Black Stats

African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century

Monique Couvson

With an introduction by Khalil Gibran Muhammad

An essential handbook of eye-opening—and frequently myth-busting—facts and figures about the real lives of Black Americans today

“As things are, our opinions upon the Negro are more matters of faith than of knowledge.” —W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Study of the Negro Problems” (1898)

There’s no defeating white supremacist myths without data—real data. Black Stats is a compact and useful guide that offers up-to-date figures on Black life in the United States today, avoiding jargon and assumptions and providing critical analyses and information.

Monique W. Morris, author of the acclaimed Pushout, has compiled statistics from a broad spectrum of telling categories that illustrate the quality of life and the possibility of (and barriers to) advancement for a group at the heart of American society. With fascinating information on everything from disease trends, incarceration rates, and lending practices to voting habits, green jobs, and educational achievement, the material in this book will enrich and inform a range of public debates while challenging commonly held yet often misguided perceptions.

Black Stats simultaneously highlights measures of incredible progress, conveys the disparate impacts of social policies and practices, and surprises with revelations that span subjects including the entertainment industry, military service, and marriage trends. An essential tool for advocates, educators, and anyone seeking racial justice, Black Stats is an affordable guidebook for anyone seeking to understand the complex state of our nation.

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Praise

“Black Stats is an important resource for anyone seeking a better understanding of the status of Black America.”

—Benjamin Todd Jealous, former president and CEO, NAACP

“Thank you, Monique Morris, for this gift of knowledge. Black Stats is a brilliant and needed work. We can no longer claim that we didn’t know the depth of our crises or the wealth of our resources and resilience available to counter them. Now that we have the data, we must use it strategically to move our people—the nation and this troubled world— forward.”

—Susan L. Taylor, founder and CEO, National CARES Mentoring Movement, and editor-in-chief emeritus, Essence Magazine

“Black Stats is a great tool offering descriptive statistics on the condition of our nation’s promise of freedom, justice, equality and economic opportunity for all.”