MLK Day 2015: The Nightmare Intensifies

One year ago, I described the economic conditions for African-Americans as Dr. King’s nightmare. Inequality in America had reached the point where the nation’s richest 400 families held as much wealth as the entire African-American population, some 41 million people.

A terrible reality, but compared to the reality facing blacks on the streets of America’s cities, maybe not the most pressing.

Identifying the nightmarish situation for Black America no longer requires a deep dive into economic data. It’s right there on the surface, for all to see. Events in Ferguson and New York reveal an America stuck in its ugly, discriminatory past.

Is there a connection? Does the economic injustice visited upon blacks in America foster the brutality to which they are subjected? In a word: Yes. The lack of black economic power translates into a lack of political might, leaving the black community powerless to confront white police aggression through traditional channels.

Does it work in the other direction as well, with the treatment of blacks by law enforcement perpetuating their economic plight? Yes again. Blacks with criminal records find themselves systematically shut out of job opportunities.

Is there a vicious cycle here, where economic injustice gives rise to police aggression and discrimination, which in turn makes economic conditions for blacks worse? Seems to be.

Unfortunately, the economic plight of blacks in America is worsening.

Last year, I equated the wealth of Black America to that of the Forbes 400. More recent data suggests Blacks in America are in far worse shape. Slate recently reported that if you don’t count vehicles and other durable goods as wealth, half of all black households in America have a net worth of $1,700 or less. In other words, black America is broke.

At the epicenter of the economic crisis for blacks in America are young black males, the same young black males who bear the brunt of white police aggression. The unemployment rate for young black men hovers around 25 percent. Black college grads are twice as likely as others to be unemployed. One in three black men can expect to spend time in prison at some point. Black men are almost four times as likely as others to experience the use of force in encounters with police.

Protests in the wake of the non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases still rage. They must continue to rage. And they must expand in scope, to shine a bright light on the economic injustice from which blacks in America suffer today.

Which leads us back to Martin Luther King. It was the wave of protests King led that brought an end to the overt discrimination blacks faced in America. It will take another wave of protests to bring an end to the nightmare black America faces today.

Will a 21^st century Martin Luther King rise up to lead those protests? Maybe, but the first step must be black ex-prisoners and unemployed young blacks leading collectively, through social media. Today’s hash tags are yesterday’s picket signs.

Could the unnecessary, brutal deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner lead to real progress for blacks in America? Time will tell. If the protest movement arising from those horribly wrong deaths mushrooms, there is hope.

And that hope need not be limited to members of the African-American community. At the time of his death, Dr. King’s message was beginning to resonate with all Americans suffering from economic injustice. Today, tens of millions of Americans of all races suffer the same economic obstacles black Americans do. Those Americans, over half of the country’s population could be marching in lockstep with the African-American community, demanding an end to America’s suffocating economic inequality.