A new report from the Applied Research Center concludes that long-term racial disparities “fed into the economic crisis.”
Seth Wessler, the report’s author and lead investigator, said:
Racial disparities in income leave communities of color making about 60 cents for every dollar earned by whites. This huge difference is a direct result of institutional policies and practices that collectively block people of color from opportunity.
An analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center found the American Dream has become a nightmare for minorities:
The boom-and-bust cycle in the U.S. housing market over the past decade and a half has generated greater gains and larger losses for minority groups than it has for whites, according to an analysis of housing, economic and demographic data by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. From 1995 through the middle of this decade, homeownership rates rose more rapidly among all minorities than among whites. But since the start of the housing bust in 2005, rates have fallen more steeply for two of the nation’s largest minority groups-blacks and native-born Latinos-than for the rest of the population.
The black middle-class is drowning in underwater mortgages. But a loan modification is no help to an unemployed distressed borrower. The national black unemployment rate is 15 percent.
President Barack Obama’s recovery plan is an economic lifesaver. So, there is growing concern that stimulus spending is not going to the neediest communities. CNN’s John King reported:
This is the heart of Alabama’s “Black Belt,” and Selma is a reminder that a recession that has punished so many across America has hit hardest in places that were already struggling.
King continued:
Selma would appear, in the short term, a perfect target for the Obama stimulus plan. Selma has a wish list of $40 million in projects, from street repairs and other infrastructure to help with the new riverfront development.
But not a dime has reached here yet.
An Associated Press survey similarly found:
The very promise that Obama made, to spend money quickly and create jobs, is locking out many struggling communities needing those jobs.
The money goes to projects ready to start. But many struggling communities don't have projects waiting. They couldn’t afford the millions of dollars for preparation and plans that often is required.
In a report to Obama, Vice President Joe Biden touted “significant progress” in the implementation of the recovery plan.
To tell the rest of the story about the impact of stimulus spending on you or your community, go here.
