Median annual wage for Black workers is 30% lower than for white workers, McKinsey finds
18 June 2021
As we prepare for tomorrow's federal Juneteenth holiday, commemorating the emancipation of enslaved Americans in Texas, our economy remains marred by the legacy of slavery and subsequent discrimination.
The big picture: The legacy of slavery is particularly evident in the enduring wealth gap between Black and white Americans, and in how Black Americans broadly participate in the U.S. economy.
Inside the numbers: The median annual wage for Black workers is 30% lower than it is for white workers, according to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute and its Institute for Black Economic Mobility. Were wages to be equal, Black Americans would have around $220 billion of addition income each year.
- McKinsey's Shelley Stewart III, who leads the Institute for Black Economic Mobility, tells the Axios Re:Cap podcast, in an episode airing on Friday: "We looked at Black Americans as residents. We looked at Black Americans as workers to understand representation and wage gaps. We looked at Black Americans as business owners, as savers and investors, and finally as consumers."
- In each case, there was a significant financial gap between Black and white Americans, built on decades of discrimination across generations, to the persistent detriment of Black economy stability, mobility and sustainability.
Responsibility: The report argues that both the public and private sectors have intersecting roles to play in closing the wealth gap and addressing other structural inequities.
- It didn't address the issue of reparations, but Stewart did tell Axios Re:Cap: "Significant investment is needed into Black communities. And that's going to be investment through a combination of the public sector, as well as the private sector if we're going to really make a difference on wealth. I'll let others decide the exact form of that investment."
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.