Why Black Unemployment is a Human Rights Abuse

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Morris goes on to mention that the differentials in black vs. white unemployment are not simply due to African Americans having less skill or education. She shows that even for African Americans with a college degree, their unemployment rate (8.4 percent), is nearly double that of educated whites (4.4 percent). I’ve personally witnessed the discrimination challenges of educated African Americans, as I saw my university attempt to explain why my academic department hasn’t granted tenure or promotion to any black man in over 100 years of existence. I could understand why I was passed over (for being too controversial – business schools don’t like black men like me), but to say that no black man in the history of the world is or was qualified for a certain job is a bit ridiculous and delusional. The bottom line is that many of us go through this frustration, and the “angry black middle class” is alive and kicking.

I hope that the United Nations continues to dig into this issue. We also plan to drill into similar matters at the Institute for Black Public Policy. When it’s all said and done, the “permanent black depression” is not something we should accept. If America is going to be a country that lives up to it’s values, then it is critical that we remind our political leaders to do the hard work necessary to make America fair and just for everyone: This work must be done by all of us, even if our president is black.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book, “Black American Money.” To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

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