The collective suffering of African Americans is reaching dangerous and historic highs as the recession continues to deliver its merciless wrath. Black unemployment has risen an astounding amount compared to that of whites, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
While the Obama administration has remained silent on the subject of black unemployment, the United Nations is investigating this as a human rights violation.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent report showed that while white unemployment only went up from 8.6 percent to 8.7 percent, black unemployment went up from 15.6 percent to 16.3 percent.
Black male unemployment rate is abhorrent. It has risen from 16.7 percent to 17.3 percent, compared to a rate increase of 8.8 percent to 8.9 percent for white males. Overall, black male unemployment is 94 percent higher than the rate for white men.
Black women also watched their unemployment rate rise from 12.9 percent to 13.2 percent, while white women saw no increase at all. White females, in contrast, have the lowest unemployment rate of any demographic group. Black women have an unemployment rate that is almost 85 percent higher than white females.
Black teenagers are fairing the worst of all American demographics. It has risen to 45.4 percent, which is 90 percent higher than the unemployment rate for white teenagers, which only rose from 23.5 percent to 23.8 percent. –terry shropshire
