The State of Black Georgia: Urban League of Greater Atlanta releases report

(ATLANTA, Ga.) — The Urban League of Greater Atlanta has released its report into the State of Black Georgia. Their research offers explanations and insight into the phenomena of generational poverty, how Black Georgians interact with the criminal justice system, and the disparities of health conditions between race.

In a foreword included in the report, President Nancy Flake Johnson says “The leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors who are working with us all agree that racial oppression and poverty work against the common good and our society as a whole. And that if we don’t fix these problems, we will leave a weakened state and nation for the next generations. Inaction now will exacerbate the social and economic challenges that are being driven by the widening racial wealth gap.”

Some of the details included in the report’s overview are:

The percentage of Georgia Black students failing to read at a third-grade level was 36%, a 25% increase over the pandemic.
Georgia’s Black population sits at 32%, while the Georgia Department of Corrections reports 50% of inmates admitted in 2021 were Black.
Redistricting in the State of Georgia weakens the political strength of Black Georgians.
Ranking first among the issues facing the State of Georgia is economic, housing, and transportation conditions.

The report focuses on six major urban areas: Albany, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and Savannah. In addition, there are essays about economic conditions, affordable housing, and health conditions.

Near the end of the report is a series of steps, calls to action, that residents of Georgia could take to address some of the major issues outlined.

Methodology, sources, and other information about how the report was compiled are available in the report itself.