In rough economic times, black Americans hold on to their optimism

In rough economic times, black Americans hold on to their optimism: When asked recently how they feel about their future, 85 percent of blacks said they are optimistic, with 65 percent indicating they specifically feel secure about their financial situation, according to a new poll conducted by The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University.

Fifty-six percent of blacks, compared with 44 percent of whites, said the current economic situation is not causing stress in their lives.

The confidence level of blacks in the race and recession survey is in stark contrast to the depressing economic data showing that the economic crisis is still plaguing the African American community.

The black unemployment rate is 15.7 percent compared with 9 percent for the country overall. More than half of older blacks (59.1 percent) depend on Social Security for more than 80 percent of their family income, as compared with 46 percent of whites, according to the eighth annual "State of the Dream" report from the Boston-based nonprofit United for a Fair Economy.

That nonpartisan group also pointed out that four decades after the civil rights movement, blacks still earn only 57 cents for each dollar of white median family income. Blacks hold only 10 cents of net wealth for every dollar that whites hold. Blacks are almost three times as likely as whites to have zero or negative net worth.