Blacks and the Military

The number of black military recruits has significantly declined since the beginning of the war on terrorism. The decline is apparent in all four arms of military services for active duty recruits.
(Source: Army Recruiting Command; Department of Defense)

Demographics

One-half of the U.S. population will be non-white by 2050.
(U.S. Census Bureau)

Civic Engagement

The total number of eligible African Americans who did not vote in the 2004 presidential election: 9,330,000. President Bush's nationwide margin of victory over John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election: 3,012,497.
(Federal Election Commission and U.S. Census Bureau)

Criminal Justice

Myth: There are more young black males in prison than in college. Fact: According to figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2005 there were 530,000 black males age 18-24 in college; that same year there were 193,000 black males age 18-24 in prison.

Students who are suspended, even just once, are 3 1/2 times more likely to become incarcerated than students who are not suspended.
(Coalition for Juvenile Justice)

Economic Empowerment

There is strong evidence that subprime loans (loans offered to people with weak credit) are targeting people of color regardless of income and credit history. A recent Center for Responsible Lending study finds that African Americans and Latinos are nearly one-third more likely to receive a subprime loan than are whites.
(Center for Responsible Lending)

In 2000, the median net worth of households maintained by African Americans was $7,500, less than one tenth of the net worth of $79,400 for non-Hispanic white households.
(Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies)

Education

In 2005, 80% of African Americans had a high school diploma and 18% were college graduates. Among blacks age 25 or older, 1.1 million had an advanced degree (e.g., MA, Ph.D., MD, or JD) (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)

42% of the nation's public schools have no minority teachers.
(National Center for Education Statistics)

Health

Approximately 2.7 million, or 11.4%, of all African Americans aged 20 years or older have diabetes. However, one-third of them do not know it.
(American Diabetes Association)

In the United States, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is a health crisis for African Americans. In 2002, HIV/AIDS was among the top 3 causes of death for African American men aged 25-54 years and among the top 4 causes of death for African American women aged 25-54 years. It was the number 1 cause of death for African American women aged 25-34 years.
(Source: National Vital Statistics Reports, 2005; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006)

International Affairs

In Darfur, Sudan, 80% of the children under 5 years old are suffering from severe malnutrition and many are dying each day.
(The Save Darfur Coalition)