May 14, 2014
“As a group, one of the most fundamental things impacting ‘wealth inequality’ is higher rates of unemployment for African Americans which is typically about twice that of Whites. It’s also the structural factors such as who has access to jobs; discrimination also plays a part,” --Dr. Valerie Wilson, director of D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute.
Stories this photo appears in:
Blacks and the Elusive Attainment of Economic Power
There’s no doubt that African Americans are capable of sustaining economically viable communities; case in point, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood district, also known as Black Wall Street. At one point, the wealthiest black community in the U.S., mainly because of employment opportunities provided by the oil fields there, a town that consisted of a black-owned newspaper and other thriving black-owned businesses and excellent schools. Unfortunately, those institutions were burned to the ground by racist whites, June 1, 1921.