Obama win doesn't erase inequality

A black man may be moving to the White House, but racial disparity lingers in many ways

WASHINGTON -- The day after Barack Obama was elected president, Kari Fulton heard a white colleague proclaim that racism in America is dead.

She cringed, worrying that it might be a sign of flagging interest in the fight against discrimination.

"In reality, racism is still very much alive and well," said Fulton, who graduated last year from Howard University, a historically black college in the nation's capital.

Obama's election has generated palpable euphoria among black Americans. For some, the weight of history has finally been eased after generations of struggling for equality. But amid the postelection glow of racial harmony lurks a sobering fact: Racial disparities persist -- in just about every measurable form -- and they won't simply melt away because the nation has a black president.

Fulton, 23, was part of a group of young black activists from across the country who worked to register and turn out young black voters in the presidential election. The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation brought the group together shortly after the election to learn about converting their enthusiasm into ongoing political activism.

"Election Day was just the beginning," said Fulton, who lives in Washington and works as an organizer for the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative. "People don't expect President Obama to be a superhero. We have to solve our own problems."

The problems are significant.

* About a quarter of black Americans live in poverty -- nearly three times the rate for whites -- at a time when rising budget deficits and expensive corporate bailouts are going to leave little federal money for anti-poverty programs. The federal budget deficit is likely to hit a record $1 trillion next year.

* Black adults are less likely than whites to have college degrees and more likely to be in prison.

* Blacks are less likely than whites to have health insurance and, on average, they don't live as long as whites.

* Homicide is the leading cause of death among black males ages 15 to 34 -- and it has been for years.

* A typical black household makes only 62 percent of the income of a typical white household.

Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, knows the numbers well. Each year, the civil rights organization publishes a book called "The State of Black America," which has chapters of data on disparities between whites and blacks.

"A mere election does not change the abject conditions for African-Americans or the 230-plus years of racial injustice," Morial said.

The foreword of the 2007 edition of the book was written by Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois.

"This sad story is a stark reminder that the long march toward true and meaningful equality in America isn't over," Obama wrote. "We have a long way to go."