Blacks hit hard by economy's punch

Washington Post ^ | November 24, 2009 | V. Dion Haynes

[NRG1973]

These days, 24-year-old Delonta Spriggs spends much of his time cooped up in his mother's one-bedroom apartment in Southwest Washington, the TV blaring soap operas hour after hour, trying to stay out of the streets and out of trouble, held captive by the economy. As a young black man, Spriggs belongs to a group that has been hit much harder than any other by unemployment.

Joblessness for 16-to-24-year-old black men has reached Great Depression proportions -- 34.5 percent in October, more than three times the rate for the general U.S. population. And last Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment in the District, home to many young black men, rose to 11.9 percent from 11.4 percent, even as it stayed relatively stable in Virginia and Maryland.

----------------------------------------------------

The jobless rate for young black men and women is 30.5 percent. For young blacks -- who experts say are more likely to grow up in impoverished racially isolated neighborhoods, attend subpar public schools and experience discrimination -- race statistically appears to be a bigger factor in their unemployment than age, income or even education. Lower-income white teens were more likely to find work than upper-income black teens, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, and even blacks who graduate from college suffer from joblessness at twice the rate of their white peers.

Young black women have an unemployment rate of 26.5 percent, while the rate for all 16-to-24-year-old women is 15.4 percent

[NRG1973]

Hope & Change????????

[SonOfDarkSkies]

Complaining about unemployment is anti-Obama and just plain "racist"!

/s

[sinanju]

I’ve got a funny feeling the bruthas and the Youth Army are simply not going to be turning out next time round.

Star Parker (”Uncle Sam’s Plantation”) mentioned they’ve been suffering buyer’s remorse. They won’t break ranks by daring to say so aloud. They just won’t be showing up at the polls.

[henkster]

Delonta needs to get his a$$ off the sofa, turn off the TV and go learn a marketable skill. That doesn’t change whether the economy is good or bad.

[Red in Blue PA]

That’s funny! I am unemployed and am white.

[Loud Mime]

Is there any way that they won't consider themselves victims?

[spectre]

Barack Obama, quote
Peggy Joseph

"It was the most memorable time of my life, I...it was a touching moment because I never thought this day would ever happen. I won't have to work out how to put gas in my car, I won't have work out how to pay my mortgage. If I help him, he's gonna help me."

Well Peggy, there is no Obama Claus.

[reagan_fanatic]

That’s what happens when your vote is based upon skin color rather than policies and theories.

[ClearCase_guy]

If Obama needs to recruit a Civilian National Defense force, he’ll find many volunteers.

[ZinGirl]

well, obviously, you can't be both.....which is it?

(snort)

the way I read this article is while you may BE white and unemployed...it's YOUR fault. However, if one is black and unemployed...it's someone else's fault.

[Molon Labbie]

This may or may not come as a surprise to some, but a great proportion of those black males DO NOT want to work. They are products of generations of malaise and malcontentedness and simply will not work a traditional job.

[mbynack]

... spends much of his time cooped up in his mother's one-bedroom apartment in Southwest Washington, the TV blaring soap operas hour after hour, trying to stay out of the streets and out of trouble, held captive by the economy.

You wouldn't expect him to be out looking for a job or signing up for job training.

[sickoflibs]

But they dont care, they got ‘their’ man in the WH. They got the stimulus.

[Doogle]

They just won’t be showing up at the polls.

..don't be too sure, as soon as the race baiters get the word to spread the BS, THEY'LL TURN OUT

[MrB]

They just need to go out and find a woman with “good paper” - ie, a woman who’s getting a big check from Uncle Sam every month to support her fatherless brood.

[Nervous Tick]

These days, 24-year-old Delonta Spriggs spends much of his time cooped up in his mother's one-bedroom apartment in Southwest Washington... About a year ago, he lost his job moving office furniture... seeking a career so he could avoid repeating the mistake of selling drugs to support his 3-year-old daughter..."I think we're labeled for not wanting to do nothing -- knuckleheads or hardheads," said Spriggs, whose first name is pronounced Dee-lon-tay.

Well, "Dee-lon-tay"... uneducated, incapable, criminal, and irresponsible is no way to go through life. Looks like Reverend Wright's chickenssssss are indeed coming home to roooooost...

[autumnraine]

I wonder if it compounds it by seeing the Obama’s living it up like a King and Queen? I mean certainly they are the POTUS and FLOTUS and won’t live like paupers, but they go overboard. Not to mention even FDR was conscience of living it up in the Depression. The Obama’s just could care less.

[boomop1]

Black’s, women and chilrun, his core voters (chilrun over 18) and dead people.

[MrB]

held captive by the economy

That just gets you... right... 'ere...
boohoohooo sob sob

[littleharbour]

I agree with your analysis. There’s little chance of any major shift in black voting patterns, but if they revert to their former levels of turnout at the polls, Obama is going to suffer significant damage. We’ll see the first real evidence of suppressed turnout in the 2010 mid-term elections (there may already have been an element of that in the NJ and Virginia governors races this year).