PowerPoint on Black Economics, I need it after 3 hours only 5-slide!
Seba & Rabab :)
Blackeconomics.pptxBlack Economics
Assignment Instructions
Black Economics is another chapter in Karenga’ book.
Go through this PowerPoint and answer ALL of the questions in RED.
You will put your responses in a 5-slide PowerPoint, formatted however you’d like.
Links b/w Politics and Economics
First, “wealth and power are mutually engendering and supportive. The possession of one implies and leads to the possession of the other.
Second, if you have both power and wealth, you “strive to monopolize both”
Those with both wealth and power change/construct a society in their image to fit their needs, at the expense of the have-nots.
The Concept of Political Economy
Karenga cites that if blacks are going to have any type of economic power they have to create a political strategy.
He writes that “until and unless blacks achieve some degree of effective political power they will continue to suffer from second-class economic citizenship”
Political Economic Status (The Colonial Analogy)
Karenga the following reasons to “justify calling the ghetto an internal colony” : (several individuals have used this analogy in their writings)
“economic exploitation of the colony as a cheap supply of labor and captive market”
“external control of the colony by the ruling country, usually by indirect rule through political puppets”
“the socio-psychological results of racist humiliation and assignment of Blacks to ‘subordination, inferior status in society’”
Karenga acknowledges that this is an imperfect analogy but it cannot be denied that those things associated with colonialism i.e. “oppression and economic exploitation” exist in the black community.
Markers of the ghetto economy
“super exploited labor in terms of both race and class, being employed mainly in low-wage sector of the economy and with unequal power in union in spite of proportional representation”.
“continuous drain of financial, physical, and human resources”
“lower levels of repairs and renewal of physical plants in the ghetto, and better educated Blacks with higher salaries tend to move out, thus, depriving the ghetto of persons whose education, income, and initiatives would be valuable to its revitalization and organized efforts to free itself.”
Data of Economic Disadvantage
Income Inequality- during the 1990s blacks had 59.1% as much income as whites and that whites males have almost doubled the median income of black males; and 26% of black families lived below the poverty line compared to 6% of whites
Poverty Rates- “income disadvantages for Blacks lead directly to higher rates of poverty
Karenga citing Persad and Lusane writes that “there is a clear cut racial dimension as well to the situation of children - in 1996 infant mortality among black children was 14.2% per live 1000 births that is more than double that of white infants (6%); “by 1995, 63% of all Black children were in female-headed households and 46% of Black female-headed households were in poverty”
Video
Listen to this excerpt of Malcolm X speaking on Black Economics
Write down 5 things that you picked up from the video and lend your voice.
What do you think about what Malcolm X is saying?
Can any of this work in the the Black community today? Explain why or why not and GIVE 1 piece of literature or research that supports your statement.
Employment Status
Black women lost ground to white women in the 80s and 90s and are more prone to poverty and the persistence of poverty “despite educational investments by AA women”
On a whole, black unemployment rate in the black community is around 13.9% (1994) whereas it is about 6.2% for whites
Karenga cites the following reasons for black unemployment:
low educational levels and lack of job skills
recurring recession
unwillingness to take menial jobs
displacement
movement of industry from the central city
loss of industrial jobs
lack of viable social networks
continuing discrimination
Karenga citing the debate b/w Alexis and Becker states that that focus should be on group discrimination not individual because “discrimination is against Blacks as a group, not as individuals” and “hiring or not hiring is a political decision as well as an economic one”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT STATEMENT?
Occupational Distribution
Black also find themselves disadvantaged by having “unfavorable” jobs.
Karenga states that “Employed Black males (are) only about half as likely as white males to be employed in managerial, sales or professional occupations, and only about three-quarters as likely to be employed as technicians or craft workers”
Occupational Distribution (CONT’D)
Black women suffer as well as “37.3 percent of Black women compared to 22.9% of white women were more likely to be employed in household or other service, laborer and operative occupations”.
Blacks are clearly overrepresented in service positions.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS STATEMENT? “racial inequality does not decline with education”
Wealth
Can we see wealth as a distinct form of income? If yes, in what ways?
Wealth is what you own and wealth creates access and opens you up to opportunities.
Karenga importantly cites that middle class blacks have only 15% of the wealth of level of middle class whites. What is the problem of wealth and why is it important to deal with?
What are the differences between the middle class and underclass?
Solutions
Government intervention
The Private Sector
The Community
Give examples of how Black economics can be addressed through these 3 areas.
