How has life changed for black Americans?

Snapshot: 50 years of progress for Black Americans U.S. black population 20.7 million 44.5 million (latest figures – 14.2 percent of the total population) Undergraduate students 234,000 2.6 million (latest figures) College graduates (those who earned at least a bachelor's degree) 365,000 5.1 million (latest figures) [Fifty years ago], it was virtually unheard of for African-American students to U attend most state or private colleges in the U.S. Students of color [now have the option to] attend whatever university they wish, and that significant change is a template for the change in this country. -Everette Freeman, EdD, president of the Community College of Denver and a member of the University of Phoenix board of directors Business owners 187,602 The number [of African-American- owned businesses] grew about 60 percent from 2002 to 2007, [but] 1.8 million of those businesses have no employees. They aren't mom and pop -they are mom or pop. (earliest figures) 1.9 million The fastest-growing segment of all business entrepreneurs is black women, "who are doing better in general than overall African- American business owners." (latest figures) - Ron Busby, MBA, president and CEO of U.S. Black Chambers Inc. Senior executives SO Fortune 6 Fortune 500 CEOS 500 CEOS (about 800 senior executive positions) Living below the poverty line Median income 41.8% $24,332 E$40,495 (earliest figures) (in 2011 dollars) 27.6% (latest figures) (latest figures) The next 50 years need to be about economic empowerment. MLKand others laid out the blueprint, and if you listen to MLK's last [sermon], he talked about that. But this next generation of leaders and individuals need to execute it. - Ron Busby, MBA, president and CEO of U.S. Black Chambers Inc. Elected officials 1,469 10,500 (earliest figures) (latest figures) With restrictive voting laws loosened, African-Americans started to find success in elective politics, beginning in 1966, when Edward Brooke became the first black person elected to the U.S. Senate. One year later, Carl Stokes made history when he was elected mayor of Cleveland, the first black mayor of a major U.S. city. And in 2008, Barack Obama became the first black U.S. president. The U.S. Census Bureau collected demographic statistics for a special report coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s"I Have a Dream' speech. The Census's Survey of Business Owners collects data every five years, and started in 1972. The first year poverty statistics that were available afterpassage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was 1966. Data on elected officials are collected by The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonprofit think tank. University of Phoenix» Designer: Naureen Soira | Writer: Eliot Smith | January 17, 2014