A Chicago Sun Times article, headlined “The disappearing black middle class,” reports on the disproportionate effect of these hard economic times on blacks. According to the data, taken from the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, median net worth of white households fell from $134,280 in 2004 to $97,860 in 2009, while over the same period median black household net worth went from $13, 450 to $2,170.

The national unemployment rate stands at 9.2 percent, while black unemployment is over 16 percent.