The fact of racism is like a maddening sore on the right flank. Conservative punditry just can’t seem to reach that mangy spot, no matter how they twist and nip at it. Would it be a kindness, do you suppose, to put cones on their heads?

the 2000 census indicates the following population distribution:

white: 75.1%
black: 12.3%
latino: 12.5%
asian: 3.6%
(total more than unity because respondents could assign themselves to more than one race.)

the census estimates the following distribution of individuals living below the poverty line:

white: 55.6%
black: 24.0%
latino: 23.0%
asian: 3.7%

and families living below the poverty line:

white: 53.6%
black: 26.8%
latino: 22.6%
asian: 3.4%

whites are underrepresented in both poverty groups; blacks and latinos are overrepresented. fueling much of latino poverty is the influx of relatively low-educated immigrants. much social-mobility research indicates latinos are making huge strides in one or two generations in overcoming deficits in terms of education and income.

the black population remains a conundrum to researchers. although the black and latino pieces of overall poverty are similarly sized, black representation is arguably more disproportionate than latino.

i do believe that obama’s presidency is motivating a reappraisal of cultural attitudes among blacks, but poverty among blacks is different from that of other groups in terms of both magnitude and character.

there are still a lot of structural reasons for continued underperformance by blacks … school quality … underrepresentation in private enterprise (versus public-sector work) … to name a couple …

One important thing to understand about the enduring effects of slavery and prejudice ‘in the form of poverty and restricted opportunity’ is that the relatively large number of African-Americans in these conditions isn’t in itself a bad thing – at least, it’s no worse than the same amount of poverty and restricted opportunity affecting equal percentages of the various ethnic groups. The greater prevalence of poverty among African-Americans is problematic only because it yields a qualitatively different kind of life for almost every black person, and this is mostly so because widespread black poverty means that there are very few role models for black children and very few cultural pressures for black children to do well in school, etc. It’s here that Obama’s election helps. I think it’s already clear that Obama’s election has caused many African-Americans to reevaluate some self-destructively defeatist attitudes about their prospects and their children’s prospects. While Obama hasn’t made the country less racist, a lot of people think that Obama proves that the country isn’t as racist as they thought, and that’s a good thing as far as the prospects of minorities are concerned.