2008 Surge in Black Voters Nearly Erased Racial Gap

 

By SAM ROBERTS

In last year’s presidential election, younger blacks voted in greater proportions than whites for the first time and black women turned out at a higher rate than any other racial, ethnic and gender group, a census analysis released Monday confirmed.

As a result, in the election that produced the nation’s first black president, the historic gap between black and white voter participation rates over all virtually evaporated.

The Census Bureau’s survey also found striking contrasts in why people said they did not vote. More than three times as many whites as blacks said they did not like the candidates or campaign issues.

Over all, 18 percent of nonvoters said they were too busy, 15 percent said they were prevented because of an illness or disability and 13 percent each said they were not interested or did not like the candidates or issues.

Total turnout in 2008 was about the same as it was in 2004, about 64 percent of voting age citizens.

But with Barack Obama on the ballot, the makeup of the 131 million who voted last year was markedly different. While the number of non-Hispanic white voters remained roughly the same, 2 million more blacks, 2 million more Latinos and 600,000 more Asians turned out. Compared with 2004, the voting rate for black, Asian and Hispanic voters increased by about four percentage points. The rate for whites declined by one percentage point.

As a result, according to an analysis by William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, whites declined to 76 percent of all voters in 2008, from 79 percent in 2004.

Turnout varied widely by state, from a high of 75 percent in Minnesota to 52 percent in Utah.

In a number of states, including Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and South Carolina, turnout among blacks surpassed 70 percent.

In 2004, according to the census, barely 60 percent of eligible blacks voted. In 2008, nearly 65 percent did (as did 66 percent of white voting-age citizens).

But one of the biggest changes was the gap between black and white participation. In 2004, the rate of black voter registration was 10 percentage points below that of whites. Last year, it narrowed to four percentage points.

Of the 206 million citizens 18 and older, 71 percent were registered to vote. Among those who were registered, 90 percent voted in 2008.

Thom File, a voting analyst with the Census Bureau, said the turnout among blacks ages 18 to 24 increased 8 percent from 2004, to 55 percent. That helped drive the overall turnout in that group to 49 percent, still lower than among older eligible voters.

Among voters 18 to 24 and 25 to 44, blacks voted at a higher rate than whites in 2008.

Like an analysis earlier this year by the Pew Research Center, the latest findings were drawn from census surveys and interviews.

“In 2008 we obviously had a historic candidacy,” said Paul Taylor, executive vice president of the Pew center. “That’s certainly a plausible explanation for the spike in African-American turnout. The question was, Would other minorities vote for this minority? Not only did he get a big vote, but he got a big turnout.”

courtesy of the NY Times

NEWLY CONSTRUCTED AFFORDABLE CO-OP APARTMENTS FOR SALE IN THE MORRIS HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE BRONX

Applications are now being accepted to participate in a lottery for 48 affordable residential cooperative apartments under construction at 150 Featherbed Lane in the Morris Heights neighborhood of The Bronx. This seven story mixed-use building is being developed by Washington Bridge LLC through the Affordable Cooperative Program of the New York City Housing Development Corporation and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

For more information

BILLIE’S BLACK EVENTS

Hello Folks

 

Updated events!!

 

 

 

 

July 23rd – East Brooklyn Poets – Brooklyn’s favorite spoken word artist are doing it again at Billie’s Black.  There will be an open mic portion for you to share your words.

 

 

July 24th – Funny Fridays

 

 

  

 

July 25th – Al DeCosey

 

 

 

 

 July 29th – Ronin Ali

 

 

July 31st -  Paul Rivers Bailey

 

 

 

August 6th – Blaqmel – w/ special guest- Ty Blue

 

 

Still to come

MIHE Jazz Series – August 8th

Kashan Fields – August 15th

AJ (ahhsh) – August 21st

Jimmy Salvemini- tba

 

Bonds, Manny Already Hall Of Famers In Spanish Harlem

clipped from www.bugsandcranks.com Bonds, Manny Already Hall Of Famers In Spanish Harlem I recently received my favorite takeout menu of all-time.  The restaurant is El Nuevo Caridad Restaurant, located in the heart of East Harlem.  What makes it my favorite is the Hall Of Fame section of the menu which honors 25 all-time great baseball players. As you might expect (since East Harlem = Spanish Harlem), nearly all the honorees are Latin players. The lone exception is The Greatest Player On Planet Earth, The G-POPE Barry Bonds.  El Nuevo Caridad’s HOF also includes this generation’s greatest pitcher, Pedro Martinez, and its greatest right-handed hitter, Manny Ramirez.  Move over tainted Cooperstown, the real legends are at 116th and 2nd.

After Murder of Office Cleaner, a New Light on an Isolated Job

clipped from www.nytimes.com After Murder of Office Cleaner, a New Light on an Isolated Job By JOSEPH BERGER When other workers in her office building are calling it a day, Elizabeth Magda is just beginning hers. She dumps out their wastebaskets, swipes a rag across their desks, dusts their computers and stocks their bathrooms with toilet paper and paper towels. As the vast skyscraper empties out and a twilight desolation slowly descends on her floor, Ms. Magda finishes off her night by vacuuming a half acre of carpet, making sure to discard the pizza cartons of the few office workers who stay especially late. By midnight, she is usually the only person left on the floor, yet she does not feel isolated or lonesome, she said, because she knows she will soon be on her way home to Ridgewood, Queens.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/nyregion/20cleaner.html

Where is the $420 Billion in Offerings the Black Church has Received Since 1980?

LiveSteez research shows that Black churches, in aggregate, have collected more than $420 billion in tithes and donations since 1980. With a Senate investigation into the finances of several mega churches underway, the “Prosperity Movement” has been the target of mounting criticism from inside and outside the Black Church. Specifically, the affluent ministries of The Reverend Creflo Dollar, Bishop Eddie Long and others have drawn the attention – and ire – of some clergy and laypeople alike.

Mainstream politicians and Black community leaders are demanding a better accounting of the “return on investment” offered by churches to the communities that fund them. Meanwhile, legions of faithful churchgoers defend their pastors and accuse their detractors of applying a double standard that ignores the largesse of wealthy, white televangelists, while underplaying the economic development and social service functions provided by the Black Church.

“The church has gotten caught up in materialism and greed, a lifestyle. Many ministers today want to live like celebrities and they want to be treated like celebrities. In other words, instead of the church standing with the community, the church has become self-serving. It has strayed away from its mission” according to Dr.Love Henry Whelchel, professor of church history at The Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.

Read full story from livesteez.com

1199 Union Forgoing Raises to Aid Pension

clipped from www.nytimes.com 1199 Union Forgoing Raises to Aid Pension By STEVEN GREENHOUSE Facing a crisis in its pension fund, 1199, New York’s giant health care union, reached an innovative settlement on Monday that calls for forgoing nearly a billion dollars in raises for 145,000 union members so that hospitals can increase their pension contributions to safeguard future retirement benefits. The union, formally called 1199 S.E.I.U. United Healthcare Workers East, agreed to a wage freeze for next year, but also — in a move that parallels Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposal for municipal employees — accepted less generous pensions for future hires. With the union’s pension fund losing $3.5 billion — or one-third its value — in recent years, mostly because of losses in stock market investments, 1199 feared that the fund would have to reduce promised pension payments to not only 48,000 current retirees, but also tens of thousands of current workers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/nyregion/21union.html