2024 State of Black America spotlights 1964 Civil Rights Act 60 years later

The National Urban League’s annual “State of Black America” (SOBA) is always one of the most highly-anticipated benchmarks and sources for thought leadership around racial equality in America. From 1976 to this present moment, the SOBA regularly explores inequities across economics, employment, education, health, housing, criminal justice, and civic participation systems through insightful research and penetrating commentary.

This year is more of the same… but different.

1964 Civil Rights Act

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been transformative in changing American life in a material way. Doors have been opened, and new access has been achieved. But the promise of full equality remains elusive.

For Black America, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first time that the United States government addressed the racial caste system that had been protected for centuries by unjust laws and systemic brutality of nonwhite people in this country.

Sixty years later, the fight for equality is far from over.

SOBA 2024

The SOBA 2024, “The Civil Rights Act of 1964: 60 Years Later,” paints a picture of American life before and after the passage of “America’s Magna Carta.” This year’s contributing authors use their experiences as elected officials, civil rights advocates, and esteemed academics to analyze the ways in which each title of the act created the nation we know today. They also unpack the threats to the freedoms protected by the law and share their perspective on strengthening civil rights protections for the 21st century.

“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 promised ‘a more abiding commitment to freedom, a more constant pursuit of justice, and a deeper respect for human dignity,” National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said. “Sixty years later, our ‘abiding commitment to freedom’ is undermined by discriminatory voter ID laws, gerrymandering, the shuttering of polling places in predominantly minority neighborhoods, limits on early voting, and reckless purging of voter rolls.

“Our ‘pursuit of justice’ is derailed by persistent racism in policing and sentencing, the dismantling of diversity and inclusion policies in employment and education, and lack of access to financial services, housing and healthcare. And our ‘respect for human dignity’ is called into question by an unraveling social safety net, a poverty-level federal minimum wage, and other economic policies that uplift the wealthy at the expense of working families,” Morial added.

2024 Equality Index

The 2024 Equality Index, the National Urban League’s semi-annual calculation of the social and economic status of African Americans relative to whites, is 75.7, an increase of 1.8% from the 2022 Index of 2022. Rooted in the Three-Fifths Compromise of 1787, which counted enslaved African Americans as “three-fifths” of a person, the Index would be 100% under full equality.

“In 20 years, the overall Equality Index has moved 2.7 percent,” Morial said. “At this rate, it will take another 180 years to achieve parity.”

This year’s report includes a special progress report on the Biden Administration’s commitment to racial justice. In 2020, Joe Biden became the first general election candidate to put forward a policy agenda for Black America, Lift Every Voice. Three years into his presidency, the National Urban League has evaluated his commitments and tracked his accomplishments and the business that remains unfinished.