Atlanta – Marc Morial, the National Urban League’s president and chief executive, considers black economic empowerment the new civil right and essential to bridging the continued gaps between black and white America.
It also is the theme for the 96- year-old civil rights and direct- services organization’s conference that starts in Atlanta today.
As the topic takes on greater emphasis in the civil rights movement, as well as in the black church, the pressure is on civil rights organizations to become more relevant to the needs of African-Americans.
They tend to be more educated and less concerned with achieving basic rights than previous generations, said William Boone, a Clark Atlanta University political scholar.
“They are trying to get their share of the American dream, which is an economic dream for a lot of folks,” Boone said.
Ronald Walters of the University of Maryland said that the Urban League’s direct social-services bent makes it the right group to take on the issue but that he wants to see a strong program.
“Saying economic empowerment doesn’t mean anything,” said Walters, a professor of political science. “At the end of the day, it’s what you tackle.”
The organization, based in New York City, got its start in 1920 helping black transplants from the South acclimate to the northern urban centers.
In 2003, Morial, a former New Orleans mayor and Louisiana lawmaker, became its eighth president and CEO, replacing Hugh B. Price. Economic empowerment is part of a five-point empowerment plan Morial put in place.
He also has developed an “Equality Index” to measure the statistical disparities in urban communities and has added it to its annual State of Black America report.
The Urban Entrepreneur Partnership, which provides private- and public-sector support for minority businesses’ growth, got its start under his watch. With a budget of $30 million, the league serves nearly 2 million through 100 affiliate chapters in 36 states, plus Washington, D.C.
Urban League officials acknowledge that visibility remains a problem for the organization. The group has been overshadowed by more vocal civil rights groups.
Clinton Dye Jr., Atlanta chapter president, said some have difficulty distinguishing the league from groups doing similar work. “We’re flying beneath the radar because we haven’t had enough resources to put into telling our story,” he said.
