Known nationally as a liberal enclave and regularly named one of the most livable cities in the United States, Madison still struggles with wide disparities between blacks and other racial groups when it comes to educational attainment, economic well-being and other factors, a report has found.

"The State of Black Madison 2008: Before the Tipping Point," released Tuesday by the Urban League of Greater Madison and representatives from five other local groups, draws on existing data to illustrate gaps between blacks and the community at large in six areas: experience in the criminal justice system, economics, education, health care, housing and political influence.

"It's certainly not the south side of Chicago yet," said Urban League president and CEO Scott Gray, speaking of the potential for an enduring underclass in Madison. "But it could grow into a problem. For the black community, it's starting to tip that way."

That blacks in Dane County are 13 times more likely to be newly incarcerated than the rest of the population or that blacks are about 20 percent less likely to have a high school diploma are evidence of these gaps, which most Madisonians are "absolutely not" aware of, said Kenneth Black, president of 100 Black Men of Madison.

"It's a great town for them and not so great for the African-American community," he said. "There are some shortcomings."

In some areas, the differences were starker in Madison than nationally, although blacks also tended to do better as a group on some measures than blacks nationwide, according to the report. It's also clear that Madison as a whole ranks better on measures such as educational attainment and employment rate, which exacerbates disparities with the black population.

"This is a town where you have to have more than even a college degree to get a job," said Gray.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the report "identifies some very important issues in the community" and pointed to the city's efforts to help support the creation of the Urban League's new work force development center at the Villager Mall and black and Latino business organizations.

He agreed many residents will likely be surprised at how wide some of the gaps are, and said, "We can't think of ourselves as a successful community unless everyone has an opportunity to share in that success."

Gray said the groups' next steps are to reach out to political, educational and business leaders and to convene a summit of black community leaders to discuss the problems and come up with strategies for solving them.

He was hopeful the city will respond.

"Madison is a relatively ... small city and you can get your arms around these issues," he said.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT

From "The State of Black Madison 2008: Before the Tipping Point," based on data reported in recent years:

CRIME: Blacks in Dane County were 13 times more likely to be newly incarcerated than the population as a whole in 2002.
ECONOMICS: A larger percentage of Dane County's black population lived in poverty in 2000 than did the nation's black population.
EDUCATION: Almost a third of black students in the Madison School District were in special education programs.
HEALTH CARE: Blacks in Dane County are 10 times as likely to rely on government-provided health insurance than the population at large.
HOUSING: There was less racial disparity in Dane County than in the nation as a whole in 2000 when it comes to home values.
POLITICAL INFLUENCE: A little less than 60 percent of black Madison voters cast ballots in the 2004 presidential election. Almost 75 percent of the community as a whole did.