Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were called in for crowd control outside the Trax shoe store on Wilkinson Blvd. Friday, December 23, 2011. More than 100 people lined up to buy the re-released Air Jordan XI Concord shoes. Todd Sumlin - tsumlin@charlotteobserver.com

It's been hard to miss the news footage — shown over and over and over again — of crowds made up of mostly African American shoppers stampeding stores to snatch up the latest version of the Air Jordan sneaker (Retail: $175).

Call it consumerism, greed or misplaced values. Whatever you call it, the recent images got us to thinking about a few other places we’d like to see black people queuing up:

1. The Voting Booth: In 2008, the gap between black and white voters vanished as people of all colors flooded the polls to elect Barack Obama president. Black, Hispanic and Asian voters made up nearly a quarter of the electorate, setting a record, according to the Pew Research Center. Of course, we all know what happened two years later when we stayed home in large numbers.

2. Theaters and Museums: Whites are more than twice as likely as African Americans to report attending a classical music concert, an operatic performance or a musical theater production, says the National Endowment for the Arts. Those differences tend to fade — but don’t disappear — when education is factored in. One area where blacks stood out: jazz concerts.

3. Colleges and Universities: The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education reports that 18.5 percent of all blacks over the age of 25 now have a four-year college degree. In contrast, 31.8 percent of white adults have earned a bachelor’s degree. Forty-six percent of black women who enter college graduate, compared with 35 percent of black men.

4. Doctors’ Offices and Fitness Centers: “Striking.” That’s how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe the health disparities between African Americans and other racial groups. In 1999, the average American could expect to live 77.8 years, but for African Americans the average was only 73.1 years. The CDC cites systemic discrimination and lower access to healthcare, but it also notes violence, substance abuse and high-fat diets.

5. Church: It’s hard to call for improvement when you’re clearly No. 1. Opinion polls consistently show that black Americans are the most religious people in the nation (as measured by church attendance and a professed belief in God). Still, we found one area for potential growth — black men. While only 9 percent of black women said they were unaffiliated with any religion, that number climbed to 16 percent for black men.

Area mall shoppers squabble over Air Jordan shoes

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