Filed under: Dr. Boyce Money, The Economy
"Only one in four young black men graduates from high school in Detroit. The rest are lost and left out, swallowed by a city where urban blight, industrial desertion, and educational failure define daily life. Detroit is ground zero, exemplifying the absolute worst of urban life."
Dr. Malveaux goes on to highlight the problems that are caused in our communities by decaying schools and poor investment in urban infrastructure. She mentions that President Obama was quick to support the automakers in Detroit, yet there are quite a few urban citizens of the city who have yet to feel relief.
"Government has intervened for Detroit, bailing out General Motors (now Government Motors) to the tune of billions of dollars. The bailout has yet to trickle down. Instead, we have seen schools closed, hours curtailed, and a man who is more bureaucrat than educator placed in charge of that city's educational system."
Dr. Malveaux makes excellent points in her article, in which she highlights the connection between education, economics and politics. Detroit represents the recession on steroids: whatever the rest of America is going through, Detroit citizens are experiencing it at a level that most of us can only imagine. I find it interesting that the White House has incredibly sympathy for the suffering of middle class families, but doesn't magnify that sympathy for those in Detroit and other decaying urban centers across America like Gary, Milwaukee and Cleveland. This is not to say that the president doesn't care about what's happening there, but we must keep relative suffering in perspective. While most of us are alarmed over 9.5 percent unemployment, Detroit is a place where only 16.5 percent of its citizens are without jobs.
Many prominent black scholars have recommended that the Obama Administration pursue policies designed to target the stimulus package toward communities that have been hardest hit by the recession. Thus far, existing plans to boost the economy have passed over black and urban areas. I also get the feeling that long after the recession is over, we'll still have unemployment rates exceeding that which have most Americans screaming in pain right now. The American recession is really the Great Black Depression.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.