African Americans at the Dawn

of a New Millennium

I. Progress and Poverty

Civil rights progress has led to socioeconomic changes

Blacks lead longer, healthier lives But disparities remain between blacks

and whites

Prominent African-Americans Barack Obama Oprah Winfrey Colin Powell- fmr Sec of State Condoleeza Rice – fmr Sec of State Robert (Bob) Johnson (New Orleans)-

BET/ owner of Charlotte Hornets John Johnson- Ebony and Jet Berry Gordy- Motown Russell Simmons Reginald Lewis-Beatrice Foods (1987-

became wealthiest African-American)

Economics

Blue collar to white collar occupations White collar positions - 2000-

– 35% of black men – 62 % of black women

1940- 5.2% of black men – 6.4% of black women

income & home ownership has risen dramatically

Persistence of Black Poverty

Poverty rate – Clinton years – 22.7%– Bush to 24.1%

Urban areas marked by crime, drugs, and high rates of HIV/AIDS infection

55% of all black children lived at or near the poverty level in 2000

Economic restructuring Incarceration

Health - Life Expectancy

1970 – 60 yrs for Black men– 68 yrs for Black women

2000– 68 yrs for Black men– 75 yrs for Black women

2000– 75 yrs for White men– 80 yrs for White women

The Health Gap

Blacks have shorter lives and worse health care– Cancer and HIV/AIDS are greatest threats– Smoking, obesity, alcohol, and drug use– more likely to have HIV/AIDS than any

other group in U.S.– HIV spread by “down low” practices

HIV/AIDS

African-Americans:– 38% of all HIV/AIDS cases– 13% of the population– 47% of all new cases were African

Americans and 63% of all women with HIV are black

– #1 killer of b. women, ages 25-35

Education

Brown vs. Board of Education– 1960- 37.7% completed high school (Blacks)– 2000- 86.6% completed high school (Blacks)– 2000- 94% completed high school (Whites)

Severe problems- inner city and rural areas (suburbs have their problems, too)

Enrollment in College rose, too!

1960- 136,000 2000- 1,548,000 Blacks among the most highly educated

in the world

II. African Americans at the Center of Art and Culture

Intellectual Movements at the of the Millennium– Cultural renaissance emerged, 1980s

• Black history, culture museums, festivals, literary

• August Wilson• Wynton Marsalis• Toni Morrison• Alice Walker• Maya Angelou• Terry McMillan

Culture

Rap – most recent musical genre to arise out of black communities.– has gone mainstream of course hip-hop– not without controversy.

• Misogyny (women as objects and commodities)• Language• Violence/ Drugs

Black Intellectuals

– Black intellectuals participate in public debate

– Redefine black identity – Explore race in social and political works

• John Hope Franklin, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.,• Cornel West

– Doctoral degrees in African-American Studies found at prestigious schools

Afrocentricity

Molefi Kete Asante, • Celebrate and reclaim positive African identity• Afrocentricity needs to challenge Eurocentric

values• Indictment of American ideals and institutions• Many black people reject it as regressive

III. Black Religion

At heart of African-American experience– 25 million members of black churches– membership growing in Catholic, Episcopal, and

other denominations Demographic changes have altered churches

– Middle class moved to suburbs with new mega-churches

VI. Complicating Black Identity

In 2000 census, 12% of total (281 million)– blacks were no longer the largest minority group– 54% of blacks lived in South

Census respondents could choose more than one racial designation

Challenge to long-standing notions of “race”

Immigration and African Americans

1965 Hart-Cellar Act helped African immigration

West Indies – 1 million in 1990s Many migrants come from societies in

which racial discrimination is less than in U.S.

VII. Conclusion

Progress, in spite of setbacks Contributions to all aspects of culture Diversity has led to changes in

conceptions of identity Tensions between racial and other

identities will shape African-American life in the 21st c.