JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Is racism a problem in the "River City"? About 50-percent of both blacks and whites say it is. And it's the first time almost the same percentage from both races agreed. "This year the white responses are just about the same, if not a little bit higher, than the black responses, said JCCI Vice President Laura Lane.
The Jacksonville Community Council releases its race relation study every year. This year, some of the biggest disparities were in levels of unemployment and education. The results show that there are 54-percent more unemployed black people than there are white.
"The unemployment rate is unequal. There is a huge disparity there," said Lane. The results also show that there are only about half as many black people in Jacksonville with a bachelors degree than there are whites.
But there is some good news. The number of minors going into the juvenile justice system is going down for all races. "It's actually decreasing faster among black youth," said Lane.
This year the study isn't just being published. It is now also an exhibit at the Museum of Science and History. "There are lots of multi-media components. There are interactive kiosks. There is a lot of text to read," said MOSH Executive Director Maria Hane.
Whether you get the information from MOSH or JCCI's web site, organizers say it will take all of us to improve race relations. "Inequality stifles us and prevents us from going forward as an entire city," said Lane.
"What I hope people leave MOSH with is that there is one race, the human race," said Hane.
You can read the entire JCCI Race Relation Progress Report
here. And you can learn more about MOSH's race exhibit
here.
