Blackout – Black Unemployment Rate Rises As Overall Rate Falls

 Empty - Ghosts of The Middle Class

Sometimes statistics speak louder than shouts from rooftops. Cheers went up as the March 2011 jobless rate fell from 8.9% to 8.8%. Hold the celebrations unemployment rate for black increased from 15.3% to 15.5%, almost twice the 7.9% of whites.

What is going on in the face of celebrations surrounding the number of jobs being created and an unemployment rate that has dropped to 8.8% from 8.9% the month before, blacks seemed to be left off the party invitation list. Hispanics have little cause to be raising their glasses for a toast as well. The unemployment rate for Hispanics fell from 11.3% to 11.1%, but it is the unemployment rate among blacks that is totally disconnected and going against the tide.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics report lists the rates for blacks, whites, Hispanics and all other groups in the United States. Even inside the black community the pain is unevenly spread. Black women had a drop in their unemployment rate from 13% to 12.5% while black men went from 16.2% to 16.8%.  Let’s not gloss over the gap between black men and black women with a 4.3% more of an unemployment percentage among black men.

Let’s get away from percentages and get into how many people this represents. The tables state that 7,923,000 black women are employed compared to 6,758,000 black men. That means that 1,165,000 more black women have jobs than black men. On the flip side the number of unemployed black women is listed at 1,127,000 versus 1,361,000 black men. There is a quirk in the numbers that show fewer black women have jobs than before. The number of black women that were employed in February was 7,993,000 compared to 7,923,000 which are 70,000 fewer jobs and the jobless rate went down for black women. You may ask how fewer working black women mean a decreased in the unemployment rate, it is because so many gave up looking for work and were not counted in the numbers.

The participation rate for black women went from 63.1% to 62.1% and that caused the rate to decrease even though 70,000 fewer black women had jobs. Black men actually had an increase in the number holding jobs from 6,745,000 to 6,758,000 which is 13,000 more jobs and the jobless rate among black men went up because the participation rate went up from 68.2% to 68.7%. Simply speaking, more black men looked for jobs and the jobless rate went up due to math.

So, what is going on? Blacks don’t seem to be included in this slow recovery and what does it mean for the long term future of the black community. The unemployment rates reported are always lower than reality. What is the rate if part-time and underemployment are factored in. Where are the crisis level emergency outcries, because as we speak, decades of economic gains in the black community are being destroyed?

Iman al-Obeidi – The Face Of Oppressed Women In Libya And Worldwide

Iman al-Obeidi is the woman that burst into a hotel in Tripoli, Libya and passionately yelled out what she said happened to her while she was being held by 15 soldiers for 2 days, before escaping. This was in full view of microphones and camera from around the world. In that moment, Iman al-Obeidi may have become the face of oppressed women around the world.

As she told of horrific acts of gang rape she was then berated and roughly dragged away by hotel staff and others loyal to Gadhafi’s regime. Foreign journalists were tackled, roughed up and camera equipment smashed in an effort to keep this event off the visual record. It was captured and broadcast worldwide. Images of incredible real drama unfolded as this woman had a cloth bag thrown over her head, she was pulled outside and forced into the back of a waiting vehicle and spirited away.

Some of her final words were, “If you don’t see me tomorrow, then that’s it.” An article titled “The silence is deafening: Where is Iman al-Obeidi?” by the Star-Ledger editorial board and published in NJ.com goes into further detail.

Things like this are the family secrets and dirty laundry of a regime known for brutality. It also shows the gulf between the treatment and freedom of women around the world. Now questions abound of her location and condition. Her family says they have not seen her, but offers of bribes in exchange for a retraction of allegations have come their way. Iman al-Obeidi is supposedly a lawyer and student, but she is being called a whore in an effort to smear her name and reputation.

The images of a woman being berated, having her head covered and then whisked away in a vehicle to parts unknown seemed to be the most indelible symbol of this conflict. No orchestrated theatrical play could match the reality of what happened to Iman al-Obeidi in real life.

Blacks Distracted By Angry Black Woman Pepsi Max Ad While Black Unemployment Rate Almost Twice That Of Whites

The uproar over a Pepsi Max Super Bowl XLV commercial has caused a firestorm because it was thought to have promoted a stereotype about the angry black woman. For the record it could have been interpreted as hitting on other hot buttons in the black community, such as black men finding blond white women so irrestible that they would disrespect their wives to look at one. How about black people not being able to resist food that is bad for us. We are outraged about that when the January 2011 unemployment rate among African Americans was 15.7% compared to 8% for the same category of Whites according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is a true outrage. The jobless rates for Whites went from 8.5% to 8% while blacks went from 15.8% to 15.7% comparing December 2010 to January 2011.

Selective Outrage

A firestorm erupted after the commercial aired. Black bloggers, websites and even politicians weighed in on the issue with their outrage. An article titled “'Angry black woman' Super Bowl ad promotes stereotypes” by Ronda Racha Penrice February 7, 2011 and published on the Grio website go into the roots of the anger. We can may reasons to be outraged over or image being trampled by our own people given the movies and television shows that have been produced with angry black women and brutal black men made by black producers. Music videos promote other negative images of low morals among black men and women worshiping at the alter of sex, money and excess.

There are many things to be angry about when it comes to how our image is being promoted, yet we support the TV shows, movies and music just as much as we buy Pepsi Max soda. Was the real outrage that it was shown to 111 million people. Was the commercial wrong, yes it was, but let's use the outrage to clean all of the bad image promotion up. We should not get caught not get caught in the old we can say something among ourselves and cheer, but someone else can't show the same thing. We already have that problem with the use of a certain word.

Cheers will erupt in a movie theater when a black woman burns down her husband's car, throws hot grits on him or let's his luxury SUV go over a bridge. Areas are packed as a black entertainer describes how he has his way with women and throws them aside. Where is the outrage?

Do We Need A Black Unemployment Stereotype Ad

Do we need a commercial showing a consumer products company hiring white workers at a 2 to 1 rate over equally qualified black applicants with black women getting angry in the interviews and black men leering at the white blond receptionists. That would be something to become outraged about because we know that is not why the black unemployment rate is almost twice that of whites. Why aren't we expressing our outrage?