WEBVTT

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Racial and ethnic divide, something
that hit so close to home for many yet

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gets ignored constantly in legislation.

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It is October 2020,

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an election year that holds extreme
tension between political extremes.

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And we are living through a pandemic
that has already lasted for

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almost eight months with
no clear end in sight.

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Racial and ethnic divide has
never been clear than protests in

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the streets fighting for black lives.

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There's no reason to wait to have
conversations about racial and

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ethnic divides in America.

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Many of the problems of racial and
ethnic divides stem from economics.

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The wealth gap between white and

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POC Americans has only been
becoming clearer in recent years.

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During the uprising of the coronavirus
outbreak, the labor and

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stock market face major blows.

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Even though this is mostly subsided,
the effects on Americans have not,

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significantly financial hardships.

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Black and

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Hispanic individuals have been most
affected by these financial hardships.

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According to the Pew Research Centre,
30% of Hispanic Americans, and

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33% of black Americans, have reported that
they've gotten food from a food bank or

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similar organization since the start
of the coronavirus pandemic.

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While only 11% of white Americans
reported the same thing.

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I had a conversation with my friend
Bethany Jablon about this wealth gap.

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>> Do you have any background knowledge in
the subject of wage gaps in conjunction

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with racial and ethnic divide in America?

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>> I have a very limited level
of knowledge on that subject.

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I have watched a couple TED talks
just to familiarize myself with it.

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But I don't think that we spend nearly
enough time in school talking about wage

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gaps, having serious conversations
around these issues.

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And I think a lot of us have chosen
to focus a little bit more on racial

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inequities, especially this year
after the killing of George Floyd and

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Black Lives Matter protests.

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>> Yeah, I can definitely agree.

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I actually went to some Black Lives Matter
protests in the past couple months.

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And from the speakers there, I learned so

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much more about racial inequalities
that I never even thought of before.

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And with economics, I'm taking
a macroeconomics class at state and

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I've learned a lot about
economics with racial divides.

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And that's one of the reasons
I'm doing this project.

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More specifically with wage gaps
in these racial inequalities.

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For example, during the coronavirus
pandemic, black and Hispanic individuals

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have actually been the most affected
by these financial hardships.

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According to the Pew Research Center
30% of Hispanic Americans and

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33% of black Americans have
reported going to food banks or

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similar organizations during
the coronavirus pandemic.

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While only 11% of white Americans have
had to report doing the same thing.

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I thought this was really interesting,
how do you feel about it?

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>> It's crazy that there's that
big of a difference between them.

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I definitely think that everyone
should have access to food

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without having to resort to a food bank.

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It's really unfair that those
numbers are so different.

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So I think it's really important that we
take steps to level the playing field

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there and to make sure that everyone
is able to afford food on their own.

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>> Yeah, definitely.

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And just like you were saying,

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we need to level the playing field
we need to have these solutions.

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So during this project,
I've been trying to look around for

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different solutions that I could find,
such as reparations for

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different communities,
more specifically, black communities.

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Or government help to all
different types of communities,

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poorer communities, such as job
opportunities or job help, job training,

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all these different types of things
that government can help with.

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But in all,
I think it's just really important for

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these conversations to
happen between people.

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I think it's really important
that we're talking today.

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Do you think it's important too?

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>> Definitely, I think this is a subject
that we've denied attention to for

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far too long.

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And in order to combat these issues,
in racial inequities and in the wage gap,

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I think that we need to get more
comfortable with talking about it,

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talking about solutions.

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First, identifying that
there is a problem there.

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And then taking specific steps to
ensure that the playing field is level,

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like you said.

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And just to make sure that all people

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have the same opportunities
regardless of their race.

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>> I do understand that I too have
a lot more to learn about this topic.

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Whether that be from people with
different perspectives from me or

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people being affected by
these issues right now.

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I urge you to initiate these conversations
with your friends, family members, and

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those who you may not normally
have conversations with.

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You never know what you might learn.