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New data shows that, in a number of areas — teen pregnancy, violent crime and increasing gradation rates — black youths have made significant gains. Experts say it’s time that the perception matches the reality.

Black Teen Pregnancy And Violent Crimes Hit Historic Low

Via The Grio reports:

National teen pregnancy rates peaked in 1990 and have been falling ever since. They’re currently down 53 percent for 15- to 17-year-olds and 36 percent for 18- to 19-year-olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For black teens, pregnancy rates fell by 51 percent.

“The decline has been fueled by three factors: more teens are waiting to have sex; they also report fewer sexual partners and better use of contraception,” said Sarah Brown, CEO of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy in a recent report by the organization.

“In short, the credit for this remarkable national success story goes to teens themselves. Unfortunately, precious few adults are aware of this national success story,” she added. “In fact, nearly half of Americans incorrectly believe the teen pregnancy rate in the United States has increased over the past two decades.”

“There’s still a consistent, deficit-focused reporting around young people that supports a negative narrative,” says Khary Lazarre-White, executive director of youth organization The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. “I think that narrative persists because it’s a lot easier to talk about those things than focus on some of the systemic failures that foster these issues in general.”

Reducing teen pregnancy is but one area where black youths are making quiet progress. Between 1990 and 2012, high school graduation for blacks increased from 82 to 89 percent. During that same period, the percentage of blacks 25 to 29 years old who attained a bachelor’s degree or higher increased from 13 to 23 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

And despite the recent media clamor over the so-called “knockout game” and this year’s highly-publicized surge of killings in inner-city Chicago, violent crime against and by blacks has fallen sharply since the early 1990s, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. In fact, the number of blacks killed reached a high of 39.4 homicides per 100,000 in 1991. In years since, that number has been cut in half. Rates of violent crime committed by blacks also reached a high in 1991 and have been reduced by nearly 50 percent in years since.

What do you think of the gains within the African American community??

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