Madison and Dane County are often highly regarded as top places to live in the United States in a variety of metrics and benchmarks. However, a survey of employers done by the African American-Jewish Friendship Group in the greater Madison area shows that this is not the reality for everyone in the area: African Americans are consistently not getting key advancements or promotions in employment and are underrepresented in multiple areas including businesses, government and education.

The African American-Jewish Friendship Group held a press conference at the Urban League of Greater Madison Sept. 21 where they unveiled data from the results of a year-long study the group had completed on the employment of African Americans in the greater Madison area. What they found is that Madison has much work to do in workplace diversity and equality and that immediate actions are needed to address these inequities. 

“Those of us who have been here for a long time, we have known about these disparities in this county, this community, in his state,” said Bill Greer, a member of the AAJF Group and the retired president and CEO of Journey Mental Health Center, “and so we knew that the numbers weren’t going to be positive, but I think we were surprised by how bad it is, particularly in the for-profit sector,” 

Another member, Dr. Richard Harris, is a long-time beloved Madison south side resident and the author of Growing Up Black in South Madison, where he describes his…