New documents on political and social issues

AMERICANS CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH
U.S. International Information Programs, February 2007
http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/history_geography_and_population/population_and_diversity/african_americans/African_American_History_Month.html
Originally established as Negro History Week in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson, a noted African-American author and scholar, this event evolved into the establishment of February as "Black History Month" in 1976. This commemoration also has been referred to as "African-American History Month."
Since 1926, the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History (ASALH) has established the national theme for the monthlong celebration. The National Theme for the celebration in the year 2007 is “From Slavery to Freedom: The Story of Africans in the Americas.”


NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
U.S. International Information Programs, February 2007
http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/history_geography_and_population/population_and_diversity/women_in_the_us/womens_history_month.html
The 2007 Women's History Month theme, “Generations of Women Moving History Forward”, celebrates the wisdom and tenacity of prior and future generations of women and recognizes the power of generations working together.


WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES
U.S. International Information Programs, February 2007
http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/history_geography_and_population/population_and_diversity/women_in_the_us.html
American women -- 152 million or 51 percent of the U.S. population -- increasingly are making their influence felt in all spheres of American life. And the month of March – National Women’s History Month – is a fitting time to measure the progress women are making in American society.


WOMEN OF INFLUENCE
U.S. International Information Programs, 2006
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/womeninfln/
This publication offers a glimpse at how women in the United States have helped shape their society. These notable women — from the Native-American Sacagawea, who guided white settlers through a vast wilderness, to Sojourner Truth, who fought for the end of slavery and equal rights for all; to Rosalyn Yalow, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her research into a new technique for measuring substances in the blood — believed that they had a contribution to make and did not shrink from the obstacles in their way. This account of their accomplishments is a reminder that all societies benefit from the talents and expertise of their women.

THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY: ASIANS 2004
U.S. Bureau of the Census, February 2007
http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/acs-05.pdf
The 2004 American Community Survey estimated the number of Asians to be 13.5 million, or 4.7 percent of the U.S. household population. The number of individuals who reported Asian as their only race was 12.1 million, or 4.2 percent of the population. About another 1.4 million reported their race as Asian and one or more other races, including 882,000 people who reported their race as Asian and White. The Asian-alone-or-incombination population included 328,000 Hispanics, and the Asian alone population included 142,000 Hispanics.

THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY: BLACKS 2004
U.S. Bureau of the Census, February 2007
http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/acs-04.pdf
This report presents a portrait of the Black or African-American population in the United States. It is part of the American Community Survey (ACS) report series. Information on demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics in the tables and figures are based on data from the 2004. The data for the Black population are based on responses to the 2004 ACS question on race, which asked all respondents to report one or more races.

THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY: HISPANICS 2004
U.S. Bureau of the Census, February 2007
http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/acs-03.pdf
The 2004 American Communityt Survey estimated the number of Hispanics to be 40.5 million, or 14.2 percent of the U.S. household population. Hispanics of Mexican origin, with a population of 25.9 million in the United States, were the largest Hispanic group. Mexicans accounted for 64 percent of the Hispanic population. Puerto Ricans (3.9 million) were the second-largest group and made up nearly 10 percent of the Hispanic population. The third-largest Hispanic group, Other Hispanic or Latino, numbered 2.7 million and accounted for nearly 7 percent of the Hispanic population..


UNION MEMBERSHIP
Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 25, 2007
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm
In 2006, 12.0 percent of employed wage and salary workers were union members, down from 12.5 percent a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The number of persons belonging to a union fell by 326,000 in 2006 to 15.4 million. The union membership rate has steadily declined from 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available.


UNIONS, THE ECONOMY, AND EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE
The Economic Policy Institute, February 22, 2007
http://www.sharedprosperity.org/bp181.html
The latest numbers indicate that 7.4% of working Americans in the private sector were union members in 2006 (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2007), compared to over 30% in 1960 (Greenhouse 2007). If you include government workers, then the numbers inch up to a still-meager 12%, which is down from 12.5% in 2005.