Published: 22 July 2021
Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed dual crises. Over 542,000 Americans lives were lost and continue to increase. At the same time, the rippling effects of a massive economic downturn has caused the nation to lose 9.5 million jobs - more losses than even those of the Great Recession, finds the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy.
Providing equitable opportunities
Although many officials have called for a ‘return to normal’, millions of small businesses and communities need something new instead. In Black America especially, the ‘old normal’ never delivered equitable access to wealth-building opportunities as those that well-served served much of White America. Instead, a lengthy history of public policies designed to create and sustain a burgeoning middle class systemically excluded Blacks and other people of color.