On Race, the Silence Is Bipartisan

The New York Times
By DESMOND S. KING and ROGERS M. SMITH
Published: September 2, 2011

THE economic crisis in the United States is also a racial crisis. White Americans are hurting, but nonwhite Americans are hurting even more. Yet leaders in both political parties — for different reasons — continue to act as though race were anachronistic and irrelevant in a country where an African-American is the president.
In July, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent for whites, but 16.8 percent for blacks and 11.3 percent for Latinos. The Pew Research Center estimates that in 2009, the median household net worth was $5,677 for blacks, $6,325 for Hispanics and $113,149 for whites — down from $12,124, $18,539 and $134,992, respectively, in 2005.

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/03/opinion/on-race-the-silence-is-bipartisan.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y