Treasury Yellen sees “much more work” ahead of it to reduce the division of racial wealth.

Author: Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury has taken important steps to address the long-standing economic injustices suffered by Americans of color over the past year, but still has “much more work” to do before reducing racial wealth divisions, Finance Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday.

Yellen said at a meeting hosted by Rector Al Sharpton and his National Action Network rights group that the Treasury was working on Martin Luther King Jr. to correct the economic wrongs expressed in the 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech by the deceased civil rights chief.

“He knew that the economic injustice he fought was linked to the greater injustice. From the Reconstruction to Jim Crow, to the present day, our economy has never functioned properly for black Americans, or really any Americans of color.” Yellen said he told her about a breakfast in honor of the king.

Jim Crow refers to the laws enacted in the Southern states in the decades following the U.S. Civil War 1861-65 to legalize racial segregation and deprive black citizens of their rights.

Last year, he said, the Treasury completed its first heritage review, hired the most diverse leadership team ever, and appointed its first adviser on racial equity while building a COVID-19 rescue plan to better serve communities of color.

In addition, the Treasury also pumped $ 9 billion into Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Deposit Institutions as the corporation tried to become more involved in these organizations and underserved communities.

“Of course, there are no programs and no one can live up to Dr. King’s expectations and wishes for our country,” Yellen said. “There is still a lot more work to be done by the Treasury to reduce the division of racial wealth.”

White House data show that white households in the United States accounted for 85.5% of the U.S. wealth in 2019, even though they accounted for 60% of the population, blacks accounted for 4.2%, and Latinos for 3.1%. Those numbers have changed little compared to 30 years ago, according to USAFacts.org, a non-profit nonprofit organization.