The State of Black America: Underemployed

A look at how African-Americans are faring in key areas.

Still Far to Go - Each year in its State of Black America report, the National Urban League gauges the progress African-Americans have made in key areas, such as education, employment, economics and criminal justice, and produces an equality index of their status in those areas compared to whites and Latinos. This year's theme is "One Nation Underemployed." In the 2014 edition, released on April 3, the NUL also looked at how several cities with the highest African-American and Latino populations have fared. Here are some of the findings and quotes from a few of the several thoughtful issues written by leading Black experts. –  Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick)(Photo: National Urban League)

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Still Far to Go - Each year in its State of Black America report, the National Urban League gauges the progress African-Americans have made in key areas, such as education, employment, economics and criminal justice, and produces an equality index of their status in those areas compared to whites and Latinos. This year's theme is "One Nation Underemployed." In the 2014 edition, released on April 3, the NUL also looked at how several cities with the highest African-American and Latino populations have fared. Here are some of the findings and quotes from a few of the several thoughtful issues written by leading Black experts. –  Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick)(Photo: National Urban League)

What Is the Equality Index? - The NUL likes to use a pie to explain its equality index. A whole pie equals 100 percent, so at 71.2 percent of overall equality to whites, African-Americans are missing nearly 30 percent of the pie. (Photo: Tomas Del Amo/Getty Images)

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What Is the Equality Index? - The NUL likes to use a pie to explain its equality index. A whole pie equals 100 percent, so at 71.2 percent of overall equality to whites, African-Americans are missing nearly 30 percent of the pie. (Photo: Tomas Del Amo/Getty Images)

Stuck in Place - In key areas, African-Americans experienced little change or lost ground between 2013 and 2014.Economics took a slight dip from 56.3 percent to 55.5 percent Social justice fell from 56.9 percent to 56.8 percent Civic engagement index improved from 99.9 percent to 104 percent Health stayed at 76.8 percent Education stayed at 76.8 percent (Photo: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)

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Stuck in Place - In key areas, African-Americans experienced little change or lost ground between 2013 and 2014.Economics took a slight dip from 56.3 percent to 55.5 percent Social justice fell from 56.9 percent to 56.8 percent Civic engagement index improved from 99.9 percent to 104 percent Health stayed at 76.8 percent Education stayed at 76.8 percent (Photo: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)

Ursula Burns - Given that screens continue to take more priority over paper as the years go by, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns’s ability to transform a company known primarily for its carbon copies into a profitable and viable company is a noteworthy achievement. She began her career as a summer intern at Xerox in 1980 and went on to become the first African-American woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company.(Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for FORTUNE)

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The Importance of STEM Education for Minorities and Girls - “If I didn’t have the mother I had, if she hadn’t sacrificed to send me to the right school and if Xerox hadn’t taken an interest in me, there is no way this poor Black girl from the projects would have ever become a mechanical engineer.  Multiply that by the thousands of young women and people of color who have the innate talent to become an engineer or scientist, but lack the motivation and help. …Why does this matter? Because the number of jobs in the U.S. economy that require science, engineering, math and innovation is growing and the number of people prepared to fill these jobs is shrinking.” – Ursula Burns,  president and CEO, XEROX(Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for FORTUNE)

Broadband Adoption and Access - "Although African-Americans have the perennial distinction of being among the heaviest consumers of mobile, Internet and social media services, we are woefully underrepresented when it comes to employment throughout the communications and technology industries, especially at the upper ranks.  Likewise, our communities have a high level of need and demand for broadband services, yet huge gaps remain between the dollars invested in comparison with the general market.   ...Whether it is broadcast, cable, satellite, online, software, wireless or any other major communications or technology platform, we have much to do to bridge the divide between aspiration and implementation.”  -- FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Broadband Adoption and Access - "Although African-Americans have the perennial distinction of being among the heaviest consumers of mobile, Internet and social media services, we are woefully underrepresented when it comes to employment throughout the communications and technology industries, especially at the upper ranks.  Likewise, our communities have a high level of need and demand for broadband services, yet huge gaps remain between the dollars invested in comparison with the general market.   ...Whether it is broadcast, cable, satellite, online, software, wireless or any other major communications or technology platform, we have much to do to bridge the divide between aspiration and implementation.”  -- FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Sherrilyn Ifill, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund - "Today will be remembered as a step backward in the march toward equal rights. We must ensure that this day is just a page in our nation's history, rather than the return to a dark chapter." (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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The Supreme Court Decision and Voting Rights - “The Shelby decision is without question, devastating. It leaves voters of color unprotected from discriminatory voting measures in jurisdictions throughout the South (and other places of our country) where voting discrimination has been persistent and ongoing. Without the preclearance requirements of Section 5, jurisdictions are now free to adopt discriminatory voting practices.  The burden rests with voters—the victims of racial discrimination—and civil rights lawyers to file claims and challenge those practices in court.” – Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund  (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Black-White Income Gap - “In gross terms, the difference in median wealth between America’s white and African-American households has grown stunningly large.  …The dramatic increase in the racial wealth gap materialized and accelerated despite the country’s movement beyond the civil rights era into a period of legal equality.  We statistically validated five ‘fundamental factors’ that together account for two-thirds of the proportional increase in the racial wealth gap.  These include the number of years of home ownership; average family income; employment stability, particularly through the Great Recession; college education, and family financial support and inheritance." – Thomas Shapiro, professor of sociology and public policy, Brandeis University(Photo: JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images)