The State of Black Oregon was published today by the Urban League of Portland for the first time in 17 years. The report contains a stark inventory of statistics that show a persistent gap in living standards between black and white Oregonians – a gap that is growing wider as a result of the current economic downturn.

"During the last eight years, the poverty gap in America and in this state has continued to grow," says Marcus C. Mundy, president and CEO of the Urban League of Portland. "If there's a poverty gap for Americans generally, the African-American poverty gap widens to chasm proportions. This flies in the face of the ideals our country stands for, and simply should not be acceptable here in Oregon or anywhere else."

This report was funded by: Oregon Community Foundation (Northwest Area Oregon Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation), Northwest Health Foundation (Kaiser Permanente Fund at the Northwest Health Foundation), Oregon Community Foundation, (Janette G. Drew Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation), and the City of Portland, Office of Neighborhood Involvement, Diversity and Civic Leadership Program.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 7:15 am and is filed under Children and Youth, Community Foundations, Economic Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.