Issue Date: April 30, 2002

Racial Disparities

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Blacks and whites have historically experienced America in fundamentally different ways. For the European ancestors of many whites, America symbolized a land of expansive opportunity and freedom. Conversely, for many ancestors of blacks in the U.S., America was where they lost their freedom through slavery.

Although blacks and whites have been equal under the law for several decades, they still view the state of race relations in different ways and are divided despite integration efforts by the government and many blacks and whites. Polls suggest that whites are much less likely than blacks to see racism as a continuing problem in the nation. Two recent events have underscored the complexity of the issue of race in the U.S. and the apparent disparity of viewpoints of blacks and whites:

• Americans were riveted by the highly publicized trial of O.J. Simpson, a black former professional football star who was accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a friend, Ronald Goldman, both of whom were white. The racially charged trial came to a climactic end in October 1995 when Simpson was acquitted of the charges. Public reaction tended to split quite dramatically along racial lines; many blacks celebrated the acquittal, but many whites expressed outrage at the verdict. [See 1996 'Trial of the Century' Captures National Attention]
• In one of the largest demonstrations ever held in Washington, D.C., black men gathered on October 16, 1995 for the Million Man March. The rally was designed to celebrate brotherhood, counter racial stereotypes of black men and reclaim a sense of familial responsibility. Louis Farrakhan, the controversial head of the black Muslim group Nation of Islam, drew both sharp criticism and high praise from both blacks and whites for his role as the organizer of the rally. Farrakhan has often been accused of inciting racism by making derogatory remarks about Jews and whites.

Both the Simpson trial and the Million Man March brought to the surface the realization among both blacks and whites that U.S. society remains segregated in many respects.

Laws and policies have been passed over the past few decades in an effort to create an equal playing field for blacks and other minorities that lag behind whites in most categories, including income levels and graduation rates. Whether or not these policies--many of which are known as affirmative-action programs--should be scaled back or accelerated has been a major question in recent years. At issue has been the future of the civil-rights movement and the kind of path to follow--whether to emphasize black responsibility or to focus on expanding the role that the government can play to enhance black opportunity and equalize disparities.

Some scholars, both black and white, say that it is no longer feasible or necessary to rely so heavily on the government's political and economic support to provide blacks with opportunities. Many claim that the so-called equal playing field among blacks and whites has been at least partially achieved. Lingering social programs can actually reinforce racism, they claim, by creating a sense of dependency in the black community and by embittering whites who feel those policies give blacks an unfair advantage in a fiercely competitive world.

Some black leaders have called on the black community to become more responsible for problems, such as high crime rates and the break-up of the family, that continue to beset a disproportionate number of blacks. The most prominent black leader advocating this stance is Farrakhan. He and many of his followers support greater economic and social independence for the black community.

Others challenge the claim that racism will be overcome without government-led efforts to open more economic and political opportunities for blacks. Self-reliance needs to be coupled with institutional changes in order to overcome the nation's ingrained and persistent heritage of racism, they argue. Liberals champion affirmative action and other efforts by the government and many private enterprises to open doors of opportunity for blacks that they view as stubbornly locked, and assail the public backlash these policies have encountered.

Separate and Unequal

Despite the passage in 1868 of the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed blacks equal rights under the law, equality was unknown in most of the nation for nearly a century. Many Southern states had laws intended to keep blacks and whites separate. The policies, known as Jim Crow laws, mandated separate public facilities for blacks and whites, such as rest rooms and waiting areas. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned these practices and made it unlawful to discriminate because of a person's race, national origin, religion or sex in areas such as employment, housing or public services.

Following a summer marked by race rioting in 125 cities, then-President Lyndon Johnson (D) in 1967 established an advisory commission led by Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner (D) to study race relations in the U.S. In 1968, the Kerner Commission issued its report, concluding, "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal."

Since then, headway has been made to balance the economic and political opportunities of blacks and whites. Strides have been made in many sectors of American society, including:

Education. Today, blacks make up roughly 12% of those who graduate--about the same proportion of blacks in the U.S. population overall. In 1970, only 5.1% of blacks received college degrees. Eighty-four percent of blacks completed high school in 1993, an increase from 74% in 1972. And nearly one-third of all blacks have attended at least some college, compared with fewer than 10% in 1970.

Many people attribute these successes to policies that have improved the educational opportunities of blacks, including court-ordered desegregation of the public schools and affirmative-action programs. Recent polls suggest, however, that Americans are withdrawing support for race-based programs like affirmative action. [See 1995 Affirmative Action]

Income. Poverty continues to blight the black community in disproportionate numbers compared with the white population. The poverty rate among blacks in 1994 stood at 30.6%, or about 10.2 million people, compared with an 11.7% rate among whites. These figures show slight improvement from 1970 figures, when 33.5% of blacks lived below the poverty level.

The poverty rate hits black children especially hard. Overall poverty rates for children under the age of 18 increased to 21% in 1994, from 15% in 1970. According to the Census Bureau, 44% of black children were living in poverty in 1994, compared with 17% of white children.

Many analysts link income and poverty levels with family structure and note that single-parent households are much more common in black households than in white ones. While 21% of white children and 32% of Hispanic children (Hispanics can be of any race) live in single-parent households, 57% of black children live in such arrangements. Overall, males head only 13% of single-family households. The median income of a household headed by a never-married woman was $9,272 in 1993. (The median is the figure on the income scale at which half of all households' incomes are larger, while half are smaller.) The median household income of a two-parent household in 1993 was much higher--$43,578.

Despite that data, a new black middle class is emerging. A March 1994 Census Bureau study showed that husband and wife family units in which both spouses work comprised 21% of all black households. These households make about 88% of the income that comparable white households make. Compared with 1967, there are now five times the number of black families earning a yearly household income of $50,000 or more.

Business. Many people view black-owned business as the key to revitalizing black communities, especially in economically depressed metropolitan areas. The most recent data available show that the number of black-owned firms rose 46% between 1987 and 1992, far outstripping the 26% increase for businesses overall. Yet analysts note that black-owned businesses tend to be smaller than average. Revenues for black-owned firms in 1992 averaged $51,000, compared with $192,000 for business in general. [See 1996 Harlem Fire Linked to Race Bias]

Black unemployment remains nearly twice that of whites. In November 1995, the national unemployment rate in the U.S. was 5% for whites, but 9.4% for blacks.

Major disparities remain in other areas, however, in particular in crime. A disproportionate number of the people imprisoned in the U.S. are black men. Blacks make up 51% of the approximately 1.1 million people in prison nationwide.

The Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based prison-advocacy group, issued a report in October 1995 that declared, "Almost one in three (32.2%) of young black men in the age group 20-29 is under criminal justice supervision on any given day--in prison or jail, on probation or parole." In December 1995, the Justice Department released its own statistics, reporting that nearly 7% of all black male adults were in prison or jail in 1994, compared with fewer than 1% of white male adults.

The reasons for such racial disparities in the prison population are hotly debated. Civil-rights groups say that drug laws that levy harsher penalties for types of drugs used more often by blacks than types used by whites play a significant role. They also point to high rates of unemployment for black men, some of whom turn to illicit work, such as dealing illegal drugs, in order to support themselves. But others claim that the breakdown of the family structure and a lessening of commitment to improving the black community have led to self-destructive behavior. They say that black men must begin taking more responsibility for themselves and purge their communities of gang and drug-culture elements.

Simpson Case Exposes Divisions

The Simpson murder trial dramatized the racial gulf that separates many blacks and whites, and placed into stark relief the divergent views and experiences many blacks and whites have had with the criminal-justice system. Race became a dominant theme of the trial when Simpson's defense attorneys alleged that members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) were motivated by racism to frame Simpson. At one climactic point in the trial, audio tapes were broadcast in which Mark Fuhrman, a white former LAPD detective, repeatedly referred to blacks with racial epithets. The racial comments raised questions concerning the impartiality of Fuhrman, who had uncovered material evidence that incriminated Simpson in the murder. [See 1996 'Trial of the Century' Captures National Attention]

Television cameras in the courtroom offered the public a window to watch the case unfold and scrutinize its day-to-day proceedings. In a CBS News poll taken several days before the verdict was announced, nearly two-thirds of whites said they thought Simpson was probably guilty, while only 12% of blacks agreed. The long-awaited verdict tended to strike different, but equally dramatic, chords among blacks and whites who followed the trial. As the Seattle Times noted in an editorial, "For every gasp or shock at the acquittal of Simpson, there was cheering, hugs and tears of joy."

Many whites felt that there was overwhelming evidence linking Simpson to the murder and expressed anger over the verdict. Some accused the predominantly black jury of disregarding the evidence because of racial loyalty. Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti said, "Apparently [the jurors'] decision was based on emotions that overcame reason."

But Brenda Moran, one of the black members of the jury that acquitted Simpson, denied suggestions that the jury's verdict was prompted by race allegiance. The verdict, she said during an October 4 news conference, "wasn't a matter of sympathy, and it wasn't a matter of favoritism. It was a matter of evidence."

The case illuminated many blacks' belief that they face tougher scrutiny during trials. "There is a long-held assumption, dating back to the days of lynching, that blacks on trial won't get a fair shake," explained Laura Washington, editor of the Chicago Reporter, a monthly publication that focuses on racial issues. That skepticism was evident in opinions over the Simpson trial. In the CBS News poll taken days before the verdict, only 45% of blacks, but 74% of whites, said they believed that Simpson got a fair trial.

Criminal-Justice System

Accusations of police misconduct in the Simpson trial seemed to resonate among blacks, many of whom carry deep suspicions of the criminal-justice system in particular. Many people recall the 1991 videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King by LAPD officers. The acquittal of four of those officers in April 1992 sparked a five-day period of violence in Los Angeles that resulted in hundreds of fires and 58 deaths.

Since the 1960s, some of the worst racial disturbances in the U.S. have erupted after blacks have clashed with police. Violence and deaths have occurred over the past 30 years in Los Angeles (1965), Newark, N.J. (1967), Detroit, Mich. (1967) and Miami, Fla. (1980).

Most recently, six Philadelphia, Pa. police officers have pleaded guilty to criminal charges, including planting evidence, lying to obtain search warrants, arresting without cause and beating citizens. As of October 1995, 55 criminal cases, most involving poor black defendants, have been dismissed since a federal probe began investigating the Philadelphia police department in February. More than 1,000 cases are currently under review.

Police officers and others involved in law enforcement are quick to defend the image of police departments. Robert Scully, director of the National Association of Police Organizations, says, "This negative spin by the media on a small number of cases distorts the public perception of police." He and others stress the work done by the vast majority of police officers, who perform their jobs fairly.

Many officers say that police departments have made large strides in ridding law enforcement of racism over the past few decades. Although many officers say they understand the historical reasons for many blacks' suspicion of police, they argue that programs like affirmative action, community policing and diversity training have created more integrated and accountable police forces. They point out that the number of black police officers in the U.S. has doubled since 1972, and note that there was an average 36% increase in the number of black police officers in the nation's 50 largest departments between 1982 and 1992.

Crime and Stereotypes

Blacks and whites agree that crime and the breakdown of the traditional two-parent family are serious social concerns. But blacks and whites disagree on the causes of many of America's social ills. Fifty-three percent of blacks say that economic pressure on families is the main cause of social afflictions, according to a January 1994 Wall Street Journal poll. Yet a majority of white Americans--58%--fault moral decline. Conversely, only 32% of blacks blamed moral decline, while 30% of whites blamed economic hardship.

Violent crime exacts an especially heavy toll on urban communities, which are often largely populated by minorities. High incarceration rates for black males have put black leaders in a difficult dilemma, according to Glenn Loury, an economics professor at Boston University in Boston, Mass. He says that leaders must establish programs to curb the high rates of violent crime in urban, mostly black communities, but must also preserve black dignity and respect by challenging harmful stereotypes of black men and developing new role models.

Writing in the New Republic (January 1, 1996), Loury explains, "It is no exaggeration to say that black, male youngsters in the central cities have been demonized in the popular minds as have no other group in recent American history."

Million Man March

Many participants in the Million Man March said that they were seeking to counter some of those stereotypes. Farrakhan, the organizer of the rally, billed the event as a "holy day of atonement and reconciliation," and called for black men to unite and restore their commitments to their families and communities.

The march was one of the largest political demonstrations ever held in Washington, D.C., although estimates of the number of participants vary. Official estimates made by the National Park Service counted 400,000 people, although the organizers of the march estimated that there were more than one million. Many well-known black political and cultural leaders spoke at the rally, which culminated in a two-hour speech by Farrakhan.

Prior to the event, many people were concerned about supporting the rally, mostly because they did not want to embrace the controversial Farrakhan as a leader of black America. During an interview with Reuters earlier in October 1995, Farrakhan referred to Jews and Asians as "blooksuckers." He maintained that the term could apply to any group that did business in black neighborhoods but did not return something to the black community.

Despite concerns of some critics who feared that Farrakhan's involvement could create strife or lead to violence, the day was regarded by most observers as a solemn and peaceful display of black male America. As Roger Wilkins, a long-time civil-rights crusader, explained:

Much of America sees black men as irretrievably violent and disorderly. But at least a half million people came and they were orderly. They were spiritual....And black and white America both saw an image of black men that was strong, determined and clean.

Farrakhan's message to blacks centers on a vision of faith and responsibility. He maintains that society at large needs to atone for "white supremacy" and oppression, but that the government and other predominantly white institutions cannot be relied upon to find solutions to problems facing blacks. In his speeches, Farrakhan emphasizes black self-reliance and entrepreneurship, and calls for a separate black culture and economy.

Although criticized by some for not including women or people of other races in the rally, Farrakhan insisted that the march be targeted to black men who, he said, must redefine and accept their responsibilities. He says that black men are guilty of feeding white racism when they neglect their families and faith, and when they allow the black community to be overrun by drugs, violence and gang warfare. He asked women to stay home and not to shop in order to show their economic power and solidarity with the marchers.

Some people saluted the aims of the rally but refused to participate, not wanting to align themselves with Farrakhan. Gen. Colin Powell, the black former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who drew a large interracial following amid speculation that he might run for the U.S. presidency in 1996, declined an invitation by Farrakhan to attend the rally. Powell, who has become one of the nation's most respected leaders, said in an interview that he did not want to give Farrakhan credibility by participating. "We've come too far in this country; we cannot go back to the swamp of racism," said Powell. "And whether it comes from Minister Farrakhan or a Mark Fuhrman, it's the same thing."

Integration or Separation?

By making statements that are viewed as politically and ethnically divisive and by excluding women from the rally in Washington, Farrakhan has been accused of abandoning the traditional civil-rights struggle embodied by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In August 1963, King also organized a monumental rally in Washington, but King directed his message to the government, demanding legislative changes to enhance equality for blacks. In King's speech, presented to an interracial crowd of men and women, he called for equality, interracial brotherhood and unity.

Observers have noted that King's message of integration is markedly different from Farrakhan's. In a New York Times editorial (October 17, 1995), Abe Rosenthal called the Million Man March "a blow to the American dream and goal of unity." He argued that "apologists" of the rally lost sight of the ultimate objective of Farrakhan and his organization. "The Nation of Islam's program states its goal: the creation of a separate black nation within America," explains Rosenthal.

Countering Farrakhan's focus on black independence and self-reliance, a number of critics said that they feared that the tendency to separate black problems from American problems could exacerbate black-white divisions. Eric Foner, a history professor at Columbia University in New York City, also defends the goal of integration as opposed to separation. Throughout history, writes Foner in the Nation (October 30, 1995), "Integration has meant not the absorption of blacks into the pre-existing white social order but the transformation of American society so as to give real meaning to the principle of equality."

Government's Role Questioned

Some black leaders who participated in the Million Man March linked Farrakhan's theme of self-reliance with the recognition that the government has a role to encourage the economic and political success of people of all races. Political leaders like Jesse Jackson, the founder and leader of the Rainbow Coalition, and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D, Md.), who will step down from the House in February 1996 to become president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), assailed the government and the Supreme Court for eliminating some affirmative-action policies. Mfume asked, "Where is economic justice...when we are condemned to the bottom of the pay scale and government abandons its commitment to affirmative action?"

Some liberals denounce the retraction of federal policies that were designed to help the poor, a disproportionate number of whom are black. The Republican-led 104th Congress, which vows to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, is currently reevaluating the existence or extent of programs such as Medicaid, which helps low-income people afford health services, welfare, food-assistance programs and education programs.

Conservative black author Thomas Sowell claims, meanwhile, that government programs that aid minorities are troublesome because they create an aura of black dependency and feed racial stereotypes.

He contends that blacks must shed the image of being "pictured as helpless without government" by challenging "minority pork-barrel programs that support the middle class." Sowell argues that these programs must be contested, even if those who retract them risk the stigma of appearing hostile to black interests.

Shelby Steele, an author and research fellow at the Hoover Institution, a think tank in Palo Alto, Calif., agrees that Americans seem to have departed from the notion of the interracial and equal society envisioned by King. But Steele believes that government programs based on race distinction are not solutions to racial division. He says that race has become a "convenient" distinction that continues to separate blacks from the rest of U.S. society.

Steele argues that even well-intentioned programs that draw lines according to race, such as affirmative action, multiculturalism, or Farrakhan's emphasis on black male responsibility, can undermine the struggle for true equality. Behind these high ideals for maintaining diversity and cultural identity lurks "a society deeply divided by persistent inequality, the proliferation of demagogues and a relentless racial politics that erodes more national common ground every day," Steele claims.

Loury expresses a similar sentiment. He says, "Much of what ails black America ails America overall." He claims that issues such as poverty, unemployment and the decline of the traditional two-parent family structure are concerns that cross racial lines in America. "By seeing these problems in racial terms, when race is not the real story, we are less likely, as both intellectual and political matter, to fashion effective solutions," says Loury. Loury has criticized the Million Man March as an exercise of "racialist, if not racist, chauvinism."

Bridging a Racial Gap

In a speech presented in Austin, Texas on the day of the Million Man March, President Clinton said that both blacks and whites are responsible for putting an end to racism and working to erase disparities. "We must all take responsibility for ourselves, our conduct and our attitudes. America, we must clean our house of racism," declared Clinton. To white Americans, Clinton criticized the "fashionable" talk about blacks receiving special treatment by the government. "The truth is that African-Americans still make an average about 60% of what white people do and more than half of African-American children live in poverty," he said.

But Clinton told blacks that they must also understand "the roots of white fear in America." He argued that it was not racist for whites to fear inner city crime or "for whites to assert that the culture of welfare dependency, out-of-wedlock pregnancy and absent fatherhood cannot be broken by social programs unless there is first more personal responsibility."

Clinton also noted that America has become more racially and ethnically diverse over the last few decades, a reality that is often ignored when the debate is continually polarized between black and white Americans. The Hispanic-American population makes up nearly 10% of U.S. society and is growing at a faster rate than the black population, for example. And Americans belonging to the Census Bureau group called Asian or Pacific Islander are the fastest-growing population category in the U.S. That group doubled in size between 1980 and 1990, to about 3% of all Americans.

Yet relations among blacks and whites remain unique, in part because of the nation's 300-year history of slavery and discrimination. Most observers agree that the legacy of racism has not been eliminated by the last 30 years of social programs and equal-rights laws, although substantial progress has been made. Recent events have proven that America's racial divide still exists but have also set the stage for a discussion on the goals and future of the civil-rights movement.

In his acceptance speech for the leadership of the NAACP, Mfume described the renewed energy that must be summoned to solve race problems. "We are at the crossroads of tremendous change in our nation," he said. "Despite the gains made by African Americans, racism continues to divide our country and polarize our people. We can stand by and watch in the comfort of our own circumstances, or we can step forward and dare to lead."

Bibliography

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Branigin, W. "Farrakhan Invites Powell to Speak at D.C. March." Washington Post (October 9, 1995): A12.

Economist (October 21, 1995). "Voices in the Land": 29.

Foner, E. "The Great Divide." Nation (October 30, 1995): 487.

Gupta, U. "Number of Black-Owned Firms Rises 46%." Wall Street Journal (December 12, 1995): B2.

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Loury, G. "Not-So Black and White: The Two Americas are Actually Converging." Washington Post (October 15, 1995): C3.

Loury, G. "The Impossible Dilemma." New Republic (January 1, 1996): 21.

Merida, K. "Worry, Frustration Build for Many in Black Middle Class." Washington Post (October 9, 1995): A1.

The Nation (November 6, 1995) "Outmarching the Hatred": 522.

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Raspberry, W. "Big Choice for Kweisi Mfume--and the NAACP." Washington Post (December 15, 1995): A25.

Roberts, S. "Moving on Up: The Greening of America's Black Middle Class." New York Times (June 18, 1995): A1.

Smolowe, J. "Race and the O.J. Case." Time (August 1, 1994): 24.

Sowell, T. "A Vicious Vision." Forbes (July 31, 1995): 57.

Steele, S. "Race and the Curse of Good Intentions." New York Times (October 24, 1995): A27.

Terry, D. "Seeking Statesmanship, Farrakhan Softens Tone." New York Times (October 25, 1995): A13.

Thomas, P. "One in Three Young Black Men in Courts." Washington Post (October 5, 1995): A1.

Thomas, P. "Police Brutality: An Issue Rekindled." Washington Post (December 6, 1995): A1.

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Washington Post (December 4, 1995). "Prison Population Grows at Record Rate": A4.

Contact Information

Information on how to contact the organizations that are mentioned in the discussion of race is listed below:

Keywords and Points

For further information about racial disparities and ongoing racial tension, search for the following words and terms in electronic databases and other publications:

Racial Disparities Update

Since ICOF last covered racial disparities in January 1996, a special advisory board on race relations established by President Bill Clinton (D) urged a "call to arms" on racial reconciliation. Among the key events:

• On September 18, 1998, after a 15-month investigation that had included 300 meetings on race, an advisory board on race relations convened by Clinton released a report in which it made four major recommendations for improving race relations in the U.S.: 1) Establishment of a permanent body, the President's Council for One America, that would seek to foster harmony and communication between racial and ethnic groups. 2) Development of an education program to disseminate information on race. 3) A "call to arms" for government agencies and private businesses to "make racial reconciliation a reality." 4) Increased involvement of youth leaders in facilitating dialogue and understanding between races and ethnic groups. Other suggestions included calls for tougher enforcement of civil rights laws, increased spending on school construction in minority areas and ending sentencing disparities between drug convictions involving cocaine in powder form and convictions involving crack cocaine. [See 1998 Facts On File: Race Relations--Presidential Panel Releases Final Report]
• On September 12, 2000, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno announced the release of a Justice Department report that found significant racial disparities in federal death penalty sentences. According to the study, which was the first to comprehensively examine the federal death penalty since its was reinstated in 1988, in 74% of cases where a federal prosecutor had sought the death penalty since 1995, the defendant was a member of a minority group. It also reported that, of the 183 inmates for whom prosecutors had recommended the death penalty during that same period, almost 50% were black, 30% were Hispanic and 20% were white, with the rest coming from other ethnic groups and races. The findings prompted many lawmakers and death penalty foes to call for a moratorium on federal executions. [See 2000 Facts On File: Capital Punishment--Study Finds Disparity in Death Penalty]
• A study showing racial disparities in traffic stops in Texas was released by the NAACP on October 3, 2000. It reported that black motorists were searched twice as often and Hispanics two and a half times as often as non-Hispanic whites. Another study released the following day by the Dallas Morning News found that blacks and Hispanics statewide were ticketed at a rate proportional to their populations, but blacks were nearly twice as likely as whites to be ticketed in certain rural counties. [See 2000 Facts On File: Civil Rights--News in Brief]
• A decline in minority journalists was reported on April 3, 2001, when the American Society of Newspaper Editors released its 24th annual survey of minority representation in newsrooms. The report found that the percentage of minority journalists on daily newspapers fell to 11.64% in 2000, from 11.85% in 1999--the first decline since the survey began. Declines were reported in all four ethnic groups surveyed: blacks, Asians, American Indians and Hispanics. [See 2001 Facts On File: Civil Rights--News in Brief]
• On April 6, 2001, the Department of Education released its 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) fourth-grade reading test scores. The results showed that the average fourth-grade reading score had remained steady since 1992, but that the gap between the highest-achieving and lowest-achieving readers had widened. Sixty-three percent of black test-takers and 58% of Hispanics scored at the below-basic level. The 1999 NAEP test scores, which had been released on August 24, 2000, had found a widening gap between black and white students' scores. They had also revealed a gap between white and Hispanic students' scores, but that gap had been narrowing over the past few years. Based on a 500-point scale, black nine-year-olds lagged 35 points behind white students in reading scores in 1999, up from 29 points in 1988, and 41 points in science scores, up from 37 points in 1996. Black 17-year-olds lagged 52 points behind their white counterparts in math scores. [See 2000 Facts On File: Education--Nationwide Test Scores Show Racial Gap; 2001 Education--National Test Scores Show Literacy Gap]
• Attorney General John Ashcroft announced on June 6, 2001, that a new Justice Department study had found no evidence of racial or ethnic bias in the administration of federal death sentences. The review of 973 potential capital cases, he said, showed that blacks and Hispanics were in fact less likely to receive the death penalty than whites. Ashcroft also stated that the study had revealed "a slight statistical disparity" in federal plea agreements, which meant that whites were twice as likely to escape capital punishment by striking such bargains with prosecutors, and he said he would ensure fairness by reviewing all future plea agreements. [See 2001 Facts On File: Capital Punishment--Federal Death Penalty Fair, Study Says; Other Developments]
• In what was called the most comprehensive report ever on racial disparities in professional wages, on August 14, 2001, the American Sociological Review published a study that said that black men typically earned less than their white colleagues, even in highly paid professions. The study tracked more than a million workers in more than 470 occupations. [See 2001 Facts On File: Civil Rights--News in Brief]
• The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a consumer activist group, on October 3, 2001 released a study that showed that black and Hispanic applicants were far more likely than white applicants to be turned down for a home mortgage. Lenders rejected black applicants more than twice as often as whites, and Hispanic applicants were rejected about 50% more often than whites. The study also stated that this disparity was partly to blame for minorities' lower rates of home ownership. On September 28, 2000, ACORN had released a related study reporting that minority and lower-income borrowers were more likely to be steered toward more expensive "subprime" mortgages and to be victimized by predatory lending practices. That report found that in 1999, 45.1% of conventional home refinance loans to black Americans were from subprime lenders, as compared with 19.5% of loans to Hispanics and 12.1% to whites. [See 2000 Facts On File: Civil Rights--Predatory Lenders Said to Target Minorities; Other Developments; 2001 Civil Rights--Home Mortgage Figures Show Racial Gap]