Bush's "Culture of Life" : Structural Racial Inequality Rampant, Studies Warn

For years my right wing friends (no names this time) have been telling me that there's no more racism in America. Things are all better since the civil rights movement. Everyone's got an equal shot at the "American dream," and if you work hard enough, you can make it. If you don't make it, you didn't try. No racism there, eh?

Then Katrina came along.

Now this.

• The share of young black men without jobs has climbed relentlessly, with only a slight pause during the economic peak of the late 1990's. In 2000, 65 percent of black male high school dropouts in their 20's were jobless — that is, unable to find work, not seeking it or incarcerated. By 2004, the share had grown to 72 percent, compared with 34 percent of white and 19 percent of Hispanic dropouts.
• Incarceration rates climbed in the 1990's and reached historic highs in the past few years. In 1995, 16 percent of black men in their 20's who did not attend college were in jail or prison; by 2004, 21 percent were incarcerated. By their mid-30's, 6 in 10 black men who had dropped out of school had spent time in prison.
• In the inner cities, more than half of all black men do not finish high school.

Read it. And weep.