The racial income gap in the United States can be traced back to white supremacist transgressions in America. One can make a legitimate argument that classism is the new racism. The Baltimore DOJ Report mentioned two Baltimores. One is the upper class, which is majority white; The other is the low-income communities which are majority Black. We can point to numerous periods in history that created the current climate that led to racial income gap. Systematic Racism within the education system, Redlining, and self-inflicted wounds like Black-on-Black crime contributes to racial income disparities in America.
Black on black crime is self-genocide and it furthers divide people by race and class. After the Freddie Grey riot in Baltimore City some companies started pulling out of the Baltimore area. Some stores never reopened after being looted during the riots. Numerous companies that spoke to the media said they were relocating due to concerns about the safety of their employees. Once companies relocated, so did the jobs the companies brought to the area. The Black community must overcome several challenges from Black-on-Black crime to educational disparities to bridge the racial income gap.
To this day education is one of those factors that divide people by class and race. It plays a huge role in racial income disparities. The educational achievement gap has been a problem in the black community since slavery. Frederick Douglass a former slave in Maryland; Wrote a piece titled Learning to Read and Write. It is a powerful piece of Black historical literature that is too often overlooked. It is a piece about the incompatibility of slavery and education. To this day too many people in the black community underestimate the power of education. It is one of the keys to bridging the racial income gap in America. Studies show higher education will be needed just to be considered for the jobs of the future. Education will be the key to surviving a modernized economy financially.
Redlining was a practice from the 1920s to 1968 left African Americans at an economic disadvantage. In 1968 the fair housing act was passed which officially put an end to redlining. Close to a hundred year after redlining started, numerous communities in the United States remain divided by race and class. White flight is created the modern-day redline.
In conclusion, I believe part of the solution to bridging the racial income gap starts with employers. Employers can put in a little more effort to ensure their employees are gaining marketable skills on the job. In addition, we as a people must self-check ourselves as black people instead of blaming others for our downfalls. Including, looking at the actions we as a people make that perpetuate negative stereotypical perceptions, which hinders economic prosperity in our communities. I highly recommend reading The Color of Success written by Ellen D. Wu. The book speaks on the way migrating Asians changed the negative stereotypical perceptions that hindered their culture. They rebranded their cultural identity which paved the way for economic opportunities within their community.
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