Marc Morial, CEO of the National Urban League: Talks at GS Session Highlights

Demographic Shifts and Regional Disparities

• Barack Obama carried a majority of the white vote in 12 states during his first term and 10 during his second; however, he barely reached double digits in white voting populations in traditional Southern states (South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana).
• Ferguson, Missouri, underwent a rapid demographic transformation from 70% white in 1990 to 70% African American by 2010, while its governmental leadership and service institutions failed to evolve alongside the population.
• Mark Morial argues that without significant demographic diversification in the workforce by 2019, institutions risk excluding "the best and the brightest."

National Urban League (NUL) Structure and Mission

• Founded in 1910, the NUL is a historic civil rights organization distinct for combining direct services with policy advocacy.
• The organization operates through a network of 90 on-the-ground affiliates in urban communities.
• Service Scale:
  • Serves several hundred thousand young people annually through after-school programs.
  • Provides housing, financial literacy, and job training to approximately 100,000 individuals yearly.
  • Offers free consulting services to about 12,000 businesses annually via "Entrepreneurship Centers," including collaboration with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program.
• Research and Data:
  • Publishes an annual "State of Black America" report and the "Equality Index," developed in partnership with Wharton econometrics (now IHS).
  • The Equality Index tracks 300 data sets comparing White, Black, and Latino populations across metrics including life expectancy, unemployment, and business formation.
  • Current data indicates African Americans hold 71-72% of the status of Whites, and Latinos hold 75%, a metric that has changed "glacially" over the last decade.

Historical Context and Public Opinion

• A 1963 Gallup poll revealed Martin Luther King Jr. had a 70-80% disapproval rating among White Americans and 40% among Black Americans at the time of the March on Washington.
• The civil rights movement shifted tactics in the 1950s from litigation-based strategies (e.g., Brown v. Board of Education) to non-violent resistance and disobedience inspired by Gandhi.
• Morial posits that public perception of racial progress is bifurcated: a subset believes the playing field is level, while another believes conditions are worse than in the 1950s and 60s; he asserts both extremes are incorrect.

Economic and Corporate Imperatives for Diversity

• Corporate engagement in race relations is driven by economics, specifically the need for a wider talent net in a changing global workforce.
• Leading institutions face reputational risks and potential impacts on employee morale if they fail to address diversity, inclusion, and evolving public opinion.
• Morial identifies diversity at all levels as essential to American economic competitiveness and the sustainability of civic institutions.