New Report Suggests It Will take 300 Years For Black Americans To Overcome Disparity

One report proves that it would take way too long for Black Americans to break even and be truly equal.

According to a recent McKinsey report, it would take three centuries for Black Americans to overcome the current disparities without intervention, or at least 10 years with a plan comprising multitrillion-dollar stimulus.

Specifically called "The state of Black residents: The relevance of place to racial equity and outcomes," the new report highlights that though Black residents in the suburbs tend to do better, they are way underrepresented in such communities. The report explains that racial disparities are more prevalent in megacities such as Houston, Los Angeles or Philadelphia, among others such as St. Louis or even Cincinnati where close to half of the Black population resides. In these cities, Black folks earn around 60% of what their white peers do, underscoring systemic inequities.

While Black outcomes have improved over the past decade or so, the Black-white racial gap has persisted and, in some cases, grown larger. The report says that unless there is marked improvement in the metrics of Back outcomes, it could take anywhere from 110 to 320 years for those gaps to close. McKinsey specifies that its estimate is on the conservative side, assuming that these rates stay as they currently are.

And while certain communities may think this is good, the report said that this situation is crippling the larger U.S. economy, because it is keeping millions of people from achieving their full economic potential. But because these places are not uniform cities, a one-size-fits-all approach will probably fail. But the report identified two key areas it “theorizes would create a ripple effect for Black communities nationwide: affordable housing and early childhood education.”

The information reports that though close to $2.4 trillion would have to be spent on housing, the returns would assist future residents by bettering economic mobility and educational outcomes. Early childhood education costs are expensive, especially for Black populations, as it cuts into close to 23% of our income. According to the report, the solution is publicly funded preschooling. The report said that because Black women comprise around 17% of early childhood educators, investing $78 billion annually into this system would be a “double boon for Black economic mobility.”

The report calls on philanthropists to get on the ball and get more involved in solving these socioeconomic problems, reporting that they tend to give when they see a broad benefit to a social program. “More support can be unlocked from philanthropy.”

“Our hope with this research is to illustrate the scale of solutions that are needed and to emphasize the importance of tailoring those solutions to each community context,” the report reads. “While the path to better outcomes for Black residents is long, and the path to parity even longer, the journey could be shorter if stakeholders step in and step up. No matter where they live, all Black residents across the nation should be able to thrive.”

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