“Inclusion” is obviously a hot topic.
It’s being actively discussed among Blacks in Technology and other groups.
Inclusion is also picking back up very slightly across the broader United States, since 2012.
And for good reason.
- There’s a 100% gap in unemployment by race.
- …caused by a 100% gap in income by race.
- …which contributes to a 68 fold (6700%) gap in wealth by race.
- And so this all contributes to a 400% gap in student loan default rates by race.
- Which has become an issue of national economic security, considering student loans are America’s largest asset (US Treasury Financial Report).
Sources to these data points are available for registered members.
Register for access.
Inclusion would be very nice. But viewing the data, it appears clearly that some groups of people remain excluded from participating in our great American economy.
In search for a solution that might yield greater participation by disenfranchised people into the American economy: Is it possible that inclusion should not be the prioritized solution?
If efforts to include still haven’t eliminated income gaps, wealth gaps, unemployment gaps, and other economic disparities have widened… then, should future energy only be invested into making an appeal to America to “include” Black Americans?
Is there a dual track – to appeal for inclusion, but also create a track that may allow all of Americans to invest into Black Americans even from a distance (while being excluded)?
Can structures be built to facilitate America easily finding people from low wealth families with in-demand skills, to direct investments of cash so they may afford minimum life expenses to USE their skills while they continue to remain excluded from prominent places of work?
Explore the viability of these economic development models.
‘Equal but separate’ was the law of the land for the first 60 years of the 20th century, after Plessy vs Ferguson in the late 19th century.
And in spite of ‘Jim Crow’ laws during that 60 year period of time, black wealth catapulted during those years, and the wealth gap by race was reduced significantly. This was mostly achieved through the Great Migration of Black people from the South to the North. Of course, from a base of earning no income on their labor provided to ‘planters’, massive percent gains in wealth would be expected. But those percentage gains in income have long since been muted.
Since the 1960’s through today, the wealth gap between Blacks and Whites in this country has only widened. This wealth gap has widened DESPITE
- decreased lynchings,
- decreased bombings of black churches and homes,
- decreased mob attacks,
- affirmative action legislation,
- removal of poll taxes that disproportionately impacted black Americans, and
- other seemingly progressive laws…
Arguably, America has to consider the viability of alternate economic development models, with respect to the harsh reality that the moral code of our country has not fully evolved to ensure that no person who wants to work for fair wages is left behind.
It is possible that America may still not be ready for true ‘inclusion’ of black Americans in the workplace. The moral code of America may never evolve – particularly as sentiments on racial equality are in such stark contrast?
Has America at-large, considered the consequences of continued wage and wealth gaps, on a variety of sociological measures – ranging from (but certainly not limited to) health disparities to civil unrest?
The day of full ‘inclusion’ may never actually come.
Become a philanthropic investor. Choose to run your own economic development program independently, today.