As I explained in my previous diary dealing with the "State of the Dream 2009" report, in this diary, I want to I want focus in on the confluence of several driving dynamics behind the persistence of the deep economic divide between the races. These are:
(1) The pre-existing racial disparities in wealth and income dating back to the pre-Civil Rights Era.
(2) The sharp break between pre-1975 liberal economics and post-1975 conservative economics, after which economic advancement was sharply concentrated amongst the more affluent, and particularly the super-rich.
(3) The concentration of wealth-promoting policies on those who need it least-those who are already among the most affluent of all Americans.
This combination of factors shows that there is a very real, hard-core economic explanation for why blacks (as well as Latinos) have been mired in struggle economically, despite the fact of tremendous efforts over the last four decades. This combination of factors also ties back into conservative ideology, which is directly responsible for closing off opportunities for poor people in general, and for blacks and Latinos in particular.
I think one of the most important findings is that-the idea that the African American community never emerged out of the 2001 recession. As the country was talking about things were going well in 2005, 2006, we saw that African Americans were actually having a decline in the employment rate, a decline in per capita income.
Prompted by Juan Gonzales on the issue of the wealth gap, Muhammad continued:
The overwhelming majority of African Americans and Latinos do not even have a savings enough that would keep them going for three months. And as you see growing unemployment and, what's not talked enough about, underemployment, there is not that safety cushion to help you get through hard times. African Americans only have about 15 percent of the wealth of white Americans. And so, again, African American community, Latino communities, and also just working-class communities as a whole, are in a much more dire situation than I think is truly recognized. And we need some political courage to deal with these issues adequately.
In covering this report, I want to do two things. First, present an overview of the scope of the main findings of the report. That's what I'm going to so in this diary. Second, in a follow-up diary, I want focus in on the confluence of several driving dynamics: (1) The pre-existing racial disparities in wealth and income dating back to the pre-Civil Rights Era. (2) The sharp break between pre-1975 liberal economics and post-1975 conservative economics, after which economic advancement was sharply concentrated amongst the more affluent, and particularly the super-rich. (3) The concentration of wealth-promoting policies on those who need it least-those who are already among the most affluent of all Americans. What this combination of factors shows is that there is a very real, hard-core economic explanation for why blacks (as well as Latinos) have been mired in struggle economically, despite the fact of tremendous efforts over the last four decades. Those explanations also tie back into conservative ideology, which is directly responsible for closing off opportunities for a poor people in general, and blacks and Latinos in particular.
