African American statistics - Essay Example

1 African American Statistics Year AA in US AA % US Growth Mortality Life Expectancy@birth Fertility Birth rate Population Population rate AA rate infant Male Female rate 1995 32195000 12.4 0 15.1 65.4 74 71 18.2 1996 33587000 12.5 .04 15 66.1 74.2 69.2 17.8 1997 33989000 12.5 .01 14.2 67.2 74.7 69 17.7 1998 34427000 12.5 .01 14.3 67.6 74.8 69.4 17.7 2000 35810000 12.8 .03 14.1 68.3 75.2 70 17 2001 36247000 12.7 .01 14 68.6 75.5 67.6 16.3 Source: Except as noted, United States National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States, Annual and National Vital Statistics Reports (NVSR) (formerly monthly vital statistics reports) In a July 2003 Census Bureau report entitled African Americans by the Numbers, we can readily discern that there is light at the end of the tunnel for the continued climb of the African American educational attainment level. The reports says; " among African Americans age 25 and over, 80 % had at least a high school diploma-a record high. The report goes on to show that this percentage rose by 10 percentage points from 1993 to 2003. For African Americans ages 25 to 29, the proportion is considerably higher at 88%" (US Census) Although these numbers do not represent a composite total, it is indeed indicative of what can be achieved across the board. When we place these numbers next to the majority (white) population totals, we find that the gap is a mere 9 per cent. School administrators and government officials have come to grips with the issue of, 'why Johnny can not read.' The current administration initiative to provide additional help for low income and disadvantaged youth through the 'No Child Left Behind Program', is a positive step in the right direction to further close the educational (literacy) gap for those children below 15 years of age. It is reasonable to expect that the government will not abandon its focus of those African American (and other diverse) students presently enrolled, and their needs will continue to be addressed as they proceed up the educational ladder. On this note, the federal government must address the 2 issue of African American High School dropouts. Funding must come forward to educate diversity. In other words, curriculums must be adjusted to deal more appropriately with information and skill transfer for high school students. Not every student is prone, or inclined to adjusting to the strict confines of the traditional classroom. We must discover what their interests are and adjust the curriculum to accommodate them. It is much more cost effective to educate, than it is to incarcerate. The 2003 census report further states: "African Americans age 25 and over, that had a Bachelors degree or higher in 2003 was up 5 percentage points from 1993 to 17%." The number of African Americans with Bachelor degrees held steady at 12% for more than 25 years. The Bush Administration made a sound commitment towards its support of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). The Bush Administration earmarked more than $300 million to assist these institutions in improving or expanding their physical plants, upgrading curriculum and scholarship set-asides. This was a major boost for these institutions which train more than 80% of the country's African American future professionals. A majority of these African American students go on to receive their advanced degrees from majority (white) institutions. Which highlights another milestone in the previously mentioned census report of 2003, which points out that "among African Americans age 25 and over, the number who had advanced Degrees in 2003 (e.g., masters, Ph.D., M.D., or J.D.) was around one million". (Census Report 2003) This number would improve appreciably if the government would provide more scholarships for African American students who aspire to have advanced degrees. Moreover, special emphasis should be placed on individuals who seek advanced degrees in math, science and engineering. 3 African Americans in US population. It should be noted that the figure on African Americans is an aggregate total: Census 2000 asked seaparate questions on race and Hispanic or Latino origin. Hispanics who reported their race as Black, either alone or in combination with one or more other races are included in the numbers for African Americans. The term "Black or African American refers to people having origins in any of the Black race groups of Africa. It includes people who reported "Black, African American or Negro" or wrote entries such as "African American, Afro American, Nigerian, or Haitian". (Census 2001) The figures show that in 2001 the number of African Americans in the US population reached over 36 million, which accounted for 12.7 per cent of the total US population. Between 1995 and 2003 the total Black population has increased by more than 4.2 million persons. While the African American percentage of the total population grew from 1995 thru 2000, it experienced a negative proportion percentage of -0.1 in the year 2001. The actual number of persons in the African American category increased by more than 437,000 persons, but this growth was offset by the growth of other groups in the US population for this year, which resulted in a percentage of total population change to 12.7 percent. Nonetheless, the African American population can conceivably reach a milestone of 14% of the total population by the year 2012 if the current growth rate remains constant. The mean age group in this population is the age group between 25 and 29 years of age. Most of the individuals in this group are either unemployed, underemployed or incarcerated. Many of the unemployed and under employed are one move away from being incarcerated. The dilemma is they either have no marketable skills, or marginal skills. The government policy in this area should be geared towards the creation of 4 skills centers, which will train these valuable resources in specific areas, which will yield jobs that will afford these young men a meaningful wage and career. The incorporation of social skills development into the program would serve to be an added plus for society-at-large. The Infant Mortality rate among African American women since 1995 has been inching downward. During this year the rate was 15.1 per cent. In 2001 the rate was shown at 14 percent. Clearly, this is still nothing to write home about. This rate is exceedingly high and much of this can be attributed to the incidence of girls between the ages of 15 to 19 years of age who give birth. African American women in their twenties and early thirties are getting married later and have therefore delayed the prospects of giving birth. Additionally, women are having fewer babies, either due to economic hardships or because they are now pursuing advanced educations, or participating in professional career choices. The Office of Minority Health in an article titled, Disparities in Infant Mortality list the most prevalent causes of infant deaths; The figure of 14% is more than twice the national average of 6.9 deaths per 1000 live births. The leading causes of infant death include congenital abnormalities, pre-term/low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), problems related to complications of pregnancy, and respiratory distress syndrome(OMH) To be sure, it would be unrealistic to think that the infant mortality rate will ever reach zero, but we could aim for a rate, which parallels that of Chinese women, which is 3 per cent. Government policy must begin to focus on the root of the malady. Money must be directed into community based centers, which have the most innovative and effective programs, which focus on a holistic approach. Perhaps the government could study the pre-natal psyche of Chinese women and have this approach incorporated into special programs. As mentioned earlier, women are postponing marriage at early ages and this is impacting 5 upon the African American birth rate which was at 18.2 per cent per 1000 women in 1995, and has declined to 16.3 per cent in 2001. There is very little which the government policy can (if they even care to) do to reverse this trend. Young African American women are either pursuing higher educations, or they are pursuing careers in larger numbers. The life expectancy at birth for African American males and females reflect a huge gap and can best be summed up by variances in lifestyle, diet, and diseases. The government recognizes that there are large disparities in health conditions among African Americans and the Health and Human services Department offers this overview of the hurdle confronting African Americans: Life expectancy and overall health have improved in recent years for a large number of Americans, due to an increased focus on preventive medicine and dynamic new advances in medical technology. However, not all Americans are benefiting equally. There are continuing disparities in the burden of illness and death experienced by African Americans"(Health and Human Services) The present government policy is in fact devoting both time and money in the area of improving the health of African Americans. I feel what is needed along with the availability of all the existing programs is a massive educational campaign. One, which is designed to inform the masses that services are available (not always at a out of pocket cost), and a campaign, which stresses well ness care. Public service announcements on television and radio. Billboards, and neighborhood and community campaigns, to inform the masses of the availability and the importance of monitoring their health. 6 Student note: Literacy us defined by the United States Census Bureau as; anyone who has reached the age of 15 or over, and can read and write. It is my observation that individual respondents involved in the Census taking process are neither queried nor gauged on the level of their literacy. Consequently the tables do not reflect such a heading and it is not possible to quantify this variable within this context. The method utilized to make a representative presentation of this variable (persons 25 years old and over with less than a ninth grade education; persons who completed ninth thru twelfth grade, but did not earn a diploma; persons enrolled in GED classes; or persons in continuing adult education classes, etc.) do not adequately address an assessment of literacy. With the method utilized in the census data, one would be compelled to make certain assumptions, which are based on certain educational theories or concepts. Such as, an individual with less than a ninth grade education would be considered to be either semi-literate or illiterate. While an individual with a high school education would be considered to be literate. Of course, the operable word here is "considered", since no tested measurement or standard gauge has been applied to ascertain the literacy level. Even if one accepts the standard educational reasoning, it is still not possible to locate, quantify, or make a reliable assessment within the perimeters of current census data collection methodology. Works Cited Health and Human Services, Eliminating Minority Health Disparities July 12, 2004 On line: raceandhealth.hhs.gov Office of Minority Health, Eliminate Disparities in Infant Mortality, Infant Mortality fact Sheet on line: www.cdc.gov/omh/amh/factsheets/infant United States Census 2000 Brief, The Black Population:2000, August 2001. On line: www.census.gov/population/www United States Census Bureau, African Americans by the Numbers, infoplease Almanac, July 1,2003. on line http://ph.infoplease.com/ United States National center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States Annual and National Vital Statistics Reports (NVSR) On line: www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.hrm Read More