Vital Signs: Statistics That Measure the State of Racial Inequality

In each issue, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education collects statistics bearing on the relative status of blacks and whites, some of which are interesting but not particularly important whereas others are highly relevant and critical to the measurement of racial progress.
(Note: Boldface type suggests items of positive or important change.)

• Number of living black Americans who held a graduate or professional degree in 1994: 624,000
• Number of living black Americans who held a graduate or professional degree in 2004: 1,100,000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census)

• The number of active hate groups in the United States in 2004: 762
• The number of active hate groups in the United States in 2005: 803 (Southern Poverty Law Center)

• The number of active Ku Klux Klan chapters in the United States in 2004: 162
• The number of active Ku Klux Klan chapters in the United States in 2005: 179 (Southern Poverty Law Center)

• Average per-capita expenditure on reading materials by white Americans in 2003: $137
• Average per-capita expenditure on reading materials by African Americans in 2003: $52 (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

• Percentage of white adults in 2002 who participated in charity work: 32.5%
• Percentage of black adults in 2002 who participated in charity work: 22.7% (National Endowment for the Arts)

• Percentage of white adults in 2002 who participated in an exercise program: 59.1%
• Percentage of black adults in 2002 who participated in an exercise program: 46.1% (National Endowment for the Arts)

• Percentage of white adults in 2002 who bought a piece of artwork: 28.9%
• Percentage of black adults in 2002 who bought a piece of artwork: 35.9% (National Endowment for the Arts)

• Number of African-American homicide victims in 1991: 12,296
• Number of African-American homicide victims in 2003: 6,912 (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

• Total number of eligible African Americans who did not vote in the 2004 presidential election: 9,330,000
• President Bush's nationwide margin of victory over John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election: 3,012,497 (Federal Election Commission and U.S. Bureau of the Census)

• Percentage of non-Hispanic white adults in 2005 who owned the residence in which they lived: 75.8%
• Percentage of African-American adults in 2005 who owned the residence in which they lived: 48.2% (U.S. Bureau of the Census)

• Percentage of all white family households in 2004 that were headed by a married couple: 81.8%
• Percentage of all black family households in 2004 that were headed by a married couple: 46.5% (U.S. Bureau of the Census)

• Percentage of all white women over the age of 15 in 2004 who were married and living with their spouse: 54.3%
• Percentage of all black women over the age of 15 in 2004 who were married and living with their spouse: 28.4% (U.S. Bureau of the Census)

• Percentage of all white women over the age of 15 in 2004 who were married but separated from their spouse: 1.5%
• Percentage of all black women over the age of 15 in 2004 who were married but separated from their spouse: 5.1% (U.S. Bureau of the Census)

• Percentage of black adults in the United States over the age of 25 in 1970 who were high school graduates: 31.4%
• Percentage of black adults in the United States over the age of 25 in 2000 who were high school graduates: 72.3% (U.S. Bureau of the Census)

• Percentage of all African-American male workers who have a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement account: 63%
• Percentage of all African-American female workers who have a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement account: 75% (Phoenix Cultural Access Group)

• Percentage of all affluent white American individuals who are women: 48%
• Percentage of all affluent African-American individuals who are women: 58% (Phoenix Cultural Access Group)

• Number of black-owned businesses in the United States in 2002: 1.2 million
• Number of black-owned businesses in the United States that are sole proprietorships with no paid employees: 1.1 million
• Average annual revenues of the 1.1 million black-owned sole proprietorships in 2002: $25,000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census)

• Revenues of all 1.2 million black-owned businesses in the United States in 2002: $89 billion
• Revenues of ExxonMobil in 2002: $201 billion (U.S. Bureau of the Census and ExxonMobil)

• Average number of abortions performed on black women every day in the United States: 1,500
• Number of abortions performed on black women per 1,000 live births: 495 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

• Percentage of all African Americans with dark skin who were convicted of murdering a white person who were sentenced to death: 54%
• Percentage of all African Americans with light skin who were convicted of murdering a white person who were sentenced to death: 24% (Psychological Science)

• Number of people who have been killed in hate crime violence in Russia since the beginning of 2005: 37 (SOVA Center for Information and Analysis)

JBHE Past Vital Statistics

• Issue No. 50 – Winter 2005/2006
• Issue No. 49 – Autumn 2005