WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN THE UNITED STATES PAST AND CURRENT DISCRIMINATION

WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN THE UNITED STATES

PAST AND CURRENT DISCRIMINATION

WE CONTINUE TO PURSUE THESE GOALS

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

1776--- DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE


WE CONTINUE TO PURSUE THESE GOALS

“We the people in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

1788-- PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION


WOMEN IN AMERICA

Women represent 50.8% of the population.


WOMEN IN AMERICA

In America today women earn 72 cents for every $1 a man earns. At least 1/3 of this pay gap---or $0.11---is due to discrimination. This is true 38 years after the Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1974.


WOMEN IN AMERICA The 19th amendment

to the Constitution passed in 1920 gave the women the right to vote in state and federal elections. This was first proposed in Congress in 1878 and was considered 8 times before it was passed.


WOMEN IN AMERICA

Progress is being made: the unemployment rate for women (8.1%) is less than the rate (9.5%) for men; more women than men are graduating from college; and women now hold 15 % of the seats in Congress.


OVERVIEW: RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS IN AMERICA

The 2010 US census taken every 10 years recognizes 6 official races: White, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, and people of two or more races.

The 2010 US census also classifies Americans as “Hispanic or Latino” as an ethnic group (not a racial group) that typically share Spanish as their first language.


OVERVIEW: RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS IN AMERICA

White Americans are 66% of the total population.

Hispanic and Latino are 15% of the total population and are the largest ethnic minority in the US; projected to grow to 29% by 2050.

Black Americans are 13% of the total population and are the largest racial minority.

Asians are 4.8% of the population and are projected to triple by 2050.


BLACK AMERICANS (AFRICAN-AMERICANS)-BACKGROUND

55% of black Americans live in the south; they are also heavily concentrated in large cities across the country.

Black high school graduation rate is 51% (the US average is 70%).



The black unemployment rate is 13.9 % (the US average is 8.6%).



The black poverty level is 27.4% (the US average is 15.1%). Poverty is defined as having an annual income for a family of 4 below $22,350.



1 out of 11 black adults are in some part of the correctional system (the US average is 1 out of 31).


LAWS PASSED TO ADDRESS DISCRIMINATION AGAINSTS BLACKS

(AND ALL MINORITES)

The 13th amendment to the Constitution (1865) abolished slavery.

The 14th amendment to the Constitution (1868) required that all citizens be given equal protection by all state and national laws.

The 15th amendment to the Constitution (1870) gave black males the right to vote.

The Supreme Court decision of 1954 (Brown vs. the Board of Education) required schools to be integrated.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in employment and public accommodations and created affirmative action as a remedy to past discrimination.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited state laws and regulations that denied the right of us citizens to vote.

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed discrimination in the rental or sale of real-estate.


HISPANICS AND LATINOS(may be of any race)

The Hispanic and

Latino unemployment

rate is 11.3% (US

average is 8.6%).

The poverty rate is

35% (US average is

15.1%).



The high school

graduation rate is 52%

(US average is 70%).

1 our of 27 are in the

correctional system

(US average is 1 out

of 31).



42% live in the West and

this group is growing

due to immigration (both

legal and illegal) and

higher birth rate.


ASIAN AMERICANS

46% live in the West.

The high school

graduation rate is 79%

(US average is 70%;

the white rate is 72%).


ASIAN AMERICANS

The unemployment rate is 6.7% (US

average is 8.6; the white rate is 7.2%)


INTERRACIAL MARIAGES IN AMERICA



Last year 15% of new marriages were interracial; the total of new and existing interracial marriages equal 4.8 million or 1 in 12 couples.



The Supreme Court in 1967 (45 years ago) barred race- based marriage restrictions; it took Alabama until 2000 to change its unenforceable law that barred interracial marriages.



“Are mixed marriages a change for the better?”

61% of 18-29 year- olds said “yes”;

28% of those over 65 said “yes”.



83% of all Americans say it’s ok for whites and blacks to date each other; up from 48% in 1987.

63% said it would be ok for a family member to marry outside the family’s race.



In the past century interracial marriages have evolved from being illegal to “a taboo” to “unusual” to “less and less unusual”. This says a lot about race relations in America.


Documents

WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN THE UNITED STATES PAST AND CURRENT DISCRIMINATION