Michelle J. Nealy, Diverse Issues in Higher Education
- President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will do little to improve the unemployment rates of underrepresented minorities, particularly Blacks and Hispanics, in this country, says a new report conducted by researchers at New York University’s Graduate School of Public Service.
According to the research conducted by the Women of Color Policy Network research center at NYU, the Recovery and Reinvestment Act will miss many Blacks and Hispanics due to their disproportionately high unemployment rates.
The unemployment rate for Black and Hispanics currently sits at 12.9 percent, NYU researchers say, which is significantly higher than the national average of 8.9 percent.
The aim of the $787 billion Act is to strengthen the nation’s economy, rebuild national infrastructure, provide direct support to individuals in need, and most importantly spur job creation. But even with the creation and maintenance of more than 3.5 million jobs, only about 900,000 will go to African-Americans and Hispanics, while even fewer will go to women of color, the report found.
