RACE AND CLASS ISSUES IN TODAY’S SOCIETY

While the Supreme Court gets set to rule on challenges to affirmative action and federal protection of voting rights, Newsmax (High Court Poised to Upend Civil Rights Policies / 3-31-12) notes that race, age and class issues still linger in the U.S.

Here is Newsmax’s breakdown on those issues:

__Jobs and income. Black poverty has fallen by half since 1959, to 27.6 percent, but is still nearly three times the poverty rate of whites. Black and Hispanic men are twice as likely as whites to work in the low-paying service sector. Since the 1970s, the unemployment rate for blacks has remained double that of whites.

__Wealth. The wealth gap between whites and minorities is at its widest since 1984. Predominantly younger minorities were hit hard when home prices fell, while older whites were more likely to invest in 401(k) retirement plans and stocks, which have rebounded since the recession. The median net worth of white households was $113,149 in 2009, compared with $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks.

__Class and education. By some measures, the gap between rich and poor has stretched to its widest since 1967. Globalization and automation have eliminated many mid-skill jobs, leaving a polarized pool of low-wage work and high-skill jobs requiring advanced degrees. About 40 percent of whites age 25-29 graduate from college, compared with 15 percent for Latinos and 23 percent for blacks.

__Racial bias. Prejudice against blacks worsened slightly in the four years since Obama was first elected in 2008, according to an AP poll. In all, 51 percent of Americans expressed explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in 2008. Questions designed to ferret out subconscious bias raised the proportion with anti-black sentiments to 56 percent, and the share of people expressing pro-black attitudes fell.

The disparities noted above are likely the result of class differences rather the result of racial or ethnic discrimination. Lower class whites suffer the same shortcomings as minorities from the lower class.

I think that affirmative action, which started out as a righteous set of laws to protect minorities against discrimination, has evolved into reverse discrimination against whites and should have been repealed some years ago. As for repealing the Voting Rights Act, the jury may still be out on that one.