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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Tag: Discrimination

Racial Inequality and Discrimination

  • Modern redlining: Racial disparities in lending persist in Dayton, By Katie Wedell, February 24, 2018, Dayton Daily News: “Dayton is one of 61 metro areas in the U.S. where minorities are denied mortgage loans at higher rates than their white counterparts — a modern-day system of redlining that keeps minority neighborhoods from recovery, officials say…”
  • Report: No progress for African Americans on homeownership, unemployment and incarceration in 50 years, By Tracy Jan, February 26, 2018, Washington Post: “Convened to examine the causes of civil unrest in black communities, the presidential commission issued a 1968 report with a stark conclusion: America was moving toward two societies, ‘one black, one white — separate and unequal.’ Fifty years after the historic Kerner Commission identified ‘white racism’ as the key cause of ‘pervasive discrimination in employment, education and housing,’ there has been no progress in how African Americans fare in comparison to whites when it comes to homeownership, unemployment and incarceration, according to a report released Monday by the Economic Policy Institute…”

Racial Wage Gap

  • Wage gap between blacks and whites is worst in nearly 40 years, By Tanzina Vega, September 20, 2016, CNN Money: “The wage gap between blacks and whites is the worst it’s been in nearly four decades, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute.  Last year, the hourly pay gap between blacks and whites widened to 26.7%, with whites making an average of $25.22 an hour compared to $18.49 for blacks, the EPI found. Almost 40 years ago, in 1979, the wage gap between blacks and whites was 18.1%, with whites earning an inflation-adjusted average of $19.62 an hour and blacks earning $16.07 an hour…”
  • Black and white wage gap growing significantly, analysis say, By Lonnie Shekhtman, September 20, 2016, Christian Science Monitor: “The wage gap between black and white workers has grown by 32 percent in the last three decades, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The widening disparity is most deeply felt among college-educated workers, EPI says.  In comparing the average hourly wages of black and white workers, the Washington, D.C.-based, liberal think tank took into account where workers lived, their education levels, and professional experience. It found that in 2015, black men earned 22 percent less overall than white men, an increase from a 17 percent disparity in 1979…”

Housing Discrimination

Denying housing over criminal record may be discrimination, feds say, By Camila Domonoske, April 4, 2016, National Public Radio: “The Department of Housing and Urban Development is making it easier for people with criminal records to find housing.  In new guidance, released Monday, HUD tells landlords and home sellers that turning down tenants or buyers based on their criminal records may violate the Fair Housing Act. People with criminal records aren’t a protected class under the Fair Housing Act, and the guidance from HUD’s general counsel says that in some cases, turning down an individual tenant because of his or her record can be legally justified.  But blanket policies of refusing to rent to anybody with a criminal record are de facto discrimination, the department says — because of the systemic disparities of the American criminal justice system…”