An interesting study by the Pew Charitable Trusts Economic Mobility Project, Neighborhoods and the Black-White Mobility, shows that living in a poor neighborhood negatively affects the future earnings of children. This, of course, has a disparate impact on African American children, since they are more likely than their white counterparts to live in a poor neighborhood. The report points out that between 1985 and 2000, 66 percent of African American children grew up in neighborhoods with a poverty rate of at least 20 percent. This is in contrast to just six percent of white children. According to the authors of the study, this also partially explains the fact that “middle class” African American children have a tougher time staying in or exceeding that socioeconomic status.

Economic mobility is one of the most crucial elements of the American dream, and without equal access to tools that allow for upward mobility, deeply entrenched inequalities will continue. This study reports that if black and white children grow up in neighborhoods with equal rates of poverty, the gap in downward mobility drops. Also, the study shows that when Black children live in neighborhoods with declining poverty rates, they are more likely to succeed in the future. In other words, when children grow up in healthy communities that support their development through quality resources, they do better. What a concept!

While this study is interesting and necessary in that is continues the scholarship that should inform the development of policies that bridge the black-white economic mobility gap, it is not a new story. In fact, it echoes a long history of opportunity that confirms the “separate and unequal” doctrine. Segregated neighborhoods that provide poor infrastructure and resources–not to mention a prevalence of liquor stores, check-cashing and payday loan centers–contribute to the structural inequality that undermines economic opportunity for African Americans, rendering them vulnerable to a form of economic slavery.

Policymakers should use this important study as an opportunity to adopt a holistic approach to community development. Instead of supporting gentrification efforts that dislocate poverty, policymakers should look for solutions that develop capacity, infrastructure and economic empowerment so as to chip away at poverty and the policies and practices that perpetuate it. For example, while President Obama seeks to support urban policy that replicates the Harlem Children’s Zone model, Congress should develop more rigorous regulations that prevent bank lenders, check-cashing and payday loan centers from preying on poor African American neighborhoods and locking them into cycles of poverty. Programs and other efforts should be in place to remove barriers to employment for people who live in poverty and for whom additional barriers (i.e. criminal record) present a huge hurdle to breaking out of poverty. With dedication and creativity, however, we can eliminate these barriers and lead more people out of poverty and “up from” economic slavery.

Copyright 2009 Monique W. Morris

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