The Great Debate
Algernon Austin, Thora Institute and DemosJohn McWhorter, Manhattan Institute
Orlando Patterson, Harvard University
Moderator: Felicia Lee, New York Times
The Future of Black America: The Burden of History or the Audacity of Hope?
Does the twenty-first century require a new black politics? For many, the success of Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, Oprah and Richard Parsons signals the emergence of a post-race America where anyone with the right values and skills can succeed. For others, the persistence of segregated schools and the increasing numbers of blacks in America's prisons indicate that we are still living in the shadow of Jim Crow. What are the major obstacles to a prosperous future for black America? What are the best policies for moving forward - an effort to change values, an anti-discrimination offensive, or something else? Is it useful to continue to think about politics through the lens of race?
June 13, 2007, 6:30 PM
Donnell Library, Manhattan, NYC
20 West 53rd between 5th and 6th
[Find out The Truth about "Acting White".]
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The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reports big increases in Americans’ concern for the poor. Between 1994 and 2007, Americans’ desire to have the government provide a social safety net increased by at least 10 percentage points across three measures.
This increasing concern for the poor spans all of America’s major social and political divides. “Some of the biggest increases in concern for the needy,” the Pew Center observes, “have come from unexpected sources: political conservatives, Southern whites and older Americans.” In response to the idea that “the government should help more needy people even if it means going deeper into debt,” the percentage of self-described conservatives agreeing increased 20 percentage points to 48 percent between 1993 and 2007. Forty-nine percent of whites, today, agree that the poor “have it hard”; in 1994, only 35 percent agreed.
We can examine the changes by race, political affiliation and income in the percent of people who agreed to all three of the safety net questions. The questions are (1) “The government should help more needy people even if it means going deeper into debt”; (2) “The government should guarantee every citizen enough to eat and a place to sleep”; (3) “It is the responsibility of the government to take care of people who can’t take care of themselves.”
Percent of White and Black Support for a Social Safety Net
Whites increased their support for a social safety net 13 percentage points. However, even with an increase more than twice the size of the black increase, whites are still less likely to support the government helping the poor than blacks. [Click on images for a better view.]
Percent of Support for a Social Safety Net by Political Affiliation
Democrats and Independents had similar strong increases in support for a social safety net. Republicans had weaker gains and continue to be the least supportive of the three political groups. Democrats are the most supportive.
Percent of Support for a Social Safety Net by Household Income
Perhaps not surprisingly, the poorest Americans showed the biggest increase in support for government help for the poor among income groups. All other income quartiles had increases about half as big as the poorest quartile. The lower middle quartile increased 12 percent to a level of 43 percent in favor, the upper middle quartile increased 10 percent to 40 percent support, and the highest quartile increased 13 percent to 29 percent agreeing. In 1994 and 2007, the lower ones income the more likely one is to support government aid for the poor.
Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 2007.Americans are more interested in having government help the poor, but are our elected officials concerned about helping the poor? The current crop of presidential candidates is made up mainly of multimillionaires. Imagine what our political system might be like if non-millionaires had a fair shot at getting elected. Nonetheless, non-rich Americans should not further diminish their political power by not voting. Register and vote.
--Algernon Austin, Ph.D.
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[Getting It Wrong: How Black Public Intellectuals
Are Failing Black America by Algernon Austin]
