprises have been extremely
successful. The Federal Office of Advocacy reported in 2022 that there were 5
million Hispanic owned businesses employing some 3 million individuals. Latinos
are also the largest entrepreneurial demographic in the U.S.. There are 3.4
million Asian and Pacific Islander owned businesses in America, employing 5.3
million, and generating earnings of $1.2 trillion dollars annually.
Native American owned businesses, of which there are over
340,000, have earnings of some $46 billion annually despite representing
roughly 7% of the total population. As
for Blacks businesses, there are approximately 3.12 million according to the
Census Bureau. They provide 3.56 million jobs while producing $206 billion in
annual revenue. Of course that doesn’t
include cable channels, print media, radio stations, music and movie genres,
events, pageants, business associations, advocacy groups, and so forth which
are dedicated to a specific racial or ethnic group.
Lastly, White owned businesses. Currently about 82% of all
businesses in the United States are White owned, including 85% of all small
businesses. Together, they generate about $1.3 trillion dollars while employing
around 21.9 million workers. Given that Whites are by far still the largest
demographic, that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Poverty
The highest poverty rate in the U.S. belongs to Native
Americans with 22% living at or below the poverty line. Black Americans are
next with 17.9% in poverty. Hispanics have a poverty rate of 16.9%. The poverty
rate for Asian Americans was 9.1%. Whites
had the lowest poverty rate at 7.7%.
When we look at those who receive the most government
assistance such as Welfare, WIC, energy or rent assistance, or SNAP, Whites are
the greatest beneficiaries at 43% (this is also due to their largest percentage
of the population). They are also the group mostly likely to leave the poverty
rolls and drop government assistance programs.
In terms of SNAP or “food stamps” alone, White make up 62.7%
of recipients. Hispanics are 39.8%. Black Americans make up 27% while just 3.8%
are of Asian origin. 6.6% are of other races including Native American. It’s
bears mentioning that 87.8% are native born.
Hispanics are the second largest users of government
assistance at 26%. They are followed by Black Americans at 23%. Finally, Asian
Americans. They are just 8% users of taxpayer based services.
Home Ownership
Lastly, let’s look at home ownership. According to the National
Association of Home Builders, 65.7% of Americans owned their own home as of
2023. When broken down by race, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, White
Americans were 73.8% of all homeowners. Asian Americans were 63%. Hispanics
were 49.8% while Black Americans were slightly behind at 45.9%.
Hispanics also saw the greatest increase of homeownership or
any group. Black home ownership has also increased while slowing for Whites and
Asians (one explanation it that the aging White population is shifting to low
maintenance residences like apartments, condominiums, or assisted living facilities).
Conclusion
According to the numbers, Whites remain the largest racial
demographic, and as such, dominate in most of the categories, including use of
government services and prison population, as one would expect based on the
population size (note too that there are large pockets White communities, such
as in Appalachia or the Ozarks, which resemble more of a third world nation
than a top tier one).
In looking at education, Asian Americans, the smallest demographic,
outperforms every other racial group relative their size in terms of education,
labor market participation, income, own a home, or hold a managerial or professional
position. At the same time, they are
least likely to be a criminal offender, got to jail/prison, or use government
assistance.
Hispanics, the second largest demographic, is most likely to
use some form of taxpayer based serves, hold service or construction jobs. They
are growing most rapidly of any other group in terms of home ownership. They
also make up the majority of the labor market while having the third highest
unemployment rate. They have the third
highest graduation rates behind Asian Americans and Whites. In terms of
politics, they hold the second most number of seats in Congress.
On the downside, Hispanics (especially males) are more
likely than other groups to be convicted of a felony and sentenced to a federal
prison (usually on immigration or drug related charges). They are ranked third
in terms of poverty. Lastly, they are the second highest racial minority over all to be a victim of a non-lethal crime.
From being
statistically insignificant just 50 years ago,
Hispanics have become a powerful force in American culture. Within the next 50
years, they will be on par with Whites in terms of population and likely a
powerful player in politics, perhaps having the largest racially based caucus.
There’s no question they’ll regularly hold the
Oval Office.
Black Americans, for various reasons, haven’t been able to
gain any significant traction socially. They do well when if comes to the
number of live births but also lead in terms of illegitimate children. They
also have the highest divorce rates while, despite the myth to the contrary,
Black fathers are the most active in the lives of their children.
They have an impressive graduation rate yet hold the least
number of top level jobs. Black females are also most likely to outperform
Black males, but also most likely to be harassed by them as well. They also
have the third largest number of individuals in the labor market with the lowest
income level or any group. When it comes to poverty, they’re the second
highest. However, they are not the “Welfare Queens” they are portrayed as.
In terms of politics, they’ve had decent success, though it’s
come in waves, with success in Congress, judgeships, mayoral offices, and even
the presidency. However, these gains are
often negated by charges of corruption, drug and alcohol abuse.
When it comes to crimes, Blacks (particularly males) lead
the pack, most notably when the victims are also black. They are also most
likely to be sentenced to prison, skip bail, or violate probation. Thus, they
don’t seem to get the break other groups get.
However, Blacks aren’t the worse off. That goes to Native
Americans. They have some of the lowest birth rates, the poorest schools, least
number of job opportunities, highest poverty and homeless levels of any racial or ethnic
demographic. They also experience the highest school drop out rates. Their overall income levels have improved (thanks largely to
legalized gaming). Nevertheless, their representation in politics is and has
been negligible.
In the end, each race can boost of a certain measure of
success and bemoan its failures. Is there any justification for “reparations”?
If we mean as a result of self-inflicted failure, then no. That’s on them, not
society. The opportunities are there. The problem is not taking responsibilities for
outcomes. It’s not demanding quality and rewarding success, be it in education,
job ownership, or self-care.
They must self-police neighborhoods and create acceptable
role models. If they don’t care, why should society? Case in point, look at
Asian neighborhoods and schools. If, on
the other hand, we mean reparations because
of governmental abuse or apathy, then yes, and Native Americans would be that
group.
They’ve been the subject of land theft, blatant lies, attempted
genocide through starvation and disease, and enforced poverty. They’ve had their culture stripped away. They’ve
been denied the opportunities others have taken for granted. Where they’ve
succeeded, it’s where they’ve stepped up and took charge…and responsibility…for
their situation, handling their own affairs, and keeping the government at arm’s
length as much as possible.
If we continue along the same path, America will slowly, but
assuredly, balkanize. For Whites, most everything will remain largely the same despite a slow decline into pockets here and
there. Hispanics will settle into their position of co-parity with Whites.
Their language and culture will be common place. Parts of the U.S. will be de facto
“El Norte” (or “Aztlan” as it’s called”). Asians will dominate the West Coast
while a shrinking Black population will occupy some of the larger cities, especially in the Rust belt, looking like they belong more to some dystopian movie or third world country than to the United States.
Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle". Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points. We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning. Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We ask, however, that you "like" us on whatever platform you found us on in order to keep our articles available for free to others. Lastly, in order to keep costs down, we depend on passive marketing, and therefore, depend on our readers to please forward our posts along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you.
Louisiana Law Review: Race Quotas as a Form of AffirmativeAction
Race and crime in the United States
A Brief History of Affirmative Action
U.S. Poverty Statistics
Fact Check: Are Black people the majority of those onwelfare?
What the data says about food stamps in the U.S.
Homeownership by race and ethnicity
