Black Lives Matter in Economic Development
Removing inequality is vital to unlock investment in local communities
African-Americans being discriminated against, impoverished, and killed disproportionately is deeply interconnected with the issue of economic development. It is the reason the August 28, 1963 event that included Martin Luther King Jr's famous "I have a dream" speech was called the 'March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom'. You'll notice that the word “jobs” comes before “freedom”. That was no accident.
The data analysis about the economic marginalisation of people of colour is unambiguous. In the measurements of income, wealth, education, health, entrepreneurship, home ownership, and freedom, African Americans significantly lag whites by every indicator. Centuries of unequal public policy, including economic development programs, have created structural barriers to African-Americans’ ability to achieve parity.
Because economic development is one of the central elements related to racial inequality in America, the profession of economic development must put itself within the centre of creating solutions.