Statistical Snapshot Shows Distress Of Charleston African-Americans

November 16, 2009

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - An in-depth look at census figures for African-Americans in Kanawha County shows sharp disparities along racial lines in West Virginia's largest city, Charleston, the county seat and state capital.

Rev. James Patterson, executive director of the Partnership of African-American Churches, which carried out the study, says they found African-Americans in the capital are three times as likely to be unemployed as whites, and that they have median incomes $10,000 a year below the figure for whites. And he says a stunning two-thirds of young African-American children in Kanawha County live in grinding poverty.

"The figures show that 69.7 percent of African-American children under five live in households with less then $10,000 per year. That's 69.7 percent."

Patterson says the report is based on three years of census data, from 2005 to 2007. He says the current situation may even be worse.

"It doesn't consider the latest downturn, and if whites sneeze, the African-American community gets pneumonia."

The study also found disparities in infant morality, life expectancy and school test scores. Patterson says that if anything it's the same or worse for African-Americans in other parts of the state. He says turning this around will require deep changes in state government policy, including an office to track the conditions for people of color.

Conservatives are often critical of government solutions for social problems, because they regard the programs as too intrusive.

Dan Heyman, Public News Service - WV