Dr. Boyce Watkins; Black Unemployment Shoots Up During August…

by Staff September 2, 2011 6 Comments Misc. News Opinion Politics Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its most recent unemployment data. We knew that black folks (especially men) would be at the bottom, we just didn’t know how bad. Well, it turns out that the numbers exceed even the most pessimistic predictions.

Black unemployment shot up like a rocket during the month of August, rising from an abysmal 15.9 percent to an even more shocking 16.7 percent. Much of the increase was driven by black male unemployment, which rose from 17 to 18 percent. Black female unemployment remained steady at 13.4 percent, and black teen unemployment experienced a dramatic increase from 39.2 percent to an astounding 46.5 percent.

If you were white in America, the month of August was pretty good. White unemployment remained consistent across the board, and went down for white males. Overall white unemployment dropped from 8.1 percent to 8 percent. White males saw a decline from 7.9 to 7.7 percent. White women and teens saw their unemployment rates remain unchanged at 7 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

It’s difficult to have patience with any American who complains about white unemployment rates. What whites scream about during recessions would be considered good times for the black community. In fact, at this point, we dream about having an unemployment rate of 7 – 8 percent. But some have been convinced that African Americans don’t even have the right to voice their opinion about unemployment rates that would have some ready to riot in the streets.

The president has a serious problem. Every time the numbers show that chronic black unemployment has reached crisis levels, I think back to the Obama Administration’s delusional assertion three years ago that a “rising tide will lift all boats” (that targeted economic policy would not work as well as a general policy that helps everyone). Well, I’m here to report to the Obama Administration: The tide not only missed our boat, but black folks are sinking to the bottom of the economic ocean.

With each passing month, the devastation becomes more persistent, painful and disturbing. It’s hard to celebrate a memorial for Dr. King, when the only thing left to memorialize is the economic death of our community. Something has got to give.

Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.

6 Comments

asatedder says:

September 6, 2011 at 7:44 am

However, we should expect further worsening on joblessness in the country in the next quarter because of political anxieties in the Middle East, check out an article called “High Speed University” for relation between a degree and job and the pay rate.

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LPM says:

September 6, 2011 at 7:24 am

Maybe this is not the drama that you seem to think it is.

For the record, I grew up about 18 miles west of Detroit.

I am just reading a book about Israel (Start Up Nation) and live in China. Here we have two people who have done two things.

1. Israel has created a world class technology sector (all by themselves) even though they are surrounded by hostile neighbors, and half of the population does not work (Arabs/ Orthodox Jews).

2. China has taken a country that was starving at the end of the 50s and early 60s and tricked enough foreign investors to put a KFC/ McDonalds in every single city. (I live in Changsha and there are aboug 10KFCs here alone. Packed every day.)

Compare this to what black people have done in almost any environment.

1. You have about 40 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and at least 10 of them have HIV rates that are over 25% of the adult population (including South Africa). Everything that needs to be said about HIV can be fit onto the back of one index card, and they are too stupid to even retain that much information.

2. You have black people in Detroit who have single-handedly destroyed a city. A functioning city. There is not one single grocery store open in the city of Detroit, and you can buy houses for $5,000. The school district is in receivership and the city is headed that way, too.

3. Haiti. They have been independent for 200 years, and they just can’t get their shit together for any reason.

4. Zimbabwe. A country that was 95%+ black, and they were self sufficient in food. (Even though the white farmers grew the food.) And yet, as soon as the black government took things over, the country was starving and the currency so debased that they had to start using US$

It is no exaggeration to say that not only can black people seem to not manage ANYTHING, but that if there is something that is functioning– it will be destroyed as soon as they come and put their hands on it.

It just might be that black people are inherently sorry and there is nothing anyone can do about that. The evidence sure points that way.

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seb says:

September 5, 2011 at 4:48 pm

The truth of the matter is there is nothing that can be done about black unemployment when it being created by technology (automation, machines, robots) and cheap high quality manual/technical labor.

Unemployment will only get worst over time as computers/machines become more intelligent and cheap educated labor becomes more available in foreign countries. Unless Americans are willing to take huge pay cuts then no corporation is going to make investments here when you can do so elsewhere without penalty. Americans have shown no willingness to punish corporations for hiring overseas. Cheap prices rule the day. (cheap prices over “America First”).

African Americans are just canaries in the mine. The future is very dim for African Americans that don’t have an international mindset or dont understand machines/programming.

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James Davis says:

September 4, 2011 at 5:12 pm

Dr. Watkins,,,yes, I am kinda calling you out!! I think you are a great writer, but you should oughta not write as if you are concerned and miss an opportunity to help with finding a solution. Thy Black Man.com has given all of us, staff writers and commentators, an opportunity to present and respond. I recently wrote a solution to how to solve our unemployment problem and got one comment. It was not the kinda comment that would have resulted in the plan being elevated to main stream debate, it was just a comment.

If you are concerned, Dr. Watkins, take a look at this solution. If nothing else, I would think your response might be, let me use my influence to see if this is doable. And you Vinny, I pose the same challenge !! Let’s use this great forum to bring an end to our brothers and sisters misery instead of talking pass each other and let’s talk to each other.

Congress and the President can bring an end to this recession in a matter of 30 days. It can be done cleanly and without adding to the deficit by putting money into hands of retiring baby boomers. You just simply have to change how Social Security checks are paid. Let the boomers have partial distribution of their Social Security principal in the amount of $20.000.00 or $40,000.00 dollars, and issue them a monthly check on the remainder of their principal.

Look, let’s say it takes $313,000.00 dollars in principal at 6.9 interest to send me a monthly Social Security check of $1800.00 dollars. So,I say to Social Security, I would like to have a piece of my money up front,say $40,000.00 dollars. Now pay me a monthly check on the remainder, which is in this instance $273,000.00 dollars, which amounts to a monthly check of $1569.00 dollars. That makes this plan ( let’s call it the Davis Plan )deficit neutral. It’s their money, for heavens sake!! Presenting a partial distribution option of your retirement principal is common practice in the private sector.

Yet we allow, the largest payer of pensions, the Social Security Trust Fund, not to do it at a time when it will benefit our economy the most. The impact of allowing partial distributions, which is simply taking down a part of your pension principal and than rolling over the rest to be received monthly would pull, no, jerk this economy out of this recession. It’s the boomers and their kids who are getting hardest hit in this recession anyway. Mr. Obama are you listening?? http://www.sslumpsum.com

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Roedy Green says:

September 4, 2011 at 9:17 am

The Republicans claim the way to create more jobs it is to take money from the poor and give it to the rich and the corporations. This is an outright lie and they know it. The weath gap has never been higher. The rich have been pampered as never before for the last decade. The net result is a net job loss as the corporations outsource jobs. The rich and the corporations have plenty of money. They just don’t want to invest it in America. Giving them stil more money will just send even more American money overseas. This is like a billionaire upping his son’s allowance from $1000 a week to $2000 a week and hoping he will feel guilty and cut the lawn. Don’t give the rich any more money until they create jobs.

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vinny says:

September 3, 2011 at 9:49 pm

hmmm how about us black folks stop bitchin about our unemployment rates and go out and actually protest or do something about it if you want to better yourself and your family members you have to fight for your right like Bob Marley said -“Stand up for your rights” because if you guys just complain about your unemployment nothings going to happen white media doesnt give a shit what you write on a blog and neither does anybody else thier just words what dont you understand about that? go out do marches show the government that your not gonna take this shit Fight!! Fight!! Fight!!

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