Racial and ethnic divide, something that hit so close to home for many yet
gets ignored constantly in legislation.
It is October 2020,
an election year that holds extreme tension between political extremes.
And we are living through a pandemic that has already lasted for
almost eight months with no clear end in sight.
Racial and ethnic divide has never been clear than protests in
the streets fighting for black lives.
There's no reason to wait to have conversations about racial and
ethnic divides in America.
Many of the problems of racial and ethnic divides stem from economics.
The wealth gap between white and
POC Americans has only been becoming clearer in recent years.
During the uprising of the coronavirus outbreak, the labor and
stock market face major blows.
Even though this is mostly subsided, the effects on Americans have not,
significantly financial hardships.
Black and
Hispanic individuals have been most affected by these financial hardships.
According to the Pew Research Centre, 30% of Hispanic Americans, and
33% of black Americans, have reported that they've gotten food from a food bank or
similar organization since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
While only 11% of white Americans reported the same thing.
I had a conversation with my friend Bethany Jablon about this wealth gap.
>> Do you have any background knowledge in the subject of wage gaps in conjunction
with racial and ethnic divide in America?
>> I have a very limited level of knowledge on that subject.
I have watched a couple TED talks just to familiarize myself with it.
But I don't think that we spend nearly enough time in school talking about wage
gaps, having serious conversations around these issues.
And I think a lot of us have chosen to focus a little bit more on racial
inequities, especially this year after the killing of George Floyd and
Black Lives Matter protests.
>> Yeah, I can definitely agree.
I actually went to some Black Lives Matter protests in the past couple months.
And from the speakers there, I learned so
much more about racial inequalities that I never even thought of before.
And with economics, I'm taking a macroeconomics class at state and
I've learned a lot about economics with racial divides.
And that's one of the reasons I'm doing this project.
More specifically with wage gaps in these racial inequalities.
For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, black and Hispanic individuals
have actually been the most affected by these financial hardships.
According to the Pew Research Center 30% of Hispanic Americans and
33% of black Americans have reported going to food banks or
similar organizations during the coronavirus pandemic.
While only 11% of white Americans have had to report doing the same thing.
I thought this was really interesting, how do you feel about it?
>> It's crazy that there's that big of a difference between them.
I definitely think that everyone should have access to food
without having to resort to a food bank.
It's really unfair that those numbers are so different.
So I think it's really important that we take steps to level the playing field
there and to make sure that everyone is able to afford food on their own.
>> Yeah, definitely.
And just like you were saying,
we need to level the playing field we need to have these solutions.
So during this project, I've been trying to look around for
different solutions that I could find, such as reparations for
different communities, more specifically, black communities.
Or government help to all different types of communities,
poorer communities, such as job opportunities or job help, job training,
all these different types of things that government can help with.
But in all, I think it's just really important for
these conversations to happen between people.
I think it's really important that we're talking today.
Do you think it's important too?
>> Definitely, I think this is a subject that we've denied attention to for
far too long.
And in order to combat these issues, in racial inequities and in the wage gap,
I think that we need to get more comfortable with talking about it,
talking about solutions.
First, identifying that there is a problem there.
And then taking specific steps to ensure that the playing field is level,
like you said.
And just to make sure that all people
have the same opportunities regardless of their race.
>> I do understand that I too have a lot more to learn about this topic.
Whether that be from people with different perspectives from me or
people being affected by these issues right now.
I urge you to initiate these conversations with your friends, family members, and
those who you may not normally have conversations with.
You never know what you might learn.