>> What is the "State of black
America" in 2022? A new report
from the national urban league
paints a picture on everything
from the economy to voting
rights.
John yang has more on its
findings.
>> Judy, since 2005, the
national urban league has
released an annual "Equality
index" to compare how black
Americans are doing in
comparison to white Americans.
This year, the index shows that
black Americans get only 73.9
percent of what white Americans
enjoy - not much different from
what it found in 2005. While
there have been significant
gains in some areas like
economics and health
circumstances - both up about
10-percent since the first
report, in other areas, like
social justice and civic
engagement, black Americans have
lost ground, according to the
report.
Marc morial is the president and
c-e-o of the national urban
league and he joins us from
Atlanta where the report was
released earlier today.
What does it say in the it has
been almost two decades yet the
overall index number is
virtually the same?
>> Thank you for having me.
What it says is that the
disparities in American life
between blacks and white are
persistent.
Lock in in a sense of suspended
animation.
Were you could have some
progress in some areas than a
decline in others.
It is the caboose on the train
syndrome where black Americans
remained behind white Americans
even when things improve for
black Americans, they are
improving at the same rate or
even more for white Americans at
the same time.
This is the persistent challenge
for 21st century America.
Can these gaps, these structural
gaps of racial inequality be
closed in the 21st century?
>> You talk about the caboose
syndrome.
The gains in economics, but the
gain means you are only up to
3/5 of what white Americans
enjoy and in health, it's about
84%.
Talk a little bit about those
areas where there have been
gains.
>> I think the affordable care
act and the expansion of
medicaid had a dramatic impact
by increasing the number of
black people who were insured.
It closed the health gap
somewhat but still a 16 point
differential is too much.
A discussion about race and
racial justice in this country
is not fact-based all too often.
Will people think or perceive or
what they make in terms of
political pronouncements, this
gap remains wide.
It remains the challenge for
21st century America.
>> The areas where this shows a
decline in, social justice,
civic engagement.
Talk about that.
>> The war on drugs, the broken
nature of the criminal justice
system, the way in which police
and communities are at odds, the
way in which black people are
shot in an unjustifiable fashion
by the police, all of these
contribute.
The sentencing disparities.
While there have been efforts to
improve this, there have not --
they have not gone far enough.
That contributes to the gap that
exists.
In civic engagement and voting,
a focus of this report, we saw
significant gains.
Where black voter turnout in the
2008 election exceeded white
voter turnout.
That reversed significantly in
2016 when you had Russian
interference and post shall be
beholder laws.
Now in 2020, that gap in terms
of voter turnout narrowed a bit
because the pandemic it forced
states to be more visionary and
I think were open and allowing
people to vote by mail.
To drop their ballot in a
dropbox.
To utilize absentee voting.
Voter suppression after January
6 where 40 states plus have
introduced hundreds of bills to
take away all of these expanded
options for people to vote will
narrow the civic engagement or
widen the gap if we do not do
something and that's why the
report has a focus on the plot
to we think diminish and destroy
American democracy.
>> It is also why you chose to
release this in Atlanta today in
Georgia.
You kicked off a plan that was
called reclaim your vote.
Talk about the efforts you are
making in this midterm election
year.
>> I'm so glad you mentioned
Clark Atlanta university and
fact that we are here in the
cradle of the civil rights
movement.
Dr. King, John Lewis Lewis, many
other great call Atlanta home
and this is one of the
epicenters of the 1960's civil
rights movement.
On the other hand, Georgia has
become ground zero for voter
suppression.
The way in which the Georgia
legislature has reacted to the
election then the aftermath of
the insurrection is to lead an
assault on the right of people
to vote.
We thought we needed to come to
the front lines.
The front lines of where people
can get a close-up look at what
is happening here in Georgia.
We also believe that going to
one of our great historically
black universities and including
the students from Spelman and
Morehouse and Morris brown along
with the Clark Atlanta community
places a spotlight on why
closing the racial
gaps in this
country is important to the next
generation.
.
Our campaign says to people