Graduation Gaps Persist
President Barack Obama recently praised the increasing rates of high school and college graduates, but that positive trend hasn’t been substantial in the Black community. While there have been improvements in the number of Black students graduating high school, a significant graduation gap still persists. It also revealed that some districts had higher graduation rates for Black students than they did for white students. It turned out, however, that this trend was only true in states that had incredibly small Black populations.
Economic Growth Is Incredibly Slow
Despite endless reports boasting the Black community’s more than $1 trillion in spending power, economic growth has been incredibly slow. While spending power is a great asset to have, it’s not enough to combat racist practices that prevent Black citizens from obtaining homes or proves to be much of a benefit to the many Black people who are still trapped in poverty. In 2014, the economic equality index was 55.4 percent. A year later, it has only increased to 55.8 percent.
