Biden-Harris Administration advanced equity and opportunity for Black Americans (Photo/APNews)
By Karen Stokes
Over the past three years, President Biden and Vice President Harris have leveraged the full force of the Federal Government to advance racial justice and equity and ensure the promise of America for all communities, including Black Americans, across the country.
With the support of these efforts, Black Americans are starting new businesses, creating jobs, buying homes, and taking advantage of increased education opportunities at historic rates—contributing to a 60% increase in wealth compared to before the pandemic.
Both Biden and Harris are committed to investing in the future of Black communities, addressing issues like entrepreneurship, child poverty, healthcare, voting rights, police accountability, and education, including historic funding for HBCUs. This has led to the lowest Black unemployment rate and positive strides in various areas.
Through legislative victories like the American Rescue Plan and executive orders on racial equity, the Biden-Harris Administration is ensuring federal investments flow equitably to address economic inequities. Results from the Investing in America agenda are already evident.
The results from the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision includes:
- A historic economic recovery that created 2.6 million jobs for Black workers—and achieved both the lowest Black unemployment rate on record and the lowest gap between Black and White unemployment on record.
- Black wealth is up by 60% relative to pre-pandemic—the largest increase on record.
- Cut in half the number of Black children living in poverty in 2021 through ARP’s Child Tax Credit expansion.
- Achieved the fastest creation rate of Black-owned businesses in more than 30 years
- Created the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will invest in clean energy projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
- Delivered a historic investment of over $7 billion to support HBCUs.
- Increased Black enrollment in health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act by 49%
- Supported small and disadvantaged businesses through CHIPS Act funding by requiring funding applicants to develop a workforce plan to create equitable pathways for economically disadvantaged individuals in their region, as well as a plan to support procurement from small, minority-owned, veteran-owned, and women-owned businesses.”
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act are expanding economic opportunity to urban and rural communities in every corner of the U.S.” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo at a conference.