Racial Inequality

Reform of the racist criminal justice system, public banking, demilitarization of police, universal childcare, free colleges & trade schools, medicare for all, reparations... there are countless ways to even the playing field.

Video / Audio

Check out this collection of videos and podcast episodes focused on equality and justice for all.

Macro n Cheese Podcast Ep. 50 - The Paradox of Enlightenment with Lua Kamál Yuille

What are the mental roadblocks to achieving a system that creates prosperity for all? We often talk about the neoliberal narrative on this podcast, but this week’s guest, Lua Yuille, peels the onion a few more layers to reveal the structure beneath the story-telling -- what some may call brain-washing -- showing us how our minds have been colonized and need to be untrained.

Macro n Cheese Podcast Ep. 55 - The Economics of Martin Luther King Jr. with Mathew Forstater

The mainstream media has created a pasteurized and homogenized version of Martin Luther King, Jr, befitting the neoliberal cultural bell jar. That being said, our friend Mathew Forstater reminds us that Dr King had a laser-like focus on economics and unemployment. The massively successful August 1963 march was called The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom for a reason. Without economic security, the social and political advances of the civil rights movement cannot take hold.

Macro n Cheese Podcast Ep. 45 - Race For Profit with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

The Great Recession was a maelstrom that hit many Americans hard - lost jobs, lost homes, for some everything but the clothes on one’s back. Despite the stock market, real recovery has been glacial at best. Yet many don’t know just how deep the crisis' roots go when it comes to the Black community. Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor explains the origins of the systemic discrimination behind the housing policies that skipped over, then exploited, Black families trying to find a safe, sound, and affordable place to raise their families.

Written Materials

Check out these related articles from our local community and beyond.

Academic Publications

A collection of peer-reviewed white papers and working papers from our friends in the MMT academic community.

Racism, Policing and Protests

Adriane Lentz-Smith and Dr. Sandy Darity reflected on the current pandemic’s role in exacerbating and amplifying deep-rooted problems, from the racial wealth gap to state-sanctioned destruction of black lives and property. “The kinds of inequalities that are linked to America’s racial history and its racial present were exposed dramatically by the COVID-19 crisis,” said Darity, “and I think that the murder of George Floyd, which was extraordinarily visible to everyone across the country, was an instance that brought to light another dimension of inequality, which is anti-black police violence.”

The Economics of Reparations

There is a nationwide movement and debate over the claim by African Americans for compensation for the enslavement of their ancestors. This chapter presents a brief introduction to the economics of reparations to African Americans for slavery and decades of Jim Crow practices. We first explore the black-white wealth differential as a basis for the reparations movement. We then propose two criterions to determine eligibility for reparations. Finally, we discuss the size of a reparations payment and how the way in which it is financed and distributed effects the incomes of blacks as well as nonblacks.

Forty Acres and a Mule in the 21st Century

In general, a program of reparations is intended to achieve three objectives: acknowledgment of a grievous injustice, redress for the injustice, and closure of the grievances held by the group subjected to the injustice. Three types of injustices motivate a program of reparations for black Americans: slavery, the nearly century-long Jim Crow regime following Reconstruction, and ongoing discrimination. Inauguration of a reparations program on behalf of black Americans preferably will be undertaken via legislative action at the federal level, rather than by judicial fiat. Logistical issues addressed in the article include determination of the magnitude of the reparations bill and the criteria to be used to identify those eligible to receive reparations. The present day value of 40 acres and a mule can provide the foundation for the calculation of the magnitude of reparations owed to black Americans.

H.R.6144 - Kira Johnson Act

This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to improve outcomes and reduce bias, racism, and discrimination in maternal care settings. Specifically, HHS must award grants to (1) community-based programs to improve maternal health outcomes for African American women, (2) eligible entities to provide certain training to health care providers and others who work in maternity care settings, and (3) specified health care facilities to establish respectful maternity care compliance offices.

H.R.7120 - George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020

This bill addresses a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices and law enforcement accountability. It includes measures to increase accountability for law enforcement misconduct, to enhance transparency and data collection, and to eliminate discriminatory policing practices.

The bill facilitates federal enforcement of constitutional violations (e.g., excessive use of force) by state and local law enforcement. It establishes a framework to prohibit racial profiling at the federal, state, and local levels. The bill establishes new requirements for law enforcement officers and agencies, including to report data on use-of-force incidents, to obtain training on implicit bias and racial profiling, and to wear body cameras.

S.1083 - H.R. 40 Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act

This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans. The commission shall examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. Among other requirements, the commission shall examine (1) the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery, (2) forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants, and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society.

Policy Resources

Links to progressive bills and proposals currently making their way through the United States Congress

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