(March 26, 2009) As the entire country observed the historic election of President Barack Obama amid one of the worst economic crises this nation has ever seen, these are the 'best of times and the worst of times' for black America.

The National Urban League, today, released the State of Black America (SOBA) 2009 report which shows that while the entire country is hurting during these tough economic times, African-Americans are disproportionately hurting worse.

The annual State of Black America report is a barometer of conditions for African-Americans in the United States. It includes the National Urban League's Equality Index, a statistical measurement of the disparities between blacks and whites across five categories: economics, education, health, civic engagement and social justice.

This year's report shows an overall slight decline in the status of blacks as compared to whites, moving from 71.5 percent in 2008 to 71.1 percent in 2009. The only sub index that increased over the past year was in health at about 1.1 percentage points. This was largely because the gap narrowed for those without health insurance. More. . . .

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