For Whites in Prince George's, a Mirror on Race

For Whites in Prince George's, a Mirror on Race: Whites moving into black neighborhoods often follow the pattern of gentrification: The influx leads to higher property prices, displacement of residents who can't afford to stay and lingering resentment. But the paradigm has shifted in Prince George's, one of the few suburban counties nationally with wide swaths of black wealth.

Some white families are being drawn by the upscale amenities of subdivision life at relatively bargain prices. There's little tension about displacement, because they move into neighborhoods with people of similar economic statuses, and by and large, they say they are being welcomed.

Decisions about where to lay your head and raise your family have been among those most resistant to the integrational ideals of the civil rights movement. But residents say the educated, affluent demographics of Prince George's help make integration calculations, and the conversations around them, a little easier for everybody.

CNN.com - Inspiration for 'Men of Honor' dies - Jul 25, 2006

CNN.com - Inspiration for 'Men of Honor' dies - Jul 25, 2006: "RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- Carl M. Brashear, the first black U.S. Navy diver who was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2000 film 'Men of Honor,' died Tuesday. He was 75.

Brashear died at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth of respiratory and heart failure, the medical center said.

Brashear retired from the Navy in 1979 after more than 30 years of service. He was the first Navy diver to be restored to full active duty as an amputee, the result of a leg injury he sustained during a salvage operation.

'The African-American community lost a great leader today in Carl Brashear,' Gooding said of the man he played alongside Robert DeNiro, who was Brashear's roughneck training officer in 'Men of Honor.' 'His impact to us as a people and all races will be felt for many decades to come.'

In 1966 Brashear was assigned to recover a hydrogen bomb that dropped into waters off of Spain when two U.S. Air Force planes collided.

During the mission Brashear was struck below his left knee by a pipe that the crew was using to hoist the bomb out of the water. Brashear was airlifted to a naval hospital where the bottom of his left leg was amputated to avoid gangrene. It later was replaced with a prosthetic leg.

The Navy was ready to retire Brashear from active duty, but he soon began a grueling training program that included diving, running and calisthenics."

Series: Being a Black Man

Series: Being a Black Man: "John McWhorter, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and author of 'Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in Black America,' writes and comments extensively on race, ethnicity and cultural issues. On Monday, July 24 at noon ET, McWhorter will take questions and comments from readers about issues raised by the Post's 'Being a Black Man' series.

Read McWhorter's bio.

Submit your questions and comments early or during the discussion."

Panel on Disaffection of Black Youths Airs Concerns, Ideas

Panel on Disaffection of Black Youths Airs Concerns, Ideas: "Marcellus 'Bishop' Allen, who joined the notorious Bloods street gang at age 9, had a blunt warning yesterday for the panel of national experts that gathered in Washington to discuss ways to reach troubled black men. Crime emergencies, prayer meetings and community vigils, he said, are ineffective after youngsters have turned to criminal activity.

'None of you can stop nothing we want to do,' said Allen, a gang member who works to settle street conflicts in his hometown of Newark.

Allen's comments confirmed what academics, politicians and street-level organizers know from experience: People who feel disconnected from society do bad things.

Yesterday's forum, "Paths to Success: A Forum on Young African American Men," drew a crowd of about 150 to hear a 17-member panel discuss ways to end a cycle of neglect, abuse and violence that has led to high levels of incarceration and low achievement for too many.

Panelists said promoting positive behavior requires society to make significant changes in schools, churches and families. Former congressman Ronald Dellums took umbrage at the high rate of expulsions of black boys, particularly those still in preschool.

The reality of race - 'Separate and Unequal' - MSNBC.com

The reality of race - 'Separate and Unequal' - MSNBC.com: "In the upcoming “Tom Brokaw Reports: Separate and Unequal,” Brokaw travels to 200 miles north of New Orleans to Jackson, Miss., for an in-depth report on race and poverty, airing on Sunday, July 23 at 7 PM/ET on NBC. Jackson was just brushed by Katrina, but it struggles every day with the ongoing issues of race in America. Jackson has many examples of great progress: a black mayor; a black editor in chief at its daily newspaper; a black professional class sending children to elite universities. However, Jackson also has thousands of blacks who are every bit as stranded as the people in New Orleans, and millions of others across the country.

“Separate and Unequal” is an honest look at the progress that’s been made, and the problems that persist, 40 years after the civil rights movement. It focuses on several students at an inner city high school in Jackson, and follows them from last fall through the school year, showing first hand how problems like poverty, teen pregnancy, absentee fathers, and drug addiction play out in the lives of young people. Brokaw interviews students, parents, and teachers, as well as members of Jackson’s black elite as they grapple with the problems of neighborhoods they had left behind. In addition, the broadcast explores the sometimes-surprising ways in which whites did or didn’t choose to help.

Sorting Out The Census: We're still separate and unequal.

Sorting Out The Census: We're still separate and unequal.: "In a report that surprised the nation, Logan has shown that even though the U.S. population grew far more racially and ethnically diverse between 1990 and 2000, we are still as segregated a nation today as we've ever been. The majority of Americans, Logan found, are living in neighborhoods that continue to separate whites from blacks, Latinos and people of Asian descent. In fact, the same color barrier that has dominated urban communities for decades has now spread to our fast-growing suburbs, where people of color tend to congregate in neighborhoods and housing developments apart from whites."

Other findings:

The average white person lives in a community nearly 83 percent white and 7 percent black, while the average black lives in a community that is only 33 percent white and 54 percent black.

>>> Middle-class blacks are more likely to live in or near areas of poverty than are middle-class whites of equal income. In Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City, for example, the typical African American lives in a community where the income level is about 30 percent lower, and where the crime rate is 30 percent higher, than it is in communities occupied by whites of the same income level.

>>> White couples without children are more likely to live in integrated neighborhoods than are whites with children, reflecting the departure of white families from urban areas into the suburbs, often in pursuit of better schools and less crime.

>>> The average child in metropolitan America lives in an increasingly segregated neighborhood where their own racial group dominates, and where they encounter relatively few children of other backgrounds. As neighborhoods are segregated, so too are schools, clubs, sports teams and other organizations and social circles.

Study Documents ‘Ghetto Tax’ Being Paid by the Urban Poor - New York Times

Study Documents ‘Ghetto Tax’ Being Paid by the Urban Poor - New York Times: "WASHINGTON, July 18 — Drivers from low-income neighborhoods of New York, Hartford and Baltimore, insuring identical cars and with the same driving records as those from middle-class neighborhoods, paid $400 more on average for a year’s insurance.

The poor are also the main customers for appliances and furniture at “rent to own” stores, where payments are stretched out at very high interest rates; in Wisconsin, a $200 television can end up costing $700.

Those were just two examples among several cited in a report Tuesday showing that poor urban residents frequently pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year in extra costs for everyday necessities. The study said some of the disparities were due to real differences in the cost of doing business in poor areas, some to predatory financial practices and some to consumer ignorance.

CNN.com - Program prepares disabled youth for college life - Jul 17, 2006

CNN.com - Program prepares disabled youth for college life - Jul 17, 2006: "BLACKSBURG, Virginia (AP) -- The college classroom scene is a familiar one: young adults in flip-flops and baseball caps, some scribbling notes, others napping.

Evelyn Scruggs, a student sitting near the front, is among the more attentive, filling an entire page with notes. But, by the time she leaves, she won't remember the lecture topic or one word she wrote.

Scruggs, 19, has attention deficit disorder and related short-term memory loss. Like everyone attending this mock class, she's hoping it will give her tools to balance her disability with her dream of a college degree.

The students get pointers on navigating wheelchairs over hilly terrain, finding note takers and deciding whether to 'come out' to peers about less-obvious disabilities -- tips experts say are vital as administrators face swelling numbers of disabled students.

About 6 million Americans receive special education services, designated for students whose mental or physical limitations affect their learning, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Increasingly, such students are aiming for degrees: 11.3 percent of undergraduates nationwide reported a disability during the 2003-04 academic year, compared to 7.7 percent during the 1989-90 school year, according to the most recent department statistics.

Special education has shifted over the past decade from getting students to functional levels on basics like reading in favor of encouraging them to move to advanced levels of study and tackle more complex subjects, said Lynda Van Kuren, a spokeswoman for the Council for Exceptional Children.

Upper Grades, Lower Reading Skills

Upper Grades, Lower Reading Skills: "The U.S. school population has rapidly diversified over the past few decades. The number of students who are learning English has more than doubled, from 2.03 million in 1989-90 to 5.01 million in 2003-04, according to the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs. A decade ago, students who were learning English made up 6.1 percent of the student population in Montgomery; today, the figure is almost 10 percent.

But it's not just immigrants. A breakdown of test scores in Maryland, for example, shows that black students, those enrolled in special education and those who come from poor families are most likely to lack strong reading skills.

USATODAY.com - Advocates quietly push for slavery repayment

USATODAY.com - Advocates quietly push for slavery repayment: "Advocates who say black Americans should be compensated for slavery and its Jim Crow aftermath are quietly chalking up victories and gaining momentum.

Fueled by the work of scholars and lawyers, their campaign has morphed in recent years from a fringe-group rallying cry into sophisticated, mainstream movement. Most recently, a pair of churches apologized for their part in the slave trade, and one is studying ways to repay black church members.

The overall issue is hardly settled, even among black Americans: Some say that focusing on slavery shouldn't be a top priority or that it doesn't make sense to compensate people generations after a historical wrong.

Yet reparations efforts have led a number of cities and states to approve measures that force businesses to publicize their historical ties to slavery. Several reparations court cases are in progress, and international human rights officials are increasingly spotlighting the issue.