Urban League at 100: Focus remains on jobs, education

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

Celebrating 100 years of service, the National Urban League begins its Centennial Conference this Wednesday focusing on jobs and education.

President and CEO of the National Urban League, Marc Morial, explains how the conference will tackle unemployment among African-Americans.

“We’ll lay out a 21st century blueprint for civil rights and economic opportunity, but we’re going to focus on a multi-prong approach when it comes to jobs,” Morial said.

WATCH MARC MORIAL DISCUSS UNEMPLOYMENT RATES FOR BLACKS
[NBCVIDEO source=”UNIWIDGET” video=”http://widgets.nbcuni.com/singleclip/singleclip_v1.swf?CXNID=1000004.08052NXC&WID=4a784acd2b1a7e80&clipID=1240691″ w=”400″ h=”400″]

Currently, the national average for unemployment is 10 percent. With whites experiencing 8.5 percent—which is below the national average—blacks are coping with a 14.8 percent unemployment rate nationwide.

Despite these statistical differences among blacks and whites, Morial says African-Americans must remain optimistic.

According to Morial, blacks have made much economic progress over the past 50 years, but he blames congressional filibusters for blocking opportunities for job creation.