By: Marc H. Morial
President and CEO
National Urban League
In light of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday celebration, USA Today recently asked
me about the future of the civil rights movement half a century or so after it began. I
told the paper the role of the National Urban League and other civil rights groups was
evolving to cater to the younger generation, which possesses no memories of a
struggle born well before they were.
Today's youth are looking for something different than their parents and grandparents.
This is evident in the giving patterns of young minorities, who are more likely to believe
that the key to greater equality is greater access to financial power than political power.
According to the City University of New York's Center on Philanthropy and Civil
Society, they are more interested in gaining access to Wall Street than marching on
Washington. They also tend to support nonprofits that emphasize individual attainment
and employ a business model of operation.
Instead of fighting for basic rights guaranteed to Americans, we are now fighting for our
economic future. There is no doubt that African Americans have made great progress
in surmounting past challenges and thriving in the 21st century: Our quality of life has
improved as has our future.
In 1960, 20.1 percent of blacks graduated from high school, which was a little less than
half the percentage of whites. Now, 81.1 percent hold high-school degrees or higher
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