international "alert" for Blacks in the USA
Friday, October 24, 2008
UN: Major inequality in US cities
Levels of economic disparity in major US cities, including New York and Washington DC, are comparable to those of African cities, a United Nations report has concluded.
The UN-Habitat report "State of the World's Cities" released on Thursday said that, while the US has less poverty than many cities in the developed world, inequality is high, rising above the international "alert" line.
It said race was a key factor for US economic inequality.
"The life expectancy of African Americans in the United States is about the same as that of people living in China and some states of India, despite the fact that the United States is far richer than the other two countries," it said.
In one example, the report cited figures from western New York state, where 40 per cent of black, Hispanic and ethnically-mixed households earned less than $15,000 in 1999, as compared to 15 per cent of white households.
Source: english.aljazeera.net
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