#eric tang

By Dr. Eric Tang, assistant professor of African and African diaspora studies
 at the University of Texas at Austin.

As a researcher, I can't help but be surprised by the stunned expressions of otherwise well-informed and civically engaged Austinites when they are presented with the hard facts. African Americans are the only major racial group in Austin experiencing a decline in population, which can be attributed to a multi-pronged assault on black life that is consistent with national trends but also unique to this city. As with the rest of the nation, the wealth gap between blacks and whites in Austin is at a near 30-year high. African American children are three times as likely to be removed from their families by the state's child welfare agencies as their white counterparts (though government studies prove that race is not a factor in determining whether a parent will abuse or neglect a child).

Austin schools are as racially segregated as any others in the region. But perhaps more shocking are the areas of racial inequality in which Austin and Travis County surpass national averages.

The black infant mortality rate in the United States is alarmingly high at 13.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to a rate of 5.6 deaths for whites. But in Austin, black infant mortality has climbed to as high as 20 in 1,000 in recent years while other racial groups have stayed at or below national averages. All told, black infant mortality in Austin is three times that of whites'.

Equally stunning are emerging statistics on HIV. Black men in Austin and Travis County have one of the highest per capita rates of HIV in Texas, trailing only behind Harris County. Sixty percent to 70 percent of the female HIV-positive population in Austin is composed of black women.

"The burden of death is (borne) greater by the African American community than any other community in Austin," said Shannon Jones, deputy director of Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services. Jones points to the lack of adequate access to public health services as a contributing factor.

As the crisis grows, community clinics in the most vulnerable areas, including Northeast Community Care Center, which serves a high concentration of black patients, are being shut down.

Taken together, the data is truly astounding. Suffice to say we haven't seen inequality like this since Jim Crow. That this should take place in a city consistently noted for being among the nation's "healthiest," "most liberal," "best places to raise kids" and "most sustainable" cities makes the situation all the more disturbing.

That yes, it is possible, to get a shirt and a pair of shorts for 93 cents.