2022 Report

The Executive Summary 2022 and Equality Index 2022 present critical insights into the state of racial equality and the challenges faced by Black and Brown communities in America. The Executive Summary 2022, titled "Under Siege: The Plot to Destroy Democracy," highlights the persistent systemic racism affecting Black Americans since their arrival in the U.S. and emphasizes the ongoing political assaults on voting rights disproportionately impacting these communities.

The National Urban League's mission, centered on economic empowerment, is encapsulated in the Equality Index, which documents progress towards this goal for Black and Hispanic Americans in relation to whites. The 2022 Equality Index for Black America stands at 73.9%, indicating that African Americans are missing about 26% of the "pie" or full equality with whites. This index is a comprehensive measure that encompasses economics, health, education, social justice, and civic engagement. Each category is weighted based on its importance, and the weighted averages are used to calculate the overall index, offering a detailed view of racial disparities across different aspects of life.

Together, these documents underscore the urgency and significance of addressing systemic inequities and advancing racial justice in America.

2022 release

Executive Summary

When the National Urban League produced the first The State of Black America® in 1976, the report captured the plight of a people who had been victims of systemic racism since arriving on the shores of this nation. More than a century after enslaved people were freed at the end of the civil war, the political leadership in this country had failed to help Black Americans secure equal rights entitled to all Americans.

Politicians, including the President, had also failed to adequately capture and address the systemic barriers to equitable employment, health, housing, education, social justice, civic participation, and economic opportunity. Out of this, the State of Black America was born ..

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2022 release

Equality Index

The Equality Index 2022 presents an essential analysis of racial disparities in America, focusing on the progress of Black and Hispanic communities in achieving parity with their white counterparts. This report, integral to the National Urban League’s mission of economic empowerment, utilizes a unique methodology to quantify inequalities across key sectors: economics, health, education, social justice, and civic engagement.

With a comprehensive and insightful approach, it reveals that the 2022 Equality Index for Black America stands at 73.9%, underscoring a significant gap in achieving full equality. This index serves as a critical tool for understanding the depth of systemic challenges and framing policies for racial equity.

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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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On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.

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Project CODE's (Collaborative Organizations to End Domestic Extremism) partners congratulate the National Urban League's legacy of releasing The State of Black America report since 1976 and bringing prescient issues to the public square!

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We stand at a pivotal moment in American history to make transformational impacts that will accelerate the clean energy transition, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and deliver economic-focused restorative justice to Black, Brown, and underserved communities.  These communities have been disproportionately impacted by our nation’s energy system for decades and remain the most concerned about the climate imperative.

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