Essay 1648

From The New York Daily News (another take on the study presented in Essay 1646)…

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Racism is alive and well, black youth say in national survey

BY ADAM NICHOLS, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Many young blacks believe they are treated as third-class citizens in the U.S., ignored by a government that considers them the lowest of the low, researchers said yesterday.

The most comprehensive survey of black youth for years has found a community that sees itself as ravaged by poverty, crime and poor education - and kept down by leaders who represent only white America.

The University of Chicago survey found 48% thought even new immigrants are treated with more respect than blacks are.

Their sense of marginalization is so strong that the overwhelming majority believes the government sidelined the struggle against AIDS because it affected more blacks that whites.

“The most disheartening thing about this is that these are young people who have this feeling of isolation and secondary status,” said Cathy Cohen, who led the research.

“What shocked me was the matter-of-fact way that young people, in what's supposed to be the post-civil rights period, just expect that the government will not respond to their needs,” she said.

The nationwide survey questioned 1,590 blacks, whites and Hispanics between 15 and 25.

The findings included:

Most young black people believe racial discrimination stands in the way of success.

They think they get an inferior education to whites, they live in greater poverty, are more likely to be involved in crime and face police discrimination.

They believe the government is run by big interest groups and powerful people who care only about serving themselves and people like them.

Most put faith in their own communities uniting to deal with their own problems.

Only 11% believe they’ll see an end to racism in their lifetime.

Many believe their own role models put down their communities. Though most said they listened to rap music regularly, they considered it violent, sexist and degrading.

“I don’t think anything new is being said here,” Sonya Jonson, a hairdresser from the Bronx, said yesterday.

“Why is anybody surprised we feel alienated? Do they remember what happened in New Orleans?”