What we're doing

Black, white equality? 'Not there yet'
September 10, 2003
BY GEOFFREY GRAYBEAL, The Herald-Sun

Opportunities for blacks in Orange County have improved nearly half a century after a U.S. Supreme Court decision put an end to racially segregated schools. But there are still many disparities between blacks and whites economically and in the quality of education and health care they receive.

That was the message speakers delivered at the "Fifty Years After Brown v. Board of Education" forum held Wednesday at the Friday Center.

"Overall, 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education blacks are faring pretty well in Orange County and the Triangle as a whole," said Keith Sutton, keynote speaker at the 14th annual Human Services Advisory Commission forum, sponsored in conjunction with the Orange County Commissioners.

Sutton is president and founder of the Triangle Urban League, whose 2003 report, "The State of the Black Triangle," was used as a foundation for the day's discussion.

While blacks in the county have made significant progress over the past few decades, said longtime Chapel Hill resident Howard Lee, a former state senator, mayor and current chairman of the state Board of Education, they are not yet where they need to be.

"There's a question that young children often ask on a long journey -- 'Are we there yet?'" Lee told an audience of around 200. "No, we're not there yet. We still have a long way to go."

Sutton noted that education is the "key in the doorway of opportunity for African-Americans," and that blacks remain disproportionately over-represented in those who get suspended or expelled from school or who are put in classes for those with learning disabilities.

He said that it would be interesting to see how merging the two school systems would work toward closing the achievement gap between black and white students and how merger would affect black leadership in the community and allocation of resources.

Sutton added that while UNC Hospitals provides excellent care, there are still significant health problems that exist in the black community, such as high rates of infant mortality, prostate cancer, diabetes, obesity and strokes.

The N.C. Office of Minority Health & Health Disparities recently released a "health disparities report card" that assigns letter grades for health disparity among black and whites.

For instance, blacks in North Carolina are 13 times more likely than whites to die of AIDS, a health disparity which received an F grade, while diabetes and infant mortality rates were graded D.

"Our message is if Ds and Fs are unacceptable in education they are unacceptable for health," said Barbara Pullen-Smith, the director of the minority health office.

Sutton said that more economic investment in housing, jobs and financial leadership is needed. He said that creating more jobs for blacks and the expansion of black-owned businesses are critical.

Sutton suggested UNC form more partnerships with historically black colleges and universities, create an investment fund to help start black businesses and that the medical school work collaboratively on regional health strategies.

Anissa Vines, associate director of UNC's Ethnicity, Culture and Health Outcomes program said it is committed to ending disparities and has a partnership with Shaw University.

ECHO supports the development of a "health disparities curriculum" and is committed to developing a more "culturally competent public health work force," Vines said.

During a discussion of economic matters, panelist Michelle Cotton Laws said that those issues undergird all the other problems, such as too many blacks in prison, high HIV and AIDS rates among blacks, lack of affordable housing and better mental health treatment.

"We must understand and recognize that the economic realities are definitely linked to all the others," said Laws, director and founder of Project LifeLine and a Chapel Hill Herald columnist.