2020 Report

The 2020 reports on the Executive Summary, Black-White Equality Index, and Hispanic-White Equality Index provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of racial equality in America, focusing on economic empowerment as a central theme. The National Urban League's mission to document progress towards economic empowerment for Black and Hispanic Americans relative to whites is encapsulated in these reports. The 2020 Equality Index for Hispanic America stood at 78.8%, indicating that Hispanics were missing about 21% of the "equality pie" compared to whites. Similarly, the Black Index was 73.8%, showing a 26% gap for African Americans.

These reports analyze various aspects of equality, including economics, health, education, social justice, and civic engagement. Nationally representative statistics are utilized to calculate a sub-index for each category, capturing the relative well-being of African Americans and Hispanics compared to whites. Each category is weighted based on its assigned importance, and the weighted average of all five categories contributes to the total Equality Index. This methodology provides a detailed and nuanced understanding of the disparities and progress in racial equality in America.

2020 release

Executive Summary

First issued in 1976, the State of Black America® is one of the most highly-anticipated benchmarks and sources for thought leadership around racial equality in America across economics, employment, education, health, housing, criminal justice and civic participation. Each edition contains penetrating commentary and insightful analysis from recognized authorities and leading figures in politics, the corporate and tech sectors, the nonprofit arena, academia and popular culture. This year, the State of Black America® also includes the Equality Index™, a quantitative tool that tracks the progress of racial equality in America.

The 2020 State of Black America®, Unmasked, matches the national mood for serious introspection, exposing the human toll and economic devastation of a global pandemic on Black America while laying bare the deep-rooted inequities that predated the pandemic and accelerated the virus’s deadly spread...

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2020 release

Equality Index

The Black-White Equality Index 2020, a crucial publication of the National Urban League, serves as a barometer for measuring progress in racial equality in the United States, particularly in economic empowerment. This index, which stands at 73.8% for Black America, indicates a significant gap – approximately 26% – in achieving full equality with whites.

The index is not just a statistical measure but a reflection of the disparities in economics, health, education, social justice, and civic engagement between African Americans and whites. By using nationally representative statistics and weighting each category based on its importance, the Equality Index provides a comprehensive overview of the state of racial equality and highlights the areas where progress is most needed.

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2000 release

Equality Index

The "Hispanic White Equality Index 2000" is a landmark report that provides a detailed examination of the disparities between Hispanic and White populations in the United States as of the year 2000. Commissioned by the National Urban League, this comprehensive document explores various critical areas such as economic well-being, health, education, social justice, and civic participation.

It aims to quantify the extent of inequality and shed light on the specific challenges facing the Hispanic community. As an important historical record, the report serves as a vital benchmark for tracking progress and identifying priority areas for intervention to bridge the gaps in equality.

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Contributed by -

Secretary Jennifer Granholm

Secretary U.S. Department of Energy

Every day we are reminded that climate change is the single greatest threat facing humanity. While some choose to see this as a problem for future generations, the impacts of the climate crisis are already piling up for America's low-income families and people of color.

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Contributed by -

Angela Tuck

SENIOR EDITOR OF THE INTELLIGENCE PROJECT SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise

-      Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
 

When Pastor Eric S.C. Manning heard there had been a shooting at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., one of his first thoughts was of his friend, Rev. Clementa Pinckney.

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Contributed by -

Thomas Beauford

PRESIDENT BUFFALO URBAN LEAGUE

An act of domestic terrorism forever changed our community on May 14th, 2022. A shooter opened fire at a supermarket in a predominately Black neighborhood several hours from where he lived. This horrific attack killed ten individuals, wounded three, injured several others, and traumatized our community and the world. This heinous event reminded us that hate-fueled violence still exists in our society, and extremists are here to destroy anything that is just or equal.

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Contributed by -

Bishop Garrison

FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AND FELLOW NATIONAL SECURITY INSTITUTION, GEORGE MASON SCHOOL OF LAW

Rhetoric doesn’t fight wars, but it does start them. The world has witnessed this play out in real-time during the heinous Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Nazism found its way into the narrative.

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Contributed by -

Marc Morial

PRESIDENT & CEO NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE

At least three members of the current U.S. Congress have promoted a conspiracy theory centered on a cabal of Satan-worshiping, cannibalistic, child abusers that includes Democratic politicians, Hollywood actors and business tycoons.

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Contributed by -

Dr. Robert Bullard

PROFESSOR OF URBAN PLANNING & ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, DIRECTOR OF THE BULLARD CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

Environmental justice embraces the principle that all people and communities are entitled to equal protection of environmental, health, employment, education, housing, transportation, energy, and civil rights laws. This principle was largely absent from the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 where the modern environmental movement was born. Environmental justice languished during the “Dark Ages” of the 1970s and early 1980s.

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Contributed by -

Maya Henson Carey

RESEARCH ANALYST SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

In the nation's collective memory of the days following the 1954 landmark—unanimous—U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawing segregation in public schools, a rallying cry for parental rights echoes.

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Contributed by -

Marc H. Morial

PRESIDENT & CEO NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE

Transitioning the U.S. economy to renewable energy is perhaps the greatest wealth-creation opportunity since the Industrial Revolution. Over the next two decades, American companies plan to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in new wind, solar, and battery storage projects to replace aging, expensive, and heavily polluting fossil fuel plants, and provide power for an increasingly electrified economy with a growing fleet of electric vehicles.  

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Contributed by -

SUSAN CORKE

DIRECTOR SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER, INTELLIGENCE PROJECT

MICHAEL LIEBERMAN

SENIOR POLICY COUNSEL SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

On May 14, 2022, a white supremacist attacked and killed 10 people, all of them Black, at Topps Supermarket in Buffalo, New York. From our reporting it was clear that the shooter became radicalized online and was inspired by other acts of white supremacist violence and by the January 6 insurrection.

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