Feb. 7, 2015

The Carter G. Woodson Legacy
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The racial differential in the poverty rate is staggering. Last time I checked, about 12 percent people in the United States, one in eight people are poor. Depending on race and ethnicity, however, poverty is differently experienced.  Fewer than one in ten whites are poor, more than one in four African Americans and Latinos are poor.  Differences in occupation, income, employment and education are considered the main reasons for poverty, with current and past discrimination playing a role in educational, employment and occupational attainment.   We see the discrimination when we consider that African American women with a doctoral degree have median earnings of about $1000 a week, compared to about $1200 a week for black men and white women, and $1600 a week for white men.  White men earn 60 percent more than African American women, and a third more than black men and white women.

It would not take much to recite the differences, by race, or education, unemployment, earnings and occupation.  The recurrent question in reviewing the data is “what are we going to do”.  It makes no sense to just recite the data and then wring our hands as if nothing can be done.  The three steps in social change are organization (especially protest), which leads to legislation (width pressure) and litigation (when legislation is not implemented).  Often laws preventing discrimination have been passed but not adhered to, forcing litigation to get offenders to “do the right thing”.  Of course, it takes more than a minute.  It takes people who are committed to the long run.  “The arc of the moral universe is long”, Dr. Martin Luther King said in 1964, “but it bends toward justice.

Dr. Carter Goodson Woodson understood the long arc when he founded the Journal of Negro History and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915.  The organization and the journal have changed their names to reflect the nomenclature of these times, and they are now called The Journal of African American History and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.  Both the organization and the journal have now existed for one hundred years which is perhaps why ASALH chose “A Century of Black Lives, History and Culture” as its 2015 theme.  (ASALH, as founders of Black History Month, choose a theme each year).  This year their focus on the long arc of African American life in our nation and asserts that “this transformation is the result of effort, not chance”.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson made many choices that led to his education and to the creativity and brilliance that motivated him to uplift Black History through Negro History week, now called Black History Month.  Woodson was born the son of former slaves, and a family that was large and poor.  He worked as a miner in West Virginia, and attended school just a few months a year.  At 20, he started high school; by 28 he earned his bachelor’s degree.  He was only the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard (WEB DuBois was the first). He was a member of the Howard University faculty; later he was the Dean.  He wrote, “If you can contrail a man’s thinking, you don’t worry about his action.  If you can determine what a man thinks you do not have to worry about what he will do.  If you can make a man believe that he is inferior, you don’t have to compel him to seek an inferior status, he will do so without being told, and if you can make a man believe that he is justly an outcast, you don’t have to order him to the back door, he will go to the back door on his own and if there is no back door, the very nature of the man will demand that you build one.”

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist based is Washington, D.C.

Feb. 3, 2015

Black leaders to President Obama: Speak ‘More Forcefully’ on Race Issues
By Hazel Trice Edney

Lawyers' Committee President/CEO Barbara Arnwine

NAACP President/CEO Cornell William Brooks

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In 1903, author, orator and public intellectual W.E.B. Dubois stated, “The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.”

Now 15 years into the 21^st century, at the beginning of Black History Month, America is still struggling with the issue of race. This is demonstrated by marches, protests and signs heralding the words “Black Lives Matter”, among other slogans, in the wake of police killings of unarmed Black men. The problem is also born out through statistics showing gross racial disparities in nearly every social and economic category.

Because of the intensity of race as an issue and the momentum it has gained over the past several years, some Black leaders are calling for President Obama to not only push more policy to deal with it, but to speak more pointedly to the issue.

“The creation of the White House Task Force on 21^st Century Policing Reform is a positive first step toward dealing with the problems in our policing structure, but of course Congressional action is still needed to make long term systemic reform.   I look forward to the President speaking more forcefully about the need to combat these issues in future speeches” said Barbara Arnwine, President/CEO of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Until we confront and address the systemic structures that maintain the old vestiges of racial segregation and de-humanization in this country we will not be able to realize a truly just and equal society.”

In written statements and interviews, Arnwine and other civil right leaders were reflecting on President Obama’s State of the Union Address Jan. 20. In that speech, the president mentioned the racial unrest that raged last year following the police killing of unarmed teen Michael Brown in Ferguson and the police chokehold killing of unarmed father of six Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y.

“We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson and New York,” Obama said. “But surely we can understand a father who fears his son can't walk home without being harassed. Surely we can understand the wife who won't rest until the police officer she married walks through the front door at the end of his shift.”

But, some viewed the President’s comments as too sweeping and saying little to help America understand the pain and racial disparities in which the issues are steeped.

NAACP President Cornell William Brooks says, now that the State of the Union is over, the President should give a speech on race issues – period.

“The state of the union speech is by its definition, broad, thematic and kind of multi-categorical,” Brooks said. “Certainly we would like for the President to speak about these issues in a speech. So, in other words, a speech where you talk about the criminal justice challenges in New York, in Staten Island in Cleveland in Ferguson. We believe that that would be a great opportunity to lift up some of the criminal justice challenges facing our youth in particular and America in general. We’d like to see him do that. That would be a great opportunity to bring these themes together.”

President Obama has spoken a number of times on race issues in the heat of the moment. He did so after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, saying, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” He also pleaded for calm following the acquittals of the officers in the Brown and Garner cases. And he has given responses to questions on race issues during interviews and press conferences.

But, since the demonstrations across America that blew up in to riots and protests he has not dedicated a speech to the significance of the issue and its bearing on America.

“We agree with President Obama that our communities, communities of color, need affordable housing, health care, child care, education, as well as jobs that pay a living wage and offer paid sick leave to their employees. And we praise the President for pushing back against the continued efforts to undermine our right to vote…,” states Rashad Robinson, executive director of ColorOfChange.org, the nation’s largest online civil rights organization. “However, at this critical moment in our nation’s history - with the epidemic of police violence on television sets and cell phone screens, billboards and t-shirts nationwide -- substantive remarks affirming Black lives matter and the critical need for police reform were disappointingly absent” from the State of the Union.

Civil rights leaders also conclude the Presidents’ speaking up must be mixed with policies to enforce change. Says Arnwine: “Until we confront and address the systemic structures that maintain the old vestiges of racial segregation and de-humanization in this country we will not be able to realize a truly just and equal society.”  

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Buying a house or a piece of property to call your own is part of the American Dream. But, if you're African-American, that dream is becoming further and further out of reach.

Whether you're a renter trying to buy your first home or a homeowner looking for a modification to avoid foreclosure, it has become more difficult than ever to get approved for a loan and just as challenging to understand the nuances of what lenders are looking for.
For African-Americans, the mortgage landscape is particularly harrowing.

According to sociologists from Rice and Cornell Universities, African-Americans are 45 percent more likely than Whites to go from owning their homes to renting them.
There are many factors contributing to this startling statistic. Among them:

* African-Americans are more likely to lose their homes to foreclosure.
* African-Americans have been more targeted by predatory lenders.
* African-Americans have less wealth to put toward homeownership in the first place.

During the Great Recession, between 2007 and 2010, wealth for Blacks dropped by an average of 31 percent, home equity dropped by 28 percent and retirement savings dropped by 35 percent. During that same period, Whites lost only 11 percent in wealth, 24 percent in home equity and actually gained 9 percent in retirement savings.

So are African-Americans destined to fall further behind? Not if they are aware of the statistics and trends and how to overcome them.

For example, in inner cities, conveniently located houses will go to non-minority people who can afford the down payment and have excellent credit. Meanwhile, African-Americans will be pushed further and further out, making it increasingly difficult to get to work plus; stuck with sky high rents and slum landlords.

Already, Wall Street investors have bought thousands of foreclosed homes once owned by African-Americans. They are now the owners and we are the renters. This is the scheme. Rents are predicted to go up 20 percent per year.

To make matters worse, when investors sell the properties, African-Americans are not the buyers. The mortgage approval requirements are exceedingly high. Today, the average mortgage denial has a 722 credit score. The average score for the people we serve is 630. Since 96 percent of African-American wealth is in our homes, we lose.

While these statistics and trends are grim, they are certainly not insurmountable. With goal-oriented financial education and information, thousands of homeowners have achieved their financial goals in recent years. Not only that, but many families have achieved 0 percent foreclosure rates - a remarkable feat in the recent economy.

Here is some valuable information that could lead in that direction:

* Remember, the mortgage industry is in business to make lots of money by any means necessary. The less you know, the fewer your options and the more you can be taken advantage of.

* Non-profit counseling and credit assistance for distressed homeowners and prospective homebuyers is available, but rarely marketed. A lot of this is valuable, free information from experts in mortgage and credit fields.

* In many states, there is government home buying money that goes unused. This money is also not marketed. Call your Department of Housing as soon as possible.

* Limit the financial information you get online. Speak to a professional over the phone or in person so you can check out their credentials.

* Without some guidance and information the mortgage process can be confusing, difficult and misleading. One wrong decision and thousands of dollars can be lost. So get the information you need.

Marcia Griffin is founder of HomeFree-USA, a leading intermediary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, committed to turning around home-ownership rates for African-Americans and other minorities. For more information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 202 288 8510; or call toll free: (855) 493-4002. Also visit

Feb. 1, 2015

Do News Agencies Fail to Report About Their Own Diversity?
By Richard Prince

Former CNN commentator Roland Martin, now host of TV One's NewsOne Now, says media agencies report on everyone else's deficiencies in diversity except their own. 
PHOTO: Roy Lewis

Jeff Johnson, who recently interviewed President Obama on BET, called the media "schizophrenic" on race issues. PHOTO: Roy Lewis


Despite forecasts of a snow storm, the town hall meeting drew more than 200 to the National Press Club. PHOTO: Roy Lewis

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from Journal-isms

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - When the news media report on the lack of diversity on police forces or in the Republican Party base, do they ever mention the diversity figures in their own newsrooms? When they discuss income inequality, do they discuss the racial breakdown of those who make six- and seven-figure salaries in their own organizations compared with those who make five figures?

"Shameful, deplorable and hypocritical" is how Roland Martin, commentator and host of TV One's "News One Now With Roland Martin" described the news media on matters of race. The occasion was a panel discussion jointly sponsored by the National Press Club and the Capital Press Club, its African American counterpart, Monday night in the National Press Building in Washington.

Titled "Coverage of Race in America: How are we doing? How can we do better? A cutting edge forum to analyze media coverage from Ferguson to Staten Island," it represented an effort by the two groups to work together. Myron Belkind, then president of the National Press Club, apologized last month on behalf of the 107-year-old organization for the segregation that led to the creation of the Capital Press Club 70 years ago, when blacks could not be members of the older group. The Capital Press Club’s president is Hazel Trice Edney.

The forum drew criticism from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Unity: Journalists for Diversity, which represents Asian American, Native American and lesbian and gay journalists, when only African Americans and whites were scheduled for the panel.

Gilbert Bailon, editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and a former president of NAHJ, was added, but the audience was nevertheless still primarily Black and White and about three-fourths African American. C-SPAN cameras recorded the event (video), attended by about 200 people.

While not specifically addressing the demographics of the audience, CNN reporter Athena Jones, who is African-American, said early in the discussion, "There are many people who don't think about racism on a daily basis because they don't have to."

Martin followed his broadside at the lack of media transparency on internal racial matters with an observation that he said his six years at CNN helped teach him: Television hosts sometimes don't ask guests hard questions about race because "most folks in the media actually crave and desire access" to the newsmakers. He added that transparency on hiring should be matched by disclosing how many of the company's suppliers are of color.

In other observations:

April D. Ryan, who covers the White House for American Urban Radio Networks and is author of the newly published "The Presidency in Black and White: My Up-Close View of Three Presidents and Race in America," said more black journalists were covering the White House under Bill Clinton than under Barack Obama. One reason, she said of television networks, has to do with the flavor of the month: "A lot of them want to have white women with blonde hair" as their White House correspondents.

Jones said that too often media stories on race lack context, such as reporting on police protests of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's comments that he told his Black son to be careful in dealings with authorities. That such talks are almost routinely held in Black homes was not reported enough, Jones said.

Paul Farhi, media reporter for the Washington Post, said that "in the day to day of what we do, there is not the same level of heat and passion that you're getting up here" in the panel. "If we could bottle this passion, we would do a lot more social good and do a lot of good journalism." He also urged that White journalists receive "equity training" to make them aware of their white privilege.

Jeff Johnson, special correspondent at Black Entertainment Television who interviewed Obama for BET this month, said lack of consistent leadership in some communities leads not only to "schizophrenic leadership" but also "a schizophrenic media." He cited his hometown of Cleveland, where 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by a police officer, noting that actions by the mayor to punish errant police were overturned by a judge to little media attention.

Johnson also said few were linking African-American dissatisfaction with police actions with upcoming elections in several cities, where mayors who supervise the police will be elected.

Bailon said that contrary to the impression given by the news media, the growth in the Hispanic population will come from native-born Hispanics, not from immigrants, and that the Post-Dispatch was delivering on some of the complaints about Ferguson coverage but that the coverage was not being matched nationally.

Community members were urged to be more assertive with news media and to be more responsible in social media. "The vast majority of the protests have been peaceful," said Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American, a member of the Black press, adding that only six days saw violence and that the protests are continuing. That is not the message being delivered in the national media, she said.

Johnson also bemoaned lack of support for Black media that report on racial issues "with integrity," and he urged current members of the media to be "talent scouts" for the next generations of journalists.

Two groups that might qualify were present. A newly formed D.C. group of honor students called Legacy, four African-American entrepreneurs in their late teens who they said have separately built a school in Ethiopia, bought real estate in Kenya, written a book and are feeding impoverished Jamaicans, described their work and wondered what they needed to do to counter the image of their generation as interested primarily in sports and hip-hop music.

Students from Washington's Eliot-Hine Middle School covered the event with their own cameras as their teacher, Mandrell Birks, sought support from the panelists in the students' effort to secure an interview with President Obama. The panelists took Birks' business cards and perused letters of endorsement secured by Birks from local officials and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. They promised to help.