race

Why does Michigan have the highest black unemployment rate?

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:50:33 +0000

It’s no secret that Michigan’s been in a bit of an economic rough patch. For black Michiganders, the downturn has hit even harder.

According to recent research by the Economic Policy Institute, nearly one in five African-Americans in Michigan are unemployed.

That’s almost 2.5 times higher than the unemployment rate for white workers in the state.

The discrepancy between white and black unemployment earned Michigan a new title: highest African-American unemployment nationwide.

Listen again: State of Opportunity's latest documentary on race

Kimberly Springer — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:02:58 +0000

Gary Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA says, "Michigan is an absolute national leader in segregated schools." Orfield means in reality and not by law, but how is this possible in 21st century America?

State of Opportunity reporter Jennifer Guerra goes into Michigan high schools and neighborhoods---from Grand Haven to Detroit's west side---to see how race and racism are playing out today in an era some are calling "post-racial."

Storyteller La'Ron Williams talks about growing up in Flint and the 'Understanding Race Project'

Stateside Staff — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:03:41 +0000

The University of Michigan's "Understanding Race Project" will examine race through storytelling tomorrow evening at the Michigan Theater.

La'Ron Williams is a member of the National Storytelling Network, the Detroit Association of Black Storytellers, and the National Association of Black Storytellers.

He is set to perform his work Elm Park, 1955, in which he shares his interaction with race as a kid growing up in Flint, Michigan.

Michigan Radio's Lester Graham spoke with Williams about the power of storytelling, race, and the University's project.

Listen to the full interview above.

Commentary: Race and caste

Jack Lessenberry — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:37:11 +0000

On Election Night, I heard a commentator say that the voters settled one thing: There are no longer any racial barriers to success in America-- that a majority of the voters have now voted for a black president not once, but twice, seemed to settle that.

Well, that theory is certainly a comforting one.

But last night I spent some time with a brilliant law professor who argues compellingly that the truth is anything but. Michelle Alexander is the author of the national best-seller, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.”

Learning to talk to children about race

Christina Shockley — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:03:43 +0000

It’s difficult for many people to talk about race. But, studies show, it’s important to talk with kids about race in order to instill unbiased attitudes. Racial bias can show up as early as 3 years of age. As part of Michigan Radio's Seeking Change series, I spoke with Sarah Salguera, program director for Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance in Holland. She’s trying to get more parents and caregivers to openly discuss race with kids by heading up the program, "Talking to Kids About Race."

More information on the program and studies about how early on racial bias sets in can be found at Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance's website

Report: Black unemployment down in metro Detroit

The Associated Press — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 19:23:08 +0000

A new report says African American unemployment fell last year in metro Detroit, even as it remains well above the unemployment rate for white workers in the same region.

The Economic Policy Institute says African Americans in the Detroit area had an 18.1 percent jobless rate in 2011, down from 25.4 percent the year before.

This 7.3 percent decline in Detroit, Warren and Livonia's collective unemployment rates was by far the largest decrease in African American unemployment by percentage in any of the 19 metropolitan areas the report studied.

However, the report found last year's lowered African American unemployment rate in metro Detroit still sat 2.2 percent above the respective national rate of 15.9 percent.

In fact, the region has the fourth highest African American unemployment rate nationally, trailing metropolitan Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The report also says the gap between white and black unemployment was smaller in Detroit than the nation as a whole. It says African Americans were 1.8 times more likely than whites to be unemployed in the Detroit area, while they were 2.2 times more likely nationwide.

-Elaine Ezekiel, Michigan Radio Newsroom

Commentary: Questions of Race

Jack Lessenberry — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:50:29 +0000

Throughout Detroit’s financial crisis, the governor has had a consistent message: This is about money and financial mismanagement, not about race. This didn‘t have anything to do with the bitter racial issues that have plagued Detroit and complicated the city’s relationship with the suburbs, and the state, and itself.

Commentary: Detroit and the State - Two Worlds

Jack Lessenberry — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:05:09 +0000

Yesterday, I was driving across Michigan and listening to the coverage of Detroit’s financial crisis, when I realized something.

Detroit must seem like an alien world to many who don‘t live in the city. And the reactions of many Detroiters, including some members of city council, must seem both baffling and irrational.

Trayvon Martin supporters rally in Ypsilanti (photos)

Mercedes Mejia — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:13:38 +0000

A crowd wearing hooded sweaters of all colors gathered in downtown Ypsilanti Monday afternoon, one month after the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin of Florida.

The unarmed black teenager was wearing a hoodie when he was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in a gated community in Sanford, Florida. The man who shot Martin has not been arrested.

Jeff Clark lives in Ypsilanti, and helped organize the event.

Trayvon Martin rally set for Michigan State Capitol Building

Steve Carmody — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:37:55 +0000

Organizers of a rally to protest the shooting death of a Florida teenager hope to attract a few thousand people to the steps of Michigan’s state capitol Tuesday afternoon.

Trayvon Martin was shot and killed a month ago, in an incident which has raised questions about race and self-defense.

O.D. Harris is organizing the rally at the state capitol. He hopes the rally will help end tragedies rooted in ‘stereotyping’.

“We stereotype people based on what their attire is," says Harris, "I don’t want to make it a race thing…we stereotype people based on their names… we stereotype people based on all types of reasons… and we have to stop that.”

Similar protests took place in Kalamazoo, Flint and a handful of other Michigan cities on Monday.

"No matter what abuses it may bring, I'm gonna tell the truth." - Martin Luther King, Jr. online

Mark Brush — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:36:04 +0000

Last year at this time, I was sifting through YouTube videos of Martin Luther King, Jr. and was amazed at the treasure trove out there.

For some, the man whose words are immortalized, who we celebrate with a holiday, seems untouchable - buried in the pages of history books.

But when you watch these videos, Martin Luther King, Jr. comes to life. As I mentioned last year:

We can watch video of his interviews on Meet the Press. We can see King tell a joke on a talk show. We can see what he said in a speech the night before he was killed, and we can watch Walter Cronkite tell the nation that the man who helped change our society was dead.

Here's another video I came across today. It includes excerpts of an interview King did with NBC correspondent Tom Petit. The interview aired on NBC on May 7, 1967 as part of its program "The Frank McGee Sunday Report: Martin Luther King Profile."

During the interview King explains his reasons for opposing the Vietnam War.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDNV8dxYe-g&feature=related

He says he decided to publicly oppose the war after several months of reflection - part of that reflection, he says, took place in Jamaica as he was writing a book.

"I came to the conclusion then, that I had no alternative but to take a vigorous stand against the war."

King said the Vietnam war "is doing a great deal to destroy the lives of thousands and thousands of my brothers and sisters. We are dying physically in disproportionate numbers in Vietnam, some 22 and four tenths percent, even though we are only 11 percent of the population."

The video ends with a excerpt from a speech King gave in Cleveland on April 28,1967 about his decision to oppose the "evil war" in Vietnam.

He says, "And no matter where it leads, no matter what abuses it may bring, I'm gonna tell the truth."

Sharpton will protest takeover law at Snyder's house

The Associated Press — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:28:49 +0000

The Reverend Al Sharpton and others say they plan a demonstration Monday outside the home of Governor Rick
Snyder to protest a law that makes it easier for Michigan to take over financially struggling communities and school districts.

Organizers say the protest will happen on Martin Luther King Day at Snyder's home in Washtenaw County's Superior Township, near Ann Arbor.

Sharpton and other ministers and civil rights activists will participate. Organizers say the law seems to target black communities. Snyder has said the law isn't racially motivated.

Emergency managers are in place in Benton Harbor, Pontiac, Flint and Detroit schools. Detroit's finances are under a review that could bring the city under state financial control as well.

Stoking fears over migrant worker housing in Port Sheldon, Michigan

Mark Brush — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:32:20 +0000

It's never easy to get citizens to show up at a planning commission meeting, but in Port Sheldon Township they had a bigger turnout than normal because of concerns over migrant worker housing on a nearby blueberry farm.

Mixing it up on the dance floor

Kyle Norris — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

On the dance floor at Stiletto’s nightclub in Inkster you will find nurses, hair stylists, factory workers, fast food employees, students, professors, and business people. They come from tight-knit neighborhoods in Detroit, ritzy enclaves in Royal Oak, and from university campuses.

People in their twenties dance next to senior citizens, and there is every shade of skin tone in this place.

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-993440.mp3

The club’s personnel manager Carolyn Sopko calls the crowd diverse and inclusive.

Census releases numbers on the black population in the U.S.

Mark Brush — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:36:44 +0000

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released its report "The Black Population: 2010."

The 2010 Census found that 14 percent of the U.S. population identified themselves as black, "either alone or in combination with one or more other races."

From a U.S. Census Bureau press release:

Of the total U.S. population of 308.7 million on April 1, 2010, 38.9 million people, or 13 percent, identified as black alone. In addition, 3.1 million people, or 1 percent, reported as black in combination with one or more other races. Together, these two groups comprise the black alone-or-in-combination population and totaled 42.0 million.

Detroit has highest concentration of blacks living in an urban area

Census officials report that of the major cities in the U.S. (cities with 100,000 people in them or more), Detroit had the highest percentage of people identifying as black, or black in combination with other races, at 84 percent.

Here are the top ten:

Detroit, Michigan (84.3 percent)
Jackson, Mississippi (80.1 percent)
Miami Gardens, Florida (77.9 percent)
Birmingham, Alabama (74.0 percent)
Baltimore, Maryland (65.1 percent)
Memphis, Tennessee (64.1 percent)
New Orleans, Louisiana (61.2 percent)
Flint, Michigan (59.5 percent)
Montgomery, Alabama (57.4 percent)
Savannah, Georgia (56.7 percent)