State of Black America report calls out extremist ideologies

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Students from the Atlanta University Center speak on a panel April 18, 2023, at the State of Black America event at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

Credit: Amanda Andrews / GPB News

Georgia leaders and student representatives from the Atlanta University Center gathered at Morehouse College on Tuesday to discuss the 47th State of Black America report . This year’s focus was on extremist ideology.

The National Urban League named this year’s report "Democracy in Peril: Confronting the Threat Within." It identifies five leading factors leading to inequality in the United States including hate crimes, censorship in education, hateful conspiracies, police brutality and divisive policies.

Greater Atlanta Urban League Director Nancy Flake Johnson said today's pushback against racial and economic progress is reminiscent of the beginning of the Jim Crow era.

“For all of the progress that Black Americans and our nation have made since the abolition of slavery and the dawn of the modern day civil rights movement, we must be clear that not only is that progress under extreme threat, our very freedoms, our liberties and our lives are at stake.

The Urban League of Greater Atlanta released the first State of Black Georgia report in March. Their report highlights similar issues with education, health and policing on a local level. The data showed 50% of the inmates in the Georgia Department of Corrections for 2021 were Black, when Black Georgians are only 32% of the state population.

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The event featured several speakers representatives from the Atlanta mayor’s office, the Urban League of Greater Columbus, and a panel of student leaders.

Morehouse junior Elijah Turner, who volunteers as a student organizer, spoke on the panel. He said discussions about social issues are more important than ever.

“We are seeing the older generation of the civil rights movement pass on the baton to the younger generation," Turner said. “And so the younger generation is in a unique period where they are figuring out exactly what is disruption when it comes out of protest.”

National Urban League President Marc Morial called for action including a ban on assault weapons and congressional passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.