Editorials
Monday, September 9, 1996
Encouraging progress
by blacks in education
DESPITE all the dismal reports about the inner cities and the despair of the black underclass, blacks overall are making progress toward equality. A new and quite remarkable indicator of that progress is a Census Bureau report that young blacks for the first time are receiving high school diplomas in roughly the same proportion as young whites.
The report found that 86.5 percent of blacks aged 25 to 29 held high school diplomas in 1995, compared with 87.4 percent of whites. The report was based on a survey of 55,000 households, and bureau officials said the margin of error made the figures statistically equivalent. Nor does this improvement for blacks appear to be the result of schools promoting unqualified students. Since 1970, black students have made more progress than whites in raising their scores on standardized tests.
To be sure, the new report does not mean that the educational gap between blacks and whites has been entirely closed. It remains true that a larger proportion of whites than blacks graduate from college. Partly for this reason, there is still a wide disparity in income between blacks and whites. Earnings of blacks compared to whites have improved over the last two decades, but only slightly - from 70 percent of white earnings in 1974 to 74 percent in 1994.
A more disturbing finding of the report is that Hispanic adults age 25 to 29 lagged further behind both whites and blacks in education than previously. This is variously explained as the result of a large number of immigrants with low educational levels, lack of special language training, inadequate school resources and low expectations of school officials.
Problems of Hispanic students clearly require more attention. But the main message of this report is one of progress by blacks. Their reaching equality with whites in high school diplomas is impressive and heartening.
Nuclear test treaty
WHEN India vetoed the proposed nuclear test-ban treaty last month at a conference in Geneva after two years of negotiations, it appeared that the treaty was dead. India, fearing nuclear attack from Pakistan or China and reluctant to abandon its own nuclear weapons program, objected that the draft treaty did not require countries with nuclear arsenals to dismantle them. Now, however, hope for approval of the treaty has been revived.
Threat of retaliation
BATTLING terrorism is a continuing struggle. The conviction of a Muslim extremist and two other men on charges of plotting to blow up a dozen U.S. airliners should put them behind bars for life, but the rulings could lead to further incidents.
Terrorists must be prosecuted vigorously, and every effort must be made to protect airliners and their passengers. Anything less would amount to surrender.
The Marcos jewels
THE Philippine government plans to auction off $12 million in jewelry once worn by former first lady Imelda Marcos. The proceeds are to be used to assist landless peasants.
By most standards, that $12 million is a lot of money. However, it is only a drop in the bucket of the $22 billion judgment recently levied against the Marcoses by a Honolulu jury.
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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor