Lawmakers vow to aid African Americans

A group of lawmakers announced an effort Wednesday to put more African American Californians to work, bring healthier food to inner-city neighborhoods and better prepare students for college.

Armed with a new study showing that the overall well-being of blacks lags behind that of other Californians, members of the Legislative Black Caucus vowed to make sure that some of the $43 billion in public works bonds passed by voters last year be used to hire workers in high-unemployment neighborhoods.

They also said they want to require schools to tell parents what courses their children must take to qualify for college, increase the number of school counselors, make it easier for ex-felons to get jobs and improve the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in places dominated by convenience stores and fast-food restaurants.

“We have said we will not stop until we see everyone get better, and that’s what today is about,” said Assemblywoman Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) at a Capitol press conference to unveil the report.

The Legislature this year includes nine black members, a historic high, and each is expected to offer at least one bill inspired by the new report, called “The State of Black California.” Proposals mentioned Wednesday included down payment assistance for home buyers, support for school-based clinics where uninsured children could get basic medical help and increased vocational training for prison inmates.

Several caucus members noted that the legislation would be colorblind. “All Californians who find themselves unemployed or underemployed will benefit,” said Assemblyman Sandre Swanson (D-Alameda).

Using 2000 census data, the report shows that blacks -- who make up less than 7% of California’s population -- lag behind whites, Latinos and Asians in income, housing quality, health and education. Blacks are also more likely to be felons and homicide victims.

The study found, for example, a median household income of $35,000 for blacks, compared with $55,000 for Asians, $54,000 for whites and $37,000 for Latinos. Homeownership rates for blacks in 2000 were 39% compared with 65% for whites. Life expectancy rates were 72 years for blacks, 84 for Asians, 83 for Latinos and 77 for whites.

Only 25% of black high school students complete the courses needed for entrance to the University of California or California State University systems, compared with 41% of white students. Black students dropped out of high school at higher rates than white students: 22% compared with 8%.

“The lack of respect and dignity for African American families in California is astounding,” Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said at the press conference. “The entire Democratic caucus is committed to removing the barriers of inequality that stand in the way of the African American community in our state.”

The report does not capture data that would reflect the accomplishments of black Californians over the last few decades, said Assemblywoman Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), who led the 1 1/2 -year effort to publish it with $20,000 from Southern California Edison and additional funds from the nonprofit California Endowment.

But Bass noted that the researchers, Michael A. Stoll of the Center for the Study of Urban Poverty at UCLA and Steven Raphael of the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, found greater civic participation among blacks than among other Californians. The researchers measured civic engagement through military enrollment, union membership and English fluency.

“Although a lot of times we criticize ourselves over our apathy, we’re not apathetic; we’re involved,” said Bass, a member of the black caucus.

Tommy Ross, a Southern California Edison vice president for regional affairs who helped launch the report, said future studies would examine why there is such a disparity for black Californians on key measures of well-being.

“ ‘The State of Black California’ report is not the culmination of a process,” he said. “It is merely a foundation from which we will launch strategies that will improve the lot of African Americans in the state.”

nancy.vogel@latimes.com