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[[image - logo of the National Urban League]]

NUL RELEASES 'STATE OF BLACK AMERICA' JACOB CALLS FOR NATIONAL EMERGENCY

Washington, D.C.: The President and the Congress were urged today by John E. Jacob, President of the National Urban League, to declare a "state of national economic emergency" as a positive step toward meeting the economic crisis now gripping the country.

What the nation needs at this time, Mr. Jacob said, is "a bipartisan
program of national economic recovery, with special attention to the needs not only of the so-called new poor, but also of the disadvantaged who have traditionally suffered discrimination and poverty."

Further, he called for the implementation of a Universal Employment and Training Program that would guarantee jobs and training for all, and "would combine public works, improved public services, partnership with the private sector and a creative industrial policy."

Mr. Jacob's remarks were made as he released the NUL's annual assessment of the status of blacks, "The State of Black America-1983", at a press conference at Howard University.

Now in its eight year of publication, "The State of Black America" provides a broad overview of the changing conditions of black Americans during the preceeding calendar year and focuses special attention on a number of critical areas having to do with the nature of the condition of blacks. The areas examined in this year's publication include the economic status of blacks, the status of black women, blacks in white colleges and universities, black business, the mental health of blacks, blacks in the military, blacks in the political arena and the changing demographics in Black America.

In each of the areas-with the exception of the military and black political involvement-blacks were shown to have lost considerable ground over the past year with much of the loss attributed to the economic and domestic policies of the Administration.

Describing the present status of blacks, Mr. Jacob recalled their status last year when "The State of Black America" report was issued and said:

"That terrible situation intensified over the past 12 months. The state of black Americans has become more desperate. The ranks of the black poor sharply increased. About half a million more adult blacks are jobless, our employment rate is now 25% higher than it was at this time last year. Millions of poor people have been forced off the welfare rolls, off the food stamp rolls, off nutrition, school lunch and health programs."

He added:

"Our nation's economic and social policies are like the runaway Soviet Cosmos satellite-fragmented, out of control, and dangerous."

Documentation for Mr. Jacob's analysis of the current status of blacks is contained within the eight papers appearing in "The State of Black America-1983". Covering a wide variety of subject areas the papers were prepared for the NUL by distinguished experts in their fields.

For example, Dr. David H. Swinton, Director, The Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy, writing on "The Economic Status of the Black Population", says:

"Previous experience makes it clear that the current recession will exacerbate racial economic inequality. It will further erode black income and increase black poverty and dependency on welfare. Moreover, in view of the cuts that have been made in government budgets for programs to aid the poor and needy in the last few years, the impact of the recession has probably been even more devastating for low and moderate income blacks. The recovery will be slow at best, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of blacks will never again regain their pre-recession status."

Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Harvard, writing on "The Mental Health Status of Blacks-1983", comments:

"Overall, recent reports show increasing instances of serious (non-clinical) psychological depression among all segments of the black population, but particularly among those with broken marriages, those not employed outside the home, those with lower incomes, and the less well-educated.

"It is clear that black Americans are at high risk for maladaptation, behavioral disabilities, and mental illness throughout their life cycles. There appear to be no safety nets that protect the health or psyche of the Afro-American from institutional racism, poverty, high unemployment and a stagnant economy."

In her paper "The Economic Status of Black Women", Dr. Barbara A.P. Jones, Professor of Economics, Clark College, concludes:

"Black women are indeed the poorest of the major race-sex groups in American society. In addition, they head the poorest of poor families. They have the lowest average income both absolutely and relatively... The over supply of trained black women eager to work results in employers being able to fill positions at lower rates than would prevail if the jobs were filled by men or white women. In that sense,

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