A Dream Still Deferred

"State of the Dream 2004: Enduring Disparities in Black and White," released in January by United for a Fair Economy, catalogues the continuing and, in some cases, worsening gaps of income, wealth, poverty, health, housing, education, and imprisonment among African-American and white populations in the United States in the last 30 years.

• White homeownership has increased 10 percent since 1970; African-American homeownership has risen 6 percent.
• At this rate, it will take 1,664 years to close the homeownership gap—about 55 generations.
• The African-American poverty rate was three times greater than the white poverty rate in 2002.
• An African-American high-school graduate working full time from ages 25 to 64 would earn $300,000 less than a white high-school graduate.
• The 2001 infant mortality rate was 14 deaths per 1,000 live births for African Americans and 5.7 for whites.
• For every dollar of white income per capita, African Americans had 55 cents in 1968 and only 57 cents in 2001.
• At this rate, it will take African Americans 581 years to get the remaining 43 cents.

Source: "State of the Dream 2004: Enduring Disparities in Black and White." www.ufenet.org