The coronavirus has affected every community but the black communities have been ravaged. They are disproportionately contracting and dying from covid-19.
The Washington Post reported, “Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to have lost their jobs on the crisis and are overrepresented among essential workers.”
Similarly, the pandemic is exacerbating the pre-established wealth gap. Most of the government policies like federal housing practices and the GI bill excluded black families from economic opportunities.
In particular “the median black household’s wealth was roughly 10 percent that of the median white household” till 2016. This gap followed through despite factors such as education, marital status, and income. “A typical college-educated black household has 30 percent less wealth than a typical non-college-educated white household.”
This pandemic has definitely augmented the gap. Fewer than 20 percent of black Americans have jobs that enable them to work from home. The businesses where the black population is highly represented are at most immediate risk.
To stymie over this grave crisis, loans to businesses were given. Although these loans were at the first-come-first-served basis and the black-owned businesses are far less likely to avail of these loans.
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