Elise Gould at the Economic Policy Institute writes—Racial gaps in wages, wealth, and more:
Black-white wage gaps are larger today that they were 35 years ago. For both men and women who work full time, the regression adjusted racial wage gap has widened since 1979. The figure below shows that, relative to the average hourly wages of white men with the same education, experience, metro status, and region of residence, black men make 22.0 percent less, and black women make 34.2 percent less. [...]
Over the last few years, the labor market has been steadily improving, and the unemployment rate for all population sub-groups has fallen steadily. However, as has historically been the case, the black unemployment rate today (7.8 percent) remains nearly twice as high as the white unemployment rate (4.3 percent). And, black workers can’t educate themselves out of racial disparities in labor market performance. The unemployment rate for black college graduates sits at 4.0 percent, compared to 2.6 percent for white college graduates. Furthermore, average wages for white college graduates are far higher ($31.83 per hour) than average wages for black college graduates ($25.77).
The black-white wealth gap is larger than the wage or income gaps. Median white wealth ($134,000) is 12 times higher than median black wealth ($11,000). And, 27 percent of black households have zero net worth (or less), while only 9 percent of white household do. In other words, black Americans face particular difficulties in trying to get ahead themselves or helping their children get ahead—in achieving the elusive American dream.
Housing discrimination and housing segregation play an important role in the ability of black households to gain wealth. In an important forthcoming book(previewed in this poignant article), Richard Rothstein documents the evidence that the government did more than merely ignore discriminatory practices in the residential housing market for decades even after World War II, but actually promoted them. On top of housing discrimination writ large, environmental racism remains ever-present, exemplified by the disproportionate incidence of lead poisoning in poor and minority communities, which is proven to significantly affect health, future economic wellbeing, and even crime rates. [...]
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
TWEET OF THE DAY
HIGH IMPACT STORIES • TOP COMMENTS
BLAST FROM THE PAST
At Daily Kos on this date in 2003—War opposition still increasing:
Yet another poll is showing increased opposition to Bush's new war in Iraq. The USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll has opposition at 43 percent, up from 38 percent Jan 10-12. Actual support from the invasion is at 52 percent.
Of course, those numbers could move over to the "support" column if either the US or UK present evidence of Iraqi non-compliance. As of yet, all we're hearing is the same "trust us, we have evidence" bullshit, while all CIA leads to the weapons inspectors have come up empty.
There may also be movement in the polls following the president's SOTU address, though it will be interesting to watch how long any such "bounce" will last. And it will also be interesting how the markets react, not just the Wednesday after the speech, but two weeks out. Bush may claim to ignore polls, but it'll be increasingly difficult to ignore his Wall Street supporters. War jitters alone continue to pound the market today.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: A terribly-executed reminder to fans to help support the show! Even Trump’s “Day One” was plagiarized. The dangers of his false “voter fraud” claims. And a long-form freak-out over Russian-financed, social media-fueled “military-grade PsyOps.”
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