Dream+Report+Card

// Has MLK's "dream" been realized? //  It's been over 40 years since Martin Luther King Jr. explained his dream to 250,000 Americans in Washington D.C. and millions more watching and listening at home. Has America become the land of equality that King spoke of in his famous speech? Are all Americans judged by the content of the character, and not by the color of their skin? One way to begin to answer this question is to examine some recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. Your task is to analyze the statistics on the topics below, keeping in mind MLK's "dream". You will be filling out a report card on American society, based on statistics from the US Census Bureau. In each of the four major categories, you and your partner will assign a letter grade to American society, provide statistical information to back up your letter grade, and then make comments and suggestions for improvement. You will also need to develop a comment concerning the "behavior" of society toward minorities. This report card will appear in your Unit 8 Online ISN.
 * [|**General Statistics**] ||  [|**Voting and Government**]  ||  [|**Labor**]  ||  [|**Education**]  ||  [|**Income**]  ||



 * Some recent articles MLK would be interested to read ... **
 * [|Poll: Most Americans see lingering racism -- in others - CNN.com]
 * [|The "State of the Dream"] - A yearly report from the Racial Wealth Divide Project
 * [|Affirmative Action Special Report] from the Washington Post
 * [|Affirmative Action] from civilrights.org
 * Cut and paste the table below for your notebook**

**Has Martin Luther King Jr.'s "dream" been realized?**

Civil Rights laws, affirmative action laws, representation in state and federal government, voting statistics || =**B**= || * Civil Rights laws have been passed and enforced by the government Number of employed / unemployed, types of jobs, business ownership || B+ || * Participation Rate between whites, blacks and hispanics is almost equal (66.2%, 66.3% & 68.8%) Graduation rates, test scores, college enrollment, educational attainment || B || * High School graduation rates or fairly equal between blacks and whites at 85.8% and 80.7% for blacks. However, for Hispanics are at a low 58.4%. When you get to college education the distance between whites and blacks gets greater (28% to 17%) and 12.1% for hispanics. Average income, number below poverty level ||  ||   ||   ||
 * **TOPIC** || ==**GRADE**== || **RATIONALE WITH STATISTICS** || **COMMENTS / SUGGESTIONS** ||
 * **Legislation and Politics**
 * While the number of African Americans and Hispanics in the government is not near the percentage of population, the numbers are increasing every year
 * We have an African American president
 * African Americans vote at nearly the same rate as the average population, but Hispanics are much lower (average around 60% registering, African American 58%, Hispanic 28%) || * Encourage minorities to continue to become active in politics, possibly through schools
 * Push for voter registration drives and voter eductaion in the Hispanic community, possibly with bilingual voting ballots ||
 * **Employment**
 * The jobs with the highest percent of hispanic and african american participation are less prestigious jobs such as serving at restaurants, security guards, and home health service aids. Hispanics have the largest percentage in ground maintenance and dishwashing and janitorial services.
 * As far as firm ownership of 5,525,000 firms only 295,000 are owned by blacks or hispanics way less then their percent of population. || * Since participation of the races is good. Encourage minorities to obtain higher white collar jobs.
 * This problem is also tied into education because if you don't go to college its harder to own a firm or other skilled jobs. ||
 * **Education**
 * **Income and Poverty**
 * **Income and Poverty**
 * **Behavior** ||  ||   ||   ||