The education attainment for black workers has shown a steady rise from the 1970s to date. Jones and Schmitt in their report use statistical data to show how education attainment for black workers has increased. Jones and Schmitt say that over the past three decades, the human capital of the employed workforce has shown a significant, enormous growth. In their report, they say that in 1979 only one out ten of the black workforce had a four-year college degree, this estimated to roughly 10.4 percent of the black workforce with a college education. In 2011 the percentage of black workforce with a college degree had escalated to 26.2 percent, indicating that more than one in every four black had a college education. Jones and Schmitt also say that over the period from 1979 t0 2011 the number of blacks with less than a high school degree fell from 31.6 percent to 5.3 percent. Jones and Schmitt claims can be backed by the statement of the C.E.O of the National Urban League President, Marc Morial. Marc Morial argues that though there has been a lot of measuring gaps between white Americans and non-white Americans, credit must be given to some progress of educational attainment to the African Americans.
Jones and Schmitt argue that though there has been increased educational attainment of blacks, there has been a decrease in the number of blacks occupying good jobs. In their report, Jones and Schmitt say that black workers at every age and educational level are less likely to be in good jobs comparable to white workers. The share of good workers fell from 20.8 percent in 1979 to 19.6 percent in 2011. A decline in some good jobs for black workers is primarily attributed to the fact that the economy is deteriorating and thus cannot generate good jobs. The findings by the National Urban League also indicate that the economic crisis and downturn had an overall dramatic effect on the wealth of African-Americans. Marc Morial says that the economic downturn made African-Americans delinquent as they could not withstand two or three months of not having an income to sustain their home loans and mortgages.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Sharon Collins from the University of Illinois says that African-Americans in mainstream careers in the private sector stand out as an exception and not the rule as compared to their white peers. Collins research showed that only one-third of African-Americans built careers that consisted entirely of mainstream jobs. Most of African-Americans in mainstream jobs who filled affirmative action and urban affairs jobs started their careers in corporate mainstream jobs with line positions. Black managerial positions in mainstream managerial careers reflect a race-conscious interaction with skill and education. Individuals in racialized job positions and careers have a less capability of advancing than those in the mainstream careers. A large [percentage of racialized careers is terminated with director and managerial titles, and it is difficult for blacks in racialized positions to progress above vice president positions. Racialized jobs pose advancement limitations and are seen as dead-end jobs that had no power. Racialized jobs are also viewed as money-using jobs while mainstream jobs are viewed as money-producing jobs.
From the interview, I was able to learn that a wide gap of poverty level exists between African-Americans and the whites. The poverty level of African-Americans is estimated to double that of whites. The poverty level has declined from only 29.4 percent to 27 percent, an indication that more than a quarter of black households live in poverty.
Throughout the interview, I could not comprehend why Marc Morial could only blame the widening gap of poverty to economic recession alone. The economic crisis hit each American citizen hard financial. The African-Americans were not the only affected groups in America. There are varying factors that have attributed to increased poverty gap in America which need swift addressing to end poverty.
I am surprised that the National Urban League relies on standard playbook martial plans to eradicate poverty. The martial plans which include; tax credits, training programs, and expansion of social safety are methods used in the past, specifically in the 1970s. The old approaches are not effective, and there is need to establish new policies to address the poverty issues in America.
