A new report finds that while people of color support
Democrats in the voting booth, they are still waiting for policies
and programs that close the economic gap between them and whites.
The report by United
for a Fair Economy studied the economic proposals in the US
House Democrats’ first 100-hours agenda, which are designed
to help those on the lower rungs of America’s economic ladder.
The report found that, in general, the 100-hour agenda does not
address the race gap. It says that to do so would require adding
affirmative action elements and other more targeted methods of reaching
Blacks and Latinos to the proposed legislation.
“It’s great that the new leadership in
Congress is bringing renewed focus to lifting more people out of
poverty, but they will have to do much more to close the racial
economic divide that still exists almost 40 years after the civil
rights movement,” said Meizhu Lui, co-author of the report
and executive director of United for a Fair Economy. “African
Americans, the Democrats’ most loyal supporters, should expect
more in hour 101 and beyond.”
The report found that while the number of Blacks and
Latinos who will benefit is disproportionately higher than whites
for the minimum wage increases and college loan interest rate reductions
contained in the plan, this is only because they are disproportionately
over-represented among those working at or below poverty level and
among those with few assets and resources to pay for college. In
the case of prescription drugs and alternatives to oil, the changes
may benefit proportionally more whites than people of color.
According to the report, the number of Blacks and
Latinos assisted by the proposals is positive, but the impact of
the assistance will not change the relative economic inequities
among the races.
In addition, the report found that:
- Two of the proposals – increasing the minimum
wage and decreasing college loan interest rates – provide
some economic support to low-income Blacks and Latinos. But not
only are their numbers higher in the lower-income and lower-asset
tiers of our economy, their unemployment rates are rising and
their college enrollments are falling due to the skyrocketing
cost of a college education.
- The Medicare drug coverage proposal helps only
middle-income Blacks and Latinos, whose numbers are small relative
to the overall population.
- The investment in alternative energy proposal
offers the promise of high-wage jobs, but would not help Blacks
and Latinos much since they are under-represented among those
receiving advanced degrees in math and science and among those
residing in the Midwest, where the ethanol industry is based.
- The minimum wage proposal of three 70-cent increases
during the next two years is inadequate. Even if the same increase
of 70 cents were approved every single year after that, a minimum
wage worker, supporting a family of three, still would not rise
above the poverty level until 2013.
- The college loan proposal, which saves a typical
college student $5,600 in total, will not help African American
and Latino students as much as white students. Black families
have only 15 percent of the wealth of white families, resulting
in less capacity to handle debt. Moreover, Black college graduates
on the average earn half as much as the overall population of
college graduates over their lifetimes, making college debt burdens
more onerous for non-whites.
The report is the fourth in a series of “State
of the Dream” reports published annually for Martin Luther
King Day. The previous reports are available for free download from
the website, FairEconomy.org.
United for a Fair Economy is a national non-partisan,
non-profit organization that raises awareness of the dangers of
growing economic inequality. It recently published the award-winning
book, The Color of Wealth, The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth
Divide (The New Press, 2006).
Download the Full
Report (PDF file, 724 Kb)
Download a two-page Fact
Sheet with Summary and Key Findings (PDF file, 124 Kb) |