Chapter 24 African Americans at the Dawn of a New Millennium

1. Chapter 24 African Americans at the Dawn of a New Millennium

2. I. Progress and Poverty Civil rights progress has led to socioeconomic changes Blacks lead longer, healthier lives But disparities remained between blacks and whites in levels of wealth, schooling, and health after centuries of racial oppression

3. High-Achieving African Americans • Oprah Winfrey in television • Ronald Brown, Secretary of Commerce • Colin Powell, former Secretary of State • Tiger Woods, golfer • Henry Louis Gates, Jr., public intellectual • Numerous wealthy black entertainers, athletes, and business leaders

4. Oprah Winfrey with Michael Jordan • Oprah Winfrey with Michael Jordan on her television show in 1996.

5. Growing Economic Security • White-collar occupations • 1940s: 5.2% black men, 6.4% black women • 2000: 35.3% black men, 62.3% black women • Black family income has increased • By 1998, 50% of black families had income at least twice above the poverty line • Black women earn 94% of what white women earn • Blacks’ average wealth lags behind whites’ • By 2000, 48% of blacks owned homes

6. Education in Fifty Years Since Brown • Educational attainment is key factor in economic success • By 2000, 86.8% of blacks had graduated high school (compared to 94% of whites) • By 2000, 1.5 million blacks in college • African Americans are among most educated groups in world • Public schools starved for funds

7. The Hip-Hop Nation • Rap music emerged from black urban communities and younger African-Americans known as “hip-hop nation” • Rap can be traced to street boasting, black preaching, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms • Rap arose in South Bronx in New York • Sugar Hill Gang followed by Grandmaster Flash • Music offered creative medium and expressive outlet during the Reagan Years (1981-1989) • Rap music goes mainstream, despite controversies over “gansta rap”

9. Black Intellectuals • Prominence of black scholars • Black intellectuals participate in public debate • Redefine black identity • Explore race in social and political works • John Hope Franklin, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West • Doctoral degrees in African-American Studies found at prestigious schools

10. Afrocentricity • Molefi Kete Asante, • Temple University professor • Celebrate and reclaim positive African identity • Afrocentricity needs to challenge Eurocentric values • Indictment of American ideals and institutions • Many black people reject it as regressive • African-American Studies came of age at Harvard’s W. E. B. Du Bois Institute • Journals • New organizations

11. MolefiKete Asante • Molefi Kete Asante changed his name from Arthur Lee Smith in 1973, better to reflect his African heritage. He served as professor and chair of the Department of African American Studies at Temple University from 1984 to 1996. About Afrocentricism, Asante elaborated, “It’s a very simple idea. African people for 500 years have lived on the intellectual terms of Europeans. The African perspective has finally come to dinner.”

12. IV. Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam • Potent source of racial division • Son of immigrant parents from West Indies • Dropped out of black teachers’ college • Converted in 1955 • Leader of the Nation of Islam, 1978 • Expanded into economic ventures, 1982 • $5 million start-up from Colonel Muammar Qaddafi • Supported Jesse Jackson, 1984 • Anti-Semitism and verbal assaults

13. Louis Farrakhan • Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Always controversial, Farrakhan achieved the greatest feat in the history of black mass mobilization. The actual numbers of black men who heeded his call on October 16, 1995, to attend the Million Man March may forever be in dispute. The figures range from 400,000 to 1.2 million.

14. V. Millennium Marches • Farrakhan has reached out to broader groups • Million Man March gathered in Washington D.C., October 16th, 1995 • Inspired men to engage with families and communities • Est. 400,000 – 1.2 million • The Million Woman March, • Philadelphia, October 25th, 1997 • Symbolized the ongoing struggle of black women

15. VI. Complicating Black Identity • In 2000 census, 34.7 million African Americans, 12% of total (281 million) • For first time, blacks were no longer the largest minority group • 54% of blacks lived in South • New York City had 2.3 million blacks • Census respondents could choose more than one racial designation • Challenge to long-standing notions of “race”

16. Immigration and African Americans • 1965 Hart-Cellar Act helped to open door to immigrants of African descent • One million Caribbean people to U.S. in 1990s • New cultural patterns emerged • Many migrants come from societies in which racial discrimination is less than in U.S. • Some increase in Africans’ migration

17. Black Feminism • National Black Feminist Organization • Articulated concerns, 1973-1975 • Black men-white women relationships • Attacked stereotypes and myths of black women • Black women outnumber black men in higher education • Black women’s history in academia • Civil rights movement encouraged gays, lesbians, and others to fight for rights

18. Cool Down • What social impact do African-Americans have currently? • Describe how society has changed/adapted since the civil rights movement.