A recently released study conducted by the American Community Survey reveals an ongoing disparity between Black and White income levels.
On average, Blacks earn 43 cents for every dollar their White counterparts make in Dallas, and the average white Chicagoan earns over $63,600 a year, while the average Black Chicagoan makes $28,725 a year, or 45 cents for every dollar their White counterpart receives..
While the disparity was the widest in Dallas, the numbers looked bleak in several other major cities examined by the study. Here’s how much Black workers earned for every dollar Whites earned by city:
*Houston (0.47 cents)
*Los Angeles (0.57 cents)
*San Jose (0.57 cents)
*New York City (0.57 cents)
*Philadelphia (0.61 cents)
*San Diego (0.65 cents)
*San Antonio (0.66 cents)
*Phoenix (0.66 cents)
According to The Chicago Reporter, experts credit the disparity to uneven public education, fewer job opportunities and health care inequalities that lead to disabilities. “Maybe it’s not just that Mr. Business owner chooses to pay his white clerk $20 an hour while his black clerk makes $9,” a writer for the paper argued.??
But an Atlanta Post commentator doesn’t buy the argument. “That is the same rhetoric used to justify a lack of workplace diversity for both women in high-paying jobs and for people of color holding those positions. Try again, because we’re not buying it. We can’t afford to. Unless it costs 45 cents,” the anonymous commenter wrote.