Unemployment Vs Incarceration Rates For blacks

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As we start out the year 2012 a big problem that still looms for most Americans is being unemployed. One of the very real consequences of any economic down turn is the casualties of those Americans who loose their jobs. Last November the Bureau of Labor and statistics reported that the current unemployment rate was as high as about 9%. Over the course of the last year it has grown to a double digit number of 10%. As bad as those numbers are for all Americans it is even worse as we look at the plight of African Americans and unemployment rates. The current unemployment rates for blacks is right at about 15%, depending on the age group it can be even higher than that. For young adult black males between the ages of 18 - 35 it can be over 30%. Those are hard numbers to swallow and the consequences for that demographic can be devastating in a lot of different ways. "The labor market difficulties of Blacks and Hispanics are associated with many factors, not all of which are measurable. Some of these factors are their lower average levels of schooling; their tendency to be employed in occupations with high levels of unemployment; their greater concentration in the central cities of urban areas, where job opportunities may be relatively limited; and the likelihood that they experience discrimination in the workplace. These and other factors may make it especially difficult for some Black and Hispanic workers to find or keep jobs as the overall demand for labor contracts during economic downturns." (Taken from the Bureau of labor and statistics December 2009). Blacks males are highly more likely to have felony convictions and are subject to criminal backgrounds checks that grossly affect their employ ability. One of the real consequences of all of this disturbing information is that it relates directly to poverty and crime. It could also be an explanation for the very real problem of higher incarceration rates for blacks and Hispanics by ratio. An adult black male is seven times more likely to be incarcerated than his white counter part. In Iowa for example blacks make up about 2.1 percent of the population. yet black male incarceration rates stand at about 3.30 % compared to 0.28% for their white counterparts. There are of course a lot of indiscernible factors that attribute to both of these conditions. The amount of progress we have made as a nation as it relates to race and other factors has been very impressive. This can be substantiated by the fact that we just elected our first African American President. President Barrack Obama. The real challenge we all face as Americans is how to address these disturbing trends in a powerful and meaningful way. You know the old saying United we stand divided we fall. Going forward we have to keep our eyes on the prize, which should be to create an atmosphere of equality and equal opportunity for all of us regardless of race.

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