8 Ways The Government Shutdown Affects Black People

Black Household Income Slashed: The government shutdown will hurt many of its workers, however, a disproportionate number of the 800,000 furloughed federal workers are African-Americans, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Blacks make up nearly 1 in 5 non-postal federal employees. When the government starts to issue temporary pink slips to nearly a million federal employees, many African-American households, already working on tight budgets, will suffer even more. They have rent and home mortgages to pay, children’s tuition due, and food and clothes to buy. Health Needs Delayed: The 110 million Americans already enrolled in Medicare—the government health program for the elderly—and Medicaid—the federal and state partnership to provide health insurance to the working poor and their children—will continue to receive the services and treatment that they need. However, new applications to these programs will be delayed until the government reopens. Many low-income African-Americans, who are a significant part of the 11.5 million consumers expected to become newly insured under an expanded Medicaid program mandated by the Affordable Care Act, will see a delay in access to affordable health care. More People May Go Hungry: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as food stamps, will continue to provide its $33 of weekly assistance to the 48 million Americans who currently receive it. However, the federal school lunch program only has enough money to get through the end of this month. About 74 percent of black students in the U.S. would go without lunch if the shutdown lasts that long. http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/09/what_ever_happened_to_michelle_obamas_lunch_program.html Low-Income Mothers Lose Assistance: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, is used by many low-income African-American mothers and children. The USDA announced on Oct. 1 that it would suspend the program as a result of the shutdown. A majority of states will only be able to continue operating the program for "a week or so" before the money runs out. Blacks make up about 19 percent of the 8.9 million mothers and children who depend on WIC for food vouchers, baby formula and other nutrition needs. http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/racial-ethnicdata/2010racial-ethnicdata.htm Low-Income Kids Set Back in Education: Funds for a million children in Head Start programs have already expired because of the shutdown, and 34 percent of those kids are African-American. Some locations will be forced to immediately close their doors. However, more programs will run out of money and come under pressure the longer the shutdown continues. The same is true for Title I education grants, which provide badly needed assistance to 20 million children, of which 27 percent are black, in the nation’s poorest school districts. In addition, the review of new student loan and federal grant applications will be delayed, putting at risk the education of the 81 percent of black students who borrow to cover school costs. http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/newsroom/releases/2013/FACES_1_16_13.asp http://www.theroot.com/views/blacks-and-college-loans-cloudy-picture http://www.ncpie.org/nclbaction/titleI.pdf Affordable Housing At Risk: The Federal Housing Administration, which underwrites 4 in 10 mortgages in the United States and is crucial for working families entering the housing market, will not process new home loans during an extended shutdown. FHA mortgages account for about half of all loans for African-American homebuyers. Housing vouchers for the working poor and the homeless will also be at risk the longer the shutdown continues. http://www.mortgageloan.com/fha Impaired Ability to Fight Disease: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control will scale back monitoring of the spread of infectious diseases, and the National Institutes of Health will do the same for critical research into life-saving treatments until funding is reinstated. Obama's Legacy On The Line: Black people are vested in Obama's success as the first African- American president in U.S. history. However the shutdown, as well as the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act, will likely shape how history views the Obama administration. If Republicans succeed at derailing Obamacare, the first black president and his administration may go down in history as just a token. The Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell, suggests Obama will be the last black president for a long time because of tokenism. “The door is let open, but then the door gets shut behind them,” said Gladwell. "Those people who get through become fetishized for where they came from. They are too visible." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto-audience-challenges-malcolm-gladwells-provocative-tokenism-theory/article14240722/ http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/10/how_the_government_shutdown.html

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