Month 9: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Economic Recovery
The ninth section of the Economic Inequality series examines how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and deepened existing racial and economic inequities in both healthcare and small business financing. Low-wage frontline workers (disproportionately people of color) faced greater health risks and financial hardship, while minority-owned businesses struggled to access timely federal relief like the Paycheck Protection Program. Uneven distribution of aid contributed to slower recoveries for Black-owned businesses and widened longstanding gaps. The section highlights how structural barriers to healthcare, capital, and institutional support shaped an unequal recovery and offers policy recommendations to prevent these disparities in future crises.
Month 8: The 2007-08 Financial Crisis and the Widening Wealth Gap
The eighth section of the Economic Inequality series dives into the two ways the 2007–08 financial crisis widened inequality: (1) predatory subprime lending and the geographic concentration of foreclosures, and (2) the role of student loan debt on economic mobility. Understanding the roots of predatory lending, the populations most affected, and the long-term effects is crucial to analyzing how the financial crisis contributed to the ongoing racial and economic divide and proper policies to remedy the negative impact.
Month 7:The Decline of Manufacturing and the Rise of Economic Inequality
The seventh section of the Economic Inequality series explores how the decline of manufacturing and the rising importance of education have reshaped economic opportunity in the Midwest, disproportionately affecting Black and low-income communities. Tariffs and federal education cuts under the current administration have intensified these challenges, making both jobs and education less accessible.
This paper examines the twin crises of deindustrialization and the rising education premium, their differential impacts across racial and geographic lines, and targeted policy interventions to stabilize industrial communities and expand educational opportunity.
Month 6:The War on Poverty – Who Benefited and Who Was Left Behind?
The sixth section of the Economic Inequality series evaluates how The War on Poverty proved that bold federal action can expand opportunity, but today’s progress is at risk. New 2025 policies, including Medicaid work requirements and stricter oversight of Head Start, threaten to deepen inequities and reverse gains. Moving forward requires universal Medicaid expansion, stronger rural health infrastructure, and streamlined enrollment, alongside renewed investment in Head Start’s workforce, trauma-informed care, and family supports. This paper analyzes these policies and demands pairing coverage with access and education with holistic support to continue upholding past commitments to equity and social progress.
Month 5:The Civil Rights Movement and Economic Justice
The fifth section of the Economic Inequality series examines landmark reforms such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and Brown v. Board of Education ruling which sought to dismantle structural disparities in housing and education. While these efforts achieved important legal and social milestones, inequities persisted, reflecting unsolved structural challenges. Recent federal rollbacks have further weakened protections, yet also create space for new market-oriented solutions, targeted funding, and community-centered choice. The paper examines these challenges in context, offering pathways to advance opportunity, economic mobility, and local empowerment.
The fourth section of the Economic Inequality series highlights three areas where the New Deal’s impact was uneven: (1) Social Security and labor protections excluded agricultural and domestic workers, (2) FHA policies and redlining fueled wealth gaps and segregation, and (3) agricultural reforms displaced small farmers and rural tenants. Although the New Deal expanded federal crisis intervention, it entrenched systemic exclusions.
Recent actions under the Trump administration—such as weakening Social Security, affordable housing, and rural development—mirror these historic inequities. Recognizing these patterns is key to crafting more equitable policies today.
Month 3: The Industrial Revolution and Exploited Labor
The third section of the Economic Inequality series traces how unfair labor practices, racial discrimination, and government policies shaped immigrant and Black labor from the 19th century to the present.
It examines key historical moments from European immigrant contributions to union exclusions showing how these patterns fuel today’s labor inequalities. Under the current administration, deportations have surged, worker protections have weakened, and regulatory power has declined. Understanding these patterns is essential to crafting more substantial labor protections in the present.
Month 2: Land, Wealth, and Dispossession – Who Got to Own and Build?
The second section of the Economic Inequality series explores who got to own and build in America, how land was used to create opportunity for some and erase it for others, and what policy solutions are necessary to confront this legacy and build a fair future for all. The paper will further examine policies that created deep economic, educational, and social inequities that continue to define today’s wealth gap.
Month 1:The Foundations of Economic Inequality in the U.S.
The first section of the Economic Inequality series explores how race, geography, class, and government policies contribute to economic inequality in the U.S. Racial disparities, driven by practices like redlining and wage gaps, hinder wealth accumulation and opportunity. Geographic divides highlight the economic struggles of White rural communities and the shift of poverty from cities to suburbs. Class also plays a key role, with wage stagnation, generational poverty, and limited education access worsening inequality. The paper further examines how early gaps in education and healthcare restrict upward mobility and suggests comprehensive policy reforms to address these inequalities.
