Apartheid. USA 1988

[p. 69]

May 11, 1987:

Obviously, President Ronald Reagan has taken the criticism of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, that he paid little or no attention to American blacks during his seven year presidency seriously. He addressed a graduation class at Tuskegee University, one of the nation's oldest black educational institutions and stated, that if black Americans intended progressing socially and economically, they had to become part of the scientific and technical revolution. Mr Reagan further said, ‘great strides’ had been made over the last two decades in removing legal discrimination and that scientific skills were now essential to blacks becoming ‘independent and upwardly mobile’. The theme of technology ran through the President's day at Tuskegee, Alabama. ‘In his 25-minute speech, one of Mr Reagan's rare appearances before a predominantly black group’, reported Gerald Boyd in the Times, ‘he focused nearly entirely on black concerns, but did not respond directly to persistent criticism of his policies by black and civil rights groups.’ ‘Certainly, problems in the black community cannot be covered or ignored,’ said Mr Reagan, ‘yet rather than dwelling almost exclusively on the negative, let's make certain our children see stories of black successes and triumphs.’

In January the National Urban League, in its annual report ‘State of Black America’ asserted that blacks were victims of Reagan Administration politics that were ‘morally unjust’ and ‘economically unfair’. In his speech, the President did acknowledge that black unemployment was ‘far too high’ and ‘totally unacceptable’. He said, ‘Black employment has increased 1.8 million since 1980 and today, more black Americans are working than ever before and a higher percentage of the black workforce is employed than at any time this decade.’ The Times added that while the jobless rate for blacks fell slightly in April, to 13 percent, it was still more than double the rate for whites, which was 5.4 percent. Also, the American Council on Education recently

[p. 70]

said that members of minority groups now make up 21 percent of the American population, but only constitute 17 percent of college enrollment. Even enrollment at Tuskegee University steadily declined and now stands at 3 300. Between 1976 and 1984 the percentage of blacks enrolled in American colleges and universities came down from 9,4 percent to 8,8 percent, instead of going up, as was to be expected.^96.

96. The New York Times, frontpage report by Gerald M Boyd