The California Endowment commissioned this report to highlight the most glaring inequities in socioeconomics, health, safety, and education faced by African-American and Latino men and boys in the state. In addition to presenting the statistics on these indicators, the authors outline a framework for addressing the disparities at the individual, community, and macro levels.
- Child poverty among African Americans in California is around 27 percent, compared to 8 percent for white children.
- The obesity rate in California is rising faster among African Americans than among whites.
- African-American youth are three times as likely nationally as white youth to witness a shooting, bombing, or riot and 2.5 times as likely in California to be the victim of child maltreatment.
- African-American students are twice as likely as white students to have been held back in school and 2.5 times as likely to be suspended.
- While macro-level factors like the natural environment or social norms may be hard to change, legal codes are modifiable and capable of producing great change in inequitable systems.
- Partnerships across institutions in a community have the potential to mobilize resources for a cause with increased efficiency and coordination.
Published by
- RAND Corporation