Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/News
NewsRace

Racism Has Cost the United States $16 Trillion In Potential Income, According to New Study

Posted byBy Ashleigh Atwell | Published on: | Updated on September 27, 2020 CommentsComments (0)

A study published by banking corporation Citigroup found the United States has lost trillions of dollars to systemic racism.

The report found the nation experienced a $16 trillion gross domestic product loss since 2000. The gross domestic product, known as the GDP, is the total sum of goods and services produced in a country. Citigroup’s findings are significant considering the United States’ 2019 GDP is $19.5 trillion.

The deficit comes from a few key areas:

  • The Black community lost $13 trillion in potential business revenue because entrepreneurs were victims of discriminatory lending. Consequently, 6.1 million jobs were not created.
  • Black people missed out on $90 billion to $113 billion in income because they did not have sufficient access to higher education.
  • The housing market lost $218 billion in sales because Black buyers had trouble getting home loans.
  • The racial wage gap has costed Black Americans $2.7 trillion in lost wages

If the United States fixed these issues today, the report argues, there could be a $5 trillion GDP increase over the next five years. The country could have seen $2.7 trillion in additional income if the gap had been repaired two decades ago.

“Racial inequality has always had an outsized cost, one that was thought to be paid only by underrepresented groups,” Raymond J. McGuire, vice chairman of Citigroup and chairman of banking, Capital Markets and Advisory at Citi, said in a press release.

“What this report underscores are that this tariff is levied on us all, and particularly in the U.S., that cost has a real and tangible impact on our country’s economic output,” McGuire added. “Now, more than ever, we have a responsibility and an opportunity to confront this longstanding societal ill that has plagued Black and brown people in this country for centuries, tally up the economic loss and as a society, commit to bring greater equity and prosperity to all.”

The study included numerous recommendations for corporations, individual workers and the government, including recruitment of Black board members, self-advocacy for one’s career, and tax reform.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top