• Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • Flickr
  • Mail
The Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • About Samuel DuBois Cook
    • From the Director
    • People
  • Research
    • Research Domains
      • Class, Wealth & Social Mobility
      • Education & Training
      • Employment
      • Health & Well-being
    • Working Groups
      • Democracy & Voting
      • Educational Policy
      • Health Equity
      • Media Communications: Narratives of Inequality
      • Social Mobility
    • Publications & Reports
  • Projects & Programs
    • Bull City 150
    • DITE – Diversity Initiative for Tenure in Economics
    • Global Inequality Research Initiative
    • Hank & Billye Suber Aaron Young Scholars Summer Research Institute
  • Minor
  • News
  • Work With Us
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

As economy struggles amid coronavirus, low-wage workers of color taking a major hit…

NBC News

By: Janelle Ross

March 25, 2020

“I think almost any time we have an economic crisis — speaking more specifically about black folks and Latinos — the same groups of people are going to be severely harmed because in the best of times, they are subjected to marginalization,” said Sandy Darity, an economist at Duke University who researches economic stratification as well as the way race shapes economic and social policy. “The pattern is clear. Everyone loses work, but people of color lose more of them. This time it seems the job losses will be really severe for some, while others are called upon to possibly put themselves at greater risk.”

What the nation has long needed, Darity said, is a federal work guarantee program. In good times, few people would need to do work directed by the federal government and collect wages from the same source. In bad times, like the current pandemic and the likely recession to follow, that infrastructure could expand to put even more people to work on critical priorities and needs.

The potential severity of the impact on workers of color is a matter of deep concern to some of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations. Last week, representatives of the NAACP and the National Urban League joined a conference call with dozens of civic organizations and members of the Democratic Senate leadership.

Read the full article here .

Recent News

  • In Depth: New report offers hope for the housing market, but challenges linger
  • Juneteenth Is Now a National Holiday. Are Reparations Next?
  • Beyond Juneteenth
  • Gas prices hit record high, as recession fears mount
  • Historic report lays out case to compensate descendants of slaves in California

Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity Duke University

411 West Chapel Hill Street
Suite 300
Durham, NC 27701
(919) 681-9269

Research Domains

  • Class, Wealth & Social Mobility
  • Health & Well-being
  • Employment
  • Education & Training
  • Publications & Reports

Working Groups

  • Democracy & Voting
  • Educational Policy
  • Health Equity
  • Media Communications: Narratives of Inequality
  • Social Mobility

Programs

  • Bull City 150
  • DITE – Diversity Initiative for Tenure in Economics
  • Global Inequality Research Initiative
  • Hank & Billye Suber Aaron Young Scholars Summer Research Institute

Get Our Newsletter

* indicates required
The Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • Flickr
  • Mail
Reparations Scholar Dr. Sandy Darity Releases Book Early People of Color Take a Major Hit as the Economy Struggles Amid the COVID-19...
Scroll to top