The Associated Press reports:

President Barack Obama should specifically address disparities in black unemployment, foreclosures, education and health care, the National Urban League says in its annual “State of Black America” report.Despite the progress represented by the election of the first black president, blacks are twice as likely to be unemployed, three times as likely to live in poverty and more than six times as likely to be incarcerated, says the report, which was being released Wednesday…

But “we have to be more specific,” said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the 99-year-old Urban League.

“The issue is not only (blacks) doing better, but in closing these persistent gaps in statistics in this country,” Morial told The Associated Press. “Our index shows that the gap in African-American status is about 71 percent that of white Americans. We will not rest until that number is at 100, and there is no gap.”

The 288-page report includes policy discussions and essays from academics, elected officials and average citizens. Among its 31 specific recommendations:

—Ensure that the stimulus package’s green job creation includes poor urban communities.

—Increase funding for job training and placement for disadvantaged workers.

—Guarantee full-day schooling for all 3 and 4 year olds.

—Expand the school day to account for working parents and families without nearby relatives to help with after-school care.

—Fund mortgage counseling and education programs for minorities…

In other words, the ’solution’ is more spending.

Now, African Americans indeed live in lesser conditions than whites, but that’s not because the government hasn’t given them enough handouts. To the contrary, even. They have received more government support than other minorites (and more than the majority), they are beneficiaries of affirmative action, etc. etc.

Instead of asking for more government ‘help’ – which has done more to destroy black communities and black families than either slavery or segregation I’d venture to say – African Americans should tell Washington “Stop helping us! Please!” Instead, they have to take matters in their own hands. Booker T. Washington was right to encourage fellow blacks to take care of their own emancipation, to work hard, and to improve themselves, rather than to ask the government to ‘raise them up.’ In the end, government often destroys more than it creates, especially when it becomes overly active, as happened with African Americans (and other minorities).