To Fight Racial Inequality We Need To Rethink Our Economy

Consider these three facts. African-Americans in the U.S. are 6.4 times more likely than whites to be in jail. The black unemployment rate in the U.S. is consistently twice as high as white unemployment. An African-American person in the U.S. today can expect to die 3.5 years sooner than a white person.

These aren’t just numbers on a page, they are the outcome of policies and practices that create the systemic racial inequality pervading America today.

Last week, the Economic Policy Institute published a report, stating what many of us already know – that in the 50 years since the U.S. government took the decision to document segregation, poverty and racism in America, many of the problems identified half a century ago are still with us. Indeed, some have gotten worse.

In 1967, the U.S. had one of its most violent years ever. There were more than 160 urban rebellions recorded in the first nine months of the year alone. Cities from Alton, Illinois, to Ypsilanti, Michigan, were affected, and the larger disorders – in places like Detroit and Newark, New Jersey, – were some of the worst the nation had ever experienced.

Source: Huffingtonpost