In recent Washington Post article, Director William A. Darity Jr. discussed an approach to address black student debt crisis with Fenaba Addo, Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“We believe that in order to address the black student debt crisis, we need to eliminate racial wealth inequality. Why? Because black-white disparities in student loan debt are deeply rooted in racial wealth disparities.”
They discussed a two-pronged approach that first tackles the existing debt overhang that disproportionally burdens young adults and the prevention of a renewal of the crisis. Both believe what is needed are actionable proposals to eliminate racial wealth inequality.
Sen. Cory Booker’s Opportunity Accounts proposal — or a similar arrangement that provides young adults with an endowment calibrated on the basis of their parents’ resources — can help ameliorate the size of the racial wealth gap. However, a reparations program will need to be implemented that brings the black share of ownership in the nation’s wealth from its current 2.6 percent to at least 13 percent, a proportion consistent with the black share in the nation’s population.
Read the full article here.
