Black America gaining ground in some areas, losing traction in others

Published: 2007-03-02

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Three themes run through black America, according to the Rev. Robert Franklin: celebration of heroic individual and collective achievement; closure of persistent racial gaps in such areas as education and health; and anxiety about losing ground and "mobilizing to reverse negative trend lines." Rev. Franklin, author of the new book "Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities," believes there is much about which to be anxious. "Segments of the African-American population are indeed losing ground," he said, while other blacks argue whether individual responsibility is the best way to address this or whether government policy should be reshaped to address "systemic problems." Some of the issues, taken broadly, are so substantial as to be overwhelming, said Rev. Franklin, a Church of God in Christ minister who teaches social ethics at Emory University in Atlanta. Rev. Franklin, during a Feb. 20 forum on black America held at the National Press Club, called for black churches to use their "distinctly moral capital" to address the challenges facing black Americans.

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