Despite political, social and economic advances by black Americans, racial disparities between blacks and whites persist in just about every measurable form:

-A typical black household makes just 62 percent of the income of a typical white household - a gap that has changed little in 30 years. In 2007, the median household income was $33,900 for black households and $54,900 for white households.

-Blacks are nearly three times as likely as whites to live in poverty. In 2007, 24.4 percent of blacks had incomes below the poverty line, compared to 8.2 percent of whites.

-Life expectancy among blacks is, on average, about five years shorter than it is for whites. In 2005, life expectancy at birth was 76.5 years for black women and 80.8 years for white women. Life expectancy was 69.5 years for black men and 75.7 years for white men.

- Whites are more likely to have college degrees than blacks. In 2007, 31.8 percent of whites 25 and older had college degrees, compared to 18.5 percent of blacks.

- Blacks are more likely than whites to be sentenced to prison, though incarceration rates for blacks have dropped in recent years even as they increased for whites. In 2006, black men had an incarceration rate of 3,042 per 100,000 residents, compared to a rate of 487 for white men.

- Blacks are less likely to have health insurance than whites. In 2007, 19.2 percent of blacks did not have health insurance, compared to 10.4 percent of whites.

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