Capitalizing on escalating racial tensions, the Democratic Party has doubled down on its efforts to promote racial economic “equity” in recent months as one of the foremost issues driving their policy agenda.
Having gained full control of both Congress and the White House in 2020, Democrats hope to use their newfound governmental power to implement various policy proposals with the specific aim of raising up underserved black and minority communities.
Thus far, however, this agenda appears to be producing the reverse effect.
Additionally, multiple experts believe, if allowed to pursue their most touted policy goals, Democrats may indeed create an even wider divide in economic outcomes between blacks and whites in the U.S.
Economic Lockdowns
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, black unemployment rose sharply in February — Joe Biden’s first full month in office — from 9.2 percent to 9.9 percent.
During the same period, all other racial groups (white, Hispanic and Asian-American) saw declines in unemployment, with the overall U.S. jobless rate falling to 6.2 percent as the economy began its recovery from months of government-led lockdowns, Bloomberg reported.
Conversely, under the more conservative agenda of Trump, the American economy set a record-low for black unemployment rates, reaching 5.4 percent shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in October of 2019.
This reversal under Biden is thought to be driven by the lingering effects of pandemic lockdowns (support for which was overwhelming left-wing).
As noted by the Wall Street Journal back in June, black Americans were hit especially hard by lockdowns due to their “disproportionate representation in less secure jobs.”
“Even when unemployment was low, African-Americans’ overall economic situation was fragile. As a group, they had less job security and wealth than whites, leaving them especially vulnerable when the economy shut down,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
Going forward, with the goal of righting these inequities, the Democratic Party is actively pursuing (and in some cases, already implementing) policies that will carry disparate, negative impacts for low-skill workers which, in turn, will exacerbate the black/white economic divide in America, according to multiple economists.