Depending on the interpretation of the numbers, it may appear that this ratio has not changed much in 30 years. An estimated 25 percent of black Americans live in poverty. A happier consideration is that, thanks to the economic boom of the last nine years, another 10 percent of African Americans have left abject poverty and now belong to the working poor. These, of course, will be the first to suffer from any economic downturn or recession, such as the one some economists see in the near future. Of all the issues discussed at the symposium, the most important was reform of the criminal justice system.
Reform still is needed in a system that accords blacks fewer rights than it accords whites.
Methods of surveillance, arrest, charging and incarceration seem to be separate and unequal. And inequities in education and voting rights also persist. Although they represent only 12 percent of the U.S. population, blacks are incarcerated in disproportionate numbers in state and federal prisons throughout this nation. A social double standard masquerading as justice focuses on punishment exclusively, with little attempt at rehabilitation. There are waiting lists as long as four years in state prisons for training for high school equivalency tests or for drug treatment.