Harlem’s Dr. Khalil Muhammad on WNYC

Today on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, Monique Morris, the co-founder of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute and the author of Black Stats: African Americans by the Number in the Twenty-First Century and Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, joined host Brian Lehrer to discuss the conditions of Black America by looking at statistics.

Related post: Listen to Dr. Khalil Muhammad on The Danny TIsdale Show at HW Podcast >>>

With 13% of the US population identifying as Black alone (and not in addition to another race), here are here are some particular interesting stats:

On education:

·         Today, 84% of Black Americans, ages 25 and older, have earned at least a high school diploma (compared to 88% for the nation), and 20% of Black Americans, ages 25 and older, have earned at least a college degree (compared to 30% for the nation). In 1970, only 31% of Black Americans, ages 25 and older, had earned at least a high school diploma and 4% had earned at least a college degree.

·         83% of Black children had their homework checked by an adult, compared to 57% of White students, 59% of Asian students

·         Black K-12 students are 16 % of the public school population but get 35 % of the suspensions

Some other interesting stats:

·         36 % of Black women do not use hair straightening products, up ten points since 2010

·         The percentage of Black people among the executives and managers in the private sector is 3%

·         17% of the US Armed Forces is made up of African Americans

·         78% Black Americans live within 30 miles of a coal fired power plant, compared to 56% of White Americans

·         25% of human sex trafficking victims in US and its territories are African American.

To listen to the whole segment and listen to Dr. Muhammad and Ms. Morris give some context to these stats, go to: http://www.wnyc.org/story/black-americans-numbers/