Tools & Resources

In today’s economic turmoil we are looking for jobs that will help put food on our table, pay for our homes, and enable us to put our children through college. We faced daunting unemployment rates before, but our nation’s leaders put people to work. The Public Works Administration of the New Deal Era employed 3.5 million workers. Wise decisions to pursue public programs, like Social Security, helped people buy homes and build a retirement system, helping to create the American middle class. Unfortunately, these programs discriminated against far too many hard working Americans based on the color of their skin. Imagine if we make these wise decisions in a way that ensures that all of our people could benefit from these solutions, no matter our race or ethnicity, more of us could invest in a strong economy and nation.

But it will require that we help people get to quality jobs and address the Jim Crow in jobs. As we know, Jim Crow was a system that relegated Black Americans to second-class citizenry, segregated their participation in social, civic, and economic life, and hindered access to education and prosperity. Today, Jim Crow exists in the job market as more Black and Latino workers are cast as second-class workers: over-represented in low-skill, low- wage occupations with limited chances to move up the ladder of opportunity.

The 2011 Federal Budget cuts come in the midst of an ongoing Recession that has burdened states with high populations of color, most of all. Yet, when we cut health and job training services to those who need it most, we lose our opportunity to build a healthy and strong country. And New York is no exception. New York, ranks 24th in CSI’s 2011 Impact Index and faces increased rates of uninsurance, unemployment, and poverty. New York City is set to grapple with tough decisions on the budget, while Congress is set to tackle both the debt ceiling and the 2012 budget. Our finding show that the 2011 Congressional Cuts in WIC funding, energy assistance, health access, and job training are likely to have negative consequences for all New York City’s vulnerable residents, especially residents of color. For example, Congress gutted over $600 million in assistance to Community Health Clinics. Yet, the majority of federally funded health clinics in the city primarily serve residents of color in concentrated areas in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.