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39 Law & Ineq. 255 (2021)
Issue 2

handle is hein.journals/lieq39 and id is 255 raw text is: 255

Ending Black America's Permanent
Economic Recession: Direct and Indirect
Job Creation and Affirmative Action Are
Necessary
Algernon Austint
Abstract
Among the economic demands of the 1963 March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a demand for a federal jobs
program    that would   eliminate  unemployment for African
Americans. From the 1960s to today, Black Americans have been
about twice as likely as White Americans to be unemployed.
Consequently, Black people never achieve low unemployment. They
can be said to be living in a permanent economic recession. This
Article presents a suite of policies to end high unemployment in
African American communities. The policies include those that work
indirectly by increasing the demand for goods and services, and
those  that  directly  create jobs.  Since   anti-Black  racial
discrimination in the labor market is at the root of the persistently
high rate of Black joblessness, a strong affirmative action program
to counteract discrimination will also be needed. Some might think
that a universal basic income is an acceptable alternative to a jobs
program, but a job has economic, psychological, and sociological
benefits beyond an income. A society that denies many African
Americans the opportunity to work denies them not just an income,
but also opportunities for identity, self-esteem, service, and social
relationships. Ending the permanent recession in Black America is
an important step toward providing equal opportunity in America.
Introduction
Many Americans have heard excerpts of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.'s 1963 I Have a Dream speech, but few Americans know
the full title of the march where that speech was given. While the
march is commonly referred to as the March on Washington, the
t. Senior Researcher, Thurgood Marshall Institute, NAACP Legal Defense and
Educational Fund, Inc. Please  direct comments and  questions to
algernon.austin@outlook.com.

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