Tag: Equality
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Mental Health Needs Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Although increased demands for mental health care among college students is not a new priority, the impact of COVID-19 and the national reckoning with racism has further increased the neessity to address these needs. This is especially the case for students of color, as they face constant social and financial pressures and exposures to trauma…
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Old Money vs New Money: A Reinforcement of Racial Hierarchies
Before diving into the crux of the issue, it’s essential to understand the underlying connotations. “Old Money” refers to families or individuals who have maintained their wealth over several generations. These families often pride themselves on traditions, lineage, and sometimes even blue-blooded ancestry. The term “New Money” is used to describe people or families who…
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A Brief Introduction to Colorism, Intersectionality and the Impact on Black Health
Almost 70% of African Americans in the United States report experiencing racial discrimination from time to time, or regularly. In addition to racial discrimination, Blacks are also subject to discrimination by skin tone, or colorism. Colorism is a form of discrimination based on skin tone, where lighter skinned blacks feel a sense of superiority toward…
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HBCU Scholars Offer Ways to Close the Wealth Gap for Women
Wealth accural for black women and their families has been an uohill climb from the start. For the first 2 1/2 centuries os U.S. history, black women in general were not paid at all. For at least the next 100 years, Jim Crow policies, like redlining, suppressed their ability to gain wealth. Since the police…
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Young Adults Credit Trajectories Very Widely by Race and Ethnicity
Today’s young adults are the most racially and ethically diverse cohort in U.S. history, yet legacies of structural racism still shape their economic prospects. Young adults divergent credit trajectories underscore this trend. An Urban Institute analysis survey that draws upon millions of consumer records from a major credit bureau find young adults in a majority…
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Can Wealth-Building Programs Both Prevent Displacement and Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap?
Gentrification can bring economic investment to low-income neighborhoods, but not all residents experience the benefits of that investment equally,. Such neighborhood change often attracts new residents with higher incomes and displaces them with lower income earners, who tend to be renters and people of color. Because it can drive displacement, gentrification can exacerbate the racial…
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Building Trust in the Financial System is Key to Closing the Racial Wealth Gap
Since the racial reckoning following the death of George Floyd, many banks have pledged to uplift and support the black community. Some have initiated or supported programs to close the racialwealth gap, but these initiatives often fail to account for the fact that historically racist financial policies have eroded black communities trust in banks. Even…
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More Americans Own Their Own Homes, But Black-White Home Ownership Rate Gap is the Biggest
While the U.S. home ownership rate increased to 65.5% in 2021, the rate among African Americans lag significantly (44%), has only increased 0.4% in the last 10 years and s nearly 29 percentage points less than white Americans (72.7%), representing the largest black-white home ownership rate gap in a decade. Black home owners and renters…
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The Black Student Debt Crisis
Student loan debt–now the second largest type of debt after mortgages–exceeds even credit card debt. Currently, about 42 million Americans have student loans, making student debt relief an important issue among voters, especially young adults. For black college students, the weight of student loan debt can hinder their social and economic stability. Research shows 86.6%…
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Social Issue of Poverty in America
The perception of poverty in America critically contributes to the deepening the social divide between the elite and the impoverished. In the past, the focus has been on how the individual encourages patterns of poverty without representing the country’s societal failings. It’s essential to analyze the history of political and economic frameworks to understand…