“Public policy can help level the playing field,” said Weller, who is a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
Weller is the co-author of “Leveling the Playing Field: How to Ensure Minorities Share Equitably in the Economic Recovery and Beyond” report, which was released Wednesday to coincide with Townes’ congressional hearing. Published by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the report examines monthly, quarterly, and annual data on the different economic experiences of Whites, African Americans and Hispanics during past recessions and the current one.
Said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, African-Americans, in particular, suffer from a history where discrimination left them far behind in wealth accumulation.
“Our economy has a certain elasticity built into it that gives many people the room they need to survive tough times,” Morial said. “However, many African-Americans do not have the benefit of that elasticity.”
