 |
Andy Nelson – staff |
How African-Americans stand 40 years after the death of Martin Luther King
A statistical snapshot of black progress in areas from education to home ownership.
from the January 18, 2008 edition
Page 2 of 2
Page 1 | 2
How well blacks say they get along with whites:
Very well: 20 percent
Pretty well: 49 percent
Not too well: 20 percent
Not at all well: 4 percent
Percentage of blacks who'd like to see:
More neighborhood integration: 62 percent (versus 44 percent of whites)
More school integration: 56 percent (versus 23 percent of whites)
African-American firsts in post-King era:
1968 – Conductor of a major US symphony: Henry Lewis with the New Jersey Symphony
1969 – Mayor of Southern city: Howard Lee of Chapel Hill, N.C.
1970 – President of a major university: Clifton Reginald Wharton Jr. of Michigan State University
1975 – Baseball manager: Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians
1977 – US United Nations representative: Andrew Young (1977-79)
1983 – Astronaut in space: Guion Bluford
1989 – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Colin Powell (1989-93)
1989 – Governor: Douglas Wilder of Virginia
1993 – Nobel Prize for Literature: Toni Morrison
2000 – Billionaire: Robert Johnson, owner of Black Entertainment Television
2001 – Oscar, best actress: Halle Berry, "Monster's Ball"
2001 – President of an Ivy League school: Ruth Simmons of Brown University
Newsmakers whom blacks rate as a good influence:
Oprah Winfrey: 87 percent
Bill Cosby: 85 percent
Barack Obama: 76 percent
Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor of a Dallas megachurch: 76 percent
Colin Powell: 70 percent
Tyra Banks: 68 percent
Jesse Jackson: 68 percent
Tiger Woods: 67 percent
Russell Simmons, hip hop entrepreneur: 67 percent
Al Sharpton: 65 percent
Others of note – Condoleezza Rice: 50 percent, Clarence Thomas: 31 percent
Sources: US Census; US Department of Justice; Pew Research Center; www.infopleasecom; "The Life and Death of Martin Luther King, Jr.," by James Haskins; "Martin Luther King, Jr.," by Diane Patrick
1 | Page 2
RSS feed
