Filed under: News, The Economy
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A couple of recent articles provided some new theories and information about the importance of income to happiness and changes in the average earnings between urban men and women. While these statistics are interesting, what is more interesting to note is that the studies, and the sites that reported on them, failed to take race into account in discussing issues like wealth, gender and happiness.
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BV's Most Memorable Moments of the Decade
Most Notable Business Achievements
What: Rise of Black Billionaires
Who: Oprah Winfrey, Bob Johnson (founder of BET) and Shelia Johnson (ex-wife of Bob Johnson)
When: 2000/2003
Why: Bob and Shelia Johnson, then married, became instant billionaires with the sale of BET to Viacom in 2000 for $2.34 billion in Viacom stock. Oprah Winfrey became the first African American woman to become a billionaire in 2003, and was also the world's only black billionaire from 2004 through 2006. These amazing achievements saw black entrepreneurs finally reach the highest echelons of the media business as owners rather than just entertainers.
George Pimentel, WireImage / Danny Moloshok, AP / Cassandra Shie, AOL
AP
BlackVoices.com
Most Memorable Moments
Most Shocking Celebrity Death
What: The King of Pop Dies
Who: Michael Jackson
When: June 25, 2009
Why: In what became the decade's most shocking death, music icon Michael Jackson died after suffering cardiac arrest at his California home. The multiplatinum-selling singer's unforeseen death came on the brink of his highly anticipated 'This Is It' tour. The 50-show concert series was scheduled to begin on July 13, 2009, at London's O2 Arena. He was 50.
Most Memorable Moments
Biggest Political Triumph>
What: Obama Wins 2008 Election
Who: President Barack Obama (with loving support of wife Michelle)
When: November 4, 2008
Why: President Obama was elected the first African American president of the United States in a landslide victory. An achievement that many blacks did not believe they would ever witness, Obama's election as the 44th president of the United States is the fulfillment of the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King. President Obama was elected rightly due to the excellence of his character, thus becoming an inspiring example and showing all that personal greatness overcomes all barriers.
Most Memorable Moments
Most Notable Business Achievements
What: Rise of Black Billionaires
Who: Oprah Winfrey, Bob Johnson (founder of BET) and Shelia Johnson (ex-wife of Bob Johnson)
When: 2000/2003
Why: Bob and Shelia Johnson, then married, became instant billionaires with the sale of BET to Viacom in 2000 for $2.34 billion in Viacom stock. Oprah Winfrey became the first African American woman to become a billionaire in 2003, and was also the world's only black billionaire from 2004 through 2006. These amazing achievements saw black entrepreneurs finally reach the highest echelons of the media business as owners rather than just entertainers.
Most Memorable Moments
Best Movie Star Moment
What: 74th Annual Academy Awards
Who: Halle Berry and Denzel Washington
When: Mar. 22, 2002
Why: In 2002, Halle broke through the Oscar color barrier by becoming the first African American woman to win an Academy Award for best actress for her part in 'Monster's Ball.' Ms. Berry wasn't the only person making history that night. Actor Denzel Washington also took home the gold for best actor for his role in 'Training Day,' making him the second African American man, after Sidney Poitier, to receive the prestigious award.
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Most Salacious Sports Sex Scandal
What: Sex, Lies and Criminal Cases
Who: Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant
When: Late 2009/Summer of 2003
Why: At one point, both Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant were seen as role models to the kids who idolized them. This image came crashing down for the married Bryant in 2003 when he was accused of sexual assault and later for Woods when a holiday fender bender set in motion a tabloid field day that would eventually reveal the golfer's many extramarital affairs. Bryant's career and marriage bounced back after his accuser declined to testify, and Woods has vowed to step away from golf indefinitely to work on his marriage. Moral: never make assumptions about our how our sports heroes conduct themselves off the course and court.
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Most Fierce Fashion Moment
What: All-Black Vogue Italia Cover
Who: Naomi Campbell, Liya Kebede, Sessilee Lopez, Jourdan Dunn, etc.
When: July 2008
Why: In response to valid concerns from models of color that the runways and editorial pages of fashion magazines were becoming less and less diverse, Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani decided to dedicate an entire issue to black models. Smart move for Sozzani: it was the highest selling issue of Vogue Italia, and it marked the first time publishing giant Conde Nast ever had to reprint an issue based on demand (and they had to do it twice!). Who says black cover models don't sell magazines?
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Most Horrifying Crime Spree
What: DC Sniper
Who: John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo
When: Oct. 3, 2002 - Oct. 22, 2002
Why: Before the D.C. Sniper, black folks could at least pretend that there was no such thing as black serial killers. Muhammad and Boyd forever dispelled that myth with a three-week murder spree that froze the entire nation. Muhammad and Malvo were finally arrested on federal weapons charges on October 24th. For their crimes, Boyd is serving a life sentence with no opportunity for parole while Muhammad was executed on November 10, 2009.
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Biggest Celebrity Power Couple
What: Hov and Bey's Reign on Top
Who: Jay-Z and Beyonce
When: April 4, 2008 - 20xx
Why: This decade's Sonny & Cher award goes to none other than hip-hop's dynamic duo: Jay-Z and Beyonce. After numerous public appearances and music collaborations, Hov decided to upgrade the 'Dreamgirls' actress and put a ring on it in 2008. The couple exchanged wedding vows during a low-key ceremony on April 4 at Jay's Manhattan loft.
Most Memorable Moments
Worst National Tragedy
What: Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Who: The Taliban (a radical political movement) with Osama bin Laden (allegedly) at the helm. Prior to the 9/11 attacks bin Laden was called America's most wanted terrorist suspect.
When: September 11, 2001
Immediately after the attacks, pop stars recorded patriotic songs and mourners conducted candle-light vigils honoring the lost souls and symbolizing unity. More importance was placed on relationships and less on materialism. From September 11, 2001 on, America's culture changed. The reality of a safe democratic province would forever be questioned. Racial-profiling as we knew it would now focus on all unsuspecting Arabs, as opposed to Blacks and Latinos. Like never before, great measures were taken to heighten security at hubs of public transportation. Billions of dollars have been spent implementing high-tech security systems at US airports. American citizens now recognize the challenge and inability to remain invincible. Five suspects were arrested for the attacks, which killed nearly 2,750 people and are being detained in Guantánamo Bay prison, awaiting trial. Osama bin Laden is still at large.
Most Memorable Moments
In one article, Robert Frank of the Wall Street Journal provides background on a recent study done to gauge the impact of higher income on happiness. According to the study , a person's day-to-day contentment (emotional well-being) rises until that person reaches $75,000 in annual income, and then it stops. On the other hand, a person will continue to have a higher "life-assessment" (broader satisfaction with one's place in the world) in connection with increases in income.
Of course this number is very general. I doubt that $75,000 would be the high point for contentment in Washington, D.C. where I live, just as the number might be less in a city with a low cost of living like Little Rock, Arkansas (where I used to live). In addition, given the large wealth disparities that exist between black and white individuals, and the generally higher levels of debt held by black people, it would be interesting to see a racial breakdown of the study results. I highly doubt a large percentage of black people (no matter where they live) would give $75,000 as their cutoff point for happiness. Especially as no amount of money can soothe the additional social stress blacks have to endure to earn said income in our still racially troubling society. Did they measure that in the study?
Another article on Lemondrop.com references a recent study that states single women between the ages of 22 and 30 and living in larger urban areas are now earning about 8% more than their male counterparts. This is a dramatic difference compared to the national average: women with a bachelor's degree still earn about 33% less than a man with the same degree. The study gives some reasons for this shift, including the higher numbers of women in urban areas attending college and obtaining high-earning jobs, in addition to the disproportionate impact of job losses in the industrial sector on male workers.
From the African American perspective, this news is not all that surprising. Given that urban areas often have the highest concentrations of black residents, and because we know that there is a huge disparity in the number of black women graduating from college compared to black men, I'm surprised this gendered income gap isn't a little higher. Because of the large numbers of black males unable to find work for a variety of reasons, if this second study was analyzed from a race-specific angle I would not be surprised if the income difference for urban black men and women was found to be larger.
Related:
+Open Letter to Obama:
Black Unemployment Must Be Addressed
+EEOC Says Many Government Agencies
Fail to Submit Mandated Diversity Reports
Although both articles are simply analyzing studies done by others, it is interesting to see that neither article even mentioned the obvious impact of race on both issues. Aside from the fact that for a variety of unjust reasons black people on average have far less wealth than their white counterparts, there is also the issue of
black people being paid less than their white colleagues to perform the same job to consider. It clearly wasn't. I'm sure that may impact a person's happiness, regardless of the dollar amount. Furthermore, to address the issue of higher women's salaries in urban areas without mentioning the impact of the mass incarceration of black males which leads to a
lack of job opportunities describes a failure in understanding the complexity of the issues at hand due to race.
Articles like these are an answer to those who ask: "Why do black people need their own Web sites, television stations, magazines, etc.?" Because far too often the mainstream perspective is still only concerned with the general, in other words, white point-of-view. These statistics don't provide insights that will help the black community grow economically. "Mainstream" media outlets fail to understand the specific economic issues affecting African American audiences, and seem content to ignore their ignorance.
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