America's Demographic Changes

The Washington Post's Anushka Asthana has a terrific profile today of academic colleague William H. Frey of the Brookings Institution.

She writes: "Looking to 2026, Frey imagines a country that is even more diverse -- where many more people are bilingual and more road signs and products are labeled in English and Spanish. He imagines a country split by age, with older and younger states driven by different political interests."

She continues: "What will change going forward? In 10 years, minorities are expected to make up nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population, Frey says. Ten years after that, they will have a plethora of high-profile positions as members of Congress, judges and business leaders, he predicts."

It's a great article, and it's precisely the type of focus I bring the Ethnic Marketing course I teach for Master's degree students at Johns Hopkins University and the work I do through my marketing and media agency The 2050 Group.

Click [here] for the full article.

New Study on Hispanic Voter Turnout

According to today's Washington Wire column, compiled by John Harwood, in The Wall Street Journal:

"National Bureau of Economic Research study concludes Hispanic voter turnout rises as much as 10 percentage points in areas with local Spanish-language television news. "Television is quite capable of increasing civic engagement," write Joel Waldfogel and Felix Oberholzer-Gee, backing regulatory policies encouraging TV "localism."

The paper the WSJ references, published in June, can be found online [here].

This sounds like valuable research, yet it has a hint of activism behind it. I wonder how much voter turnout among Hispanic increased in those areas due to higher concentrations of Hispanic voters and the paid political advertising aimed at Hispanic voters. Plus, campaigns might be more likely to target these areas for ground campaign efforts aimed at increasing voter turnout. In effect, can the local Spanish-language TV news truly be segmented from these other possible factors? Read the report to find out.

Bush to Address NAACP Thursday

The Washington Post's Darryl Fears reports this morning that "After six years in office, President Bush has agreed to address the NAACP at its annual national convention in Washington, the White House announced yesterday. White House spokesman Tony Snow said the president will appear before the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group tomorrow after years of trading rhetorical jabs with its leadership."

So what's the significance of speaking to one of the most respected civil rights organizations in America? Fears puts it into context: "With the appearance, Bush will avoid becoming the first president since Warren G. Harding to snub the predominantly black organization throughout his term...The NAACP, founded in 1909, has had sufficient influence in black America to draw every president after Harding to its conventions, even as the group has been critical of some, including Republicans Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan and Democrats Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton."

Click [here] for the full article.

AP Reports NAACP's Gordon Calls for Black Boycott

The AP's Erin Texeira reports today, from the NAACP national convention, that the organization's president has called for a Black boycott of major retail outlets following a new survey of corporations' contracting and employment practices. See article [here].

While it is unclear whether African Americans consumers are likely to follow the advice of the NAACP on personal spending patterns (especially without evidence of blatant racism or discrimination), this issue is a reminder that corporations must always be conscious of their corporate responsibilities in many areas of their work, particularly as it relates to the communities they serve and the communities that are responsible for their record profits.

Many of the companies targeted by the NAACP have benefited from the explosive growth in spending power of minority groups in America.

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NAACP leader urges empowerment

By Erin Texeira, Associated Press

July 18, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Black Americans should end "victim-like thinking" and seize opportunities to help close the gap between the nation's rich and poor, NAACP President Bruce Gordon said Monday.

"We may not have all the power that we want, but we have all the power that we need," Gordon said. "All we have to do is believe it and use it."

Gordon's comments were part of his first keynote convention speech as head of the Baltimore-based civil rights group.

He urged members to keep pushing for reauthorization of expiring portions of the Voting Rights Act, which is scheduled for a vote this week in the Senate, and to improve voter turnout among blacks.

Gordon also said blacks shouldn't spend money with companies that don't hire them or advertise in their communities.

Even companies that make an effort to work with minority-owned businesses typically spend barely 5 percent of their contracting dollars with them, he said as his group released report cards on several industries.

The NAACP has graded corporations since 1997 on how well they work with blacks in employment, charitable giving, advertising, contracting and community service. This year, the civil rights group looked at the telecommunications, lodging, finance, retail and auto industries.

Most companies did best on charitable giving and community service, and worst on hiring and contracting. Gordon said the contracting numbers were "totally unacceptable."

For the second straight year, Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. received the highest grade of any company--a 3.5 out of a possible 4.0. The company pushes its managers to look for vendors and employees who are black, said Valencia Adams, a BellSouth vice president.

Of the 50 companies contacted by the NAACP, five ignored the survey, including four retailers: Dillard's Inc.; Kohl's Corp.; Sears, Roebuck and Co., and Target Corp. All were given Fs for not answering. The other company that failed to answer was Excel, a telecommunications company; it also received an F.

Gordon called on blacks to stop shopping at Target, in particular, until the retailer answered the NAACP's questions--though he stopped short of calling the action a boycott.

"They didn't even care to respond to our survey," he said. "Stay out of their stores."

The NAACP focused on Target because it's one of the most prominent national retailers, said John White, NAACP spokesman. However, the group does not plan to picket or leaflet Target, but will rely on word of mouth, he said.

A Target spokeswoman said via e-mail that the company opted out of the survey "because Target views diversity as being inclusive of all people from all different backgrounds, not just one group." The NAACP survey asks only about blacks.

The 97th annual meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People continues through Thursday.