The struggle for black citizens to obtain full civil rights has gone on for many decades since the Civil War. But along the way, there were signs of early progress and acceptance on the part of the majority white population. One such instance occurred on this date in 1886, when African-American Bishop Benjamin W. Arnett took his seat in the Ohio House of Representatives. He was the first black in the nation to be elected in a majority white district; he served one term. He was also Ohio’s first black foreman of an otherwise white jury. There are over 90,000 separate state and local governments in the U.S. and some 7,300 state level legislators. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at <www.census.gov>.
Sunday, January 5th. The business world was confronted with a new idea on this date in 1914, when Henry Ford announced that he would pay his workers a minimum wage of $5 a day, which is about 117 in current dollars. The idea eventually gained general acceptance, and in 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law a federally mandated minimum wage of 25 cents an hour. Currently, the hourly minimum wage is $7.25, although 21 states and the District of Columbia have rates higher than the federal standard. There are over 75 million hourly workers in the U.S., 3.5 million of them paid at or below the minimum wage. Households in the bottom 20 percent of income earn no more than $20,600 per year. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.
Saturday, January 4th. Early this month in 1790, President George Washington addressed a joint session of Congress to deliver the first State of the Union report, as called for the in the still young Constitution. The requirement didn’t demand a speech, and after delivering just one, President Thomas Jefferson began reporting in writing, feeling a speech was too magisterial. The spoken presentation was revived over a century later by Woodrow Wilson. Washington’s address has echoes to this day, as he stated “the terms on which foreigners may be admitted to the rights of citizens should be speedily ascertained by a uniform rule of naturalization.” The first U.S. census, taken just months later, counted a population of just over 3.9 million residents. Today’s foreign-born population in the U.S. is over 10 times that number. Profile America is in its17th year as a Public Service of the U.S. Census Bureau.