[IMC-Boston-Editorial] NEW REPORT FOR MLK DAY ON FIRST 100 HOURS AGENDA

[Press Room]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                  Contact Info at End
 
New report embargoed until 12:01 am, Tue., Jan. 9, 2007.
 
STATE OF THE DREAM 2007:
 
PEOPLE OF COLOR VOTE BLUE, BUT STAY IN THE RED
 
Boston - A new report finds that while people of color support Democrats in
the voting booth, they are still waiting for policies and programs that
close the economic gap between them and whites.
 
An embargoed PDF version of the report is available to working journalists
from: http://www.faireconomy.org/StateOfTheDream
 
The report by United for a Fair Economy studied the economic proposals in
the US House Democrats' first 100-hours agenda, which are designed to help
those on the lower rungs of America's economic ladder. The report found
that, in general, the 100-hour agenda does not address the race gap. It says
that to do so would require adding affirmative action elements and other
more targeted methods of reaching Blacks and Latinos to the proposed
legislation.
 
"It's great that the new leadership in Congress is bringing renewed focus to
lifting more people out of poverty, but they will have to do much more to
close the racial economic divide that still exists almost 40 years after the
civil rights movement," said Meizhu Lui, co-author of the report and
executive director of United for a Fair Economy.  "African Americans, the
Democrats' most loyal supporters, should expect more in hour 101 and
beyond."
 
The report found that while the number of Blacks and Latinos who will
benefit is disproportionately higher than whites for the minimum wage
increases and college loan interest rate reductions contained in the plan,
this is only because they are disproportionately over-represented among
those working at or below poverty level and among those with few assets and
resources to pay for college. In the case of prescription drugs and
alternatives to oil, the changes may benefit proportionally more whites than
people of color.  
 
According to the report, the number of Blacks and Latinos assisted by the
proposals is positive, but the impact of the assistance will not change the
relative economic inequities among the races.
 
In addition, the report found that:
 
* Two of the proposals - increasing the minimum wage and decreasing college
loan interest rates - provide some economic support to low-income Blacks and
Latinos.  But not only are their numbers higher in the lower-income and
lower-asset tiers of our economy, their unemployment rates are rising and
their college enrollments are falling due to the skyrocketing cost of a
college education. 
 
* The Medicare drug coverage proposal helps only middle-income Blacks and
Latinos, whose numbers are small relative to the overall population.
 
* The investment in alternative energy proposal offers the promise of
high-wage jobs, but would not help Blacks and Latinos much since they are
under-represented among those receiving advanced degrees in math and science
and among those residing in the Midwest, where the ethanol industry is
based.
 
* The minimum wage proposal of three 70-cent increases during the next two
years is inadequate. Even if the same increase of 70 cents were approved
every single year after that, a minimum wage worker, supporting a family of
three, still would not rise above the poverty level until 2013.
 
* The college loan proposal, which saves a typical college student $5,600 in
total, will not help African American and Latino students as much as white
students. Black families have only 15 percent of the wealth of white
families, resulting in less capacity to handle debt.  Moreover, Black
college graduates on the average earn half as much as the overall population
of college graduates over their lifetimes, making college debt burdens more
onerous for non-whites.
 
The report is the fourth in a series of "State of the Dream" reports
published annually for Martin Luther King Day.  The previous reports are
available for free download from the website, FairEconomy.org.
 
United for a Fair Economy is a national non-partisan, non-profit
organization that raises awareness of the dangers of growing economic
inequality. It recently published the award-winning book, The Color of
Wealth, The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide (The New Press,
2006).
  
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Contact: Bob Keener, (617) 423-2148 x120, bkeener at faireconomy.org