wealth gap between Whites and people of color in 2042 will be even larger than it is today.
• Education is the most important tool we have to expand social mobility Thanks to civil rights gains, affirmative action and other progress, Black adults are 60 percent as likely to have a college degree as White adults; Latinos are only 42 percent as likely. If current trends continue, by 2042, African Americans will continue to make progress in closing the education gap. However, the gap will be even larger for Latinos.
• People of color represent more than 65 percent of the prison population, largely because of harsh drug laws and selective prosecutions that are part of the war on drugs. Blacks are six times more likely to be in prison than Whites. Roughly 65 percent of Black men born since the mid-1970s have prison records. The report observes, “If current trends continue to 2042, the percentage of people of color who have experienced jail time will dwarf even that number.”
To reduce what it calls the “perverse concentration of wealth and power in the U.S.,” the report declares, “We need nothing less than a diverse, powerful social movement dedicated to advancing meaningful policy solutions on many fronts to reduce the racial divide.”
It will take a powerful movement to counter to corrupting influence that money has on politics.
“To gain political power necessary to make significant progress toward racial economic equality, the influence of money in politics must be reduced and voting rights for all Americans must be restored and protected,” the reports observes. “Eliminating racial inequality will require a powerful and sustained political movement, aligned not just along the lines of race, but also by economic interests.”
Authors of the report noted that the Occupy Wall Street movement and similar efforts around the country are steps in the right direction toward building a broad coalition.
In the aftermath of King Day celebrations, it is important to remember that Dr. King was organizing a Poor People’s Campaign at the time of his assassination. Encouraged by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1968, he was creating a movement to address economic injustice.
In his last speech on the eve of his assassination, referred to as the “Mountain Top” speech, Dr. King talked about the need to support Black business. He said, “We begin the process of building a greater economic base.”
Picking up where King left off, the report stated, “It is a moral and economic imperative that we address the racial economic divide now. If we are to chart a path to a more promising future, one in which the racial economic divide is significantly narrowed and prosperity is more broadly shared, then we must take immediate action to ensure that the coming majority is not further burdened by the legacy of racism and White supremacy in the United States.”
George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his website, www.georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge.
About Post Author
