What do FDR's New Deal and Obama's Economic Stimulus Plan have in common?
Unfortunately, a lot. A recent report by the Kirwan Institute on Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University projects that the relief purposed to come from the Economic Stimulus Plan will not benefit all groups to the same degree. Because of the racial stratification of occupations and employment opportunities, the jobs created in the stimulus package are designed for industries where blacks, in particular, are underrepresented (e.g., the construction industry). In parallel fashion, the handouts of the New Deal disproportionately fell in the hands of white middle class America , as it funded the seeds of suburbanization and the post-World War II White Flight phenomenon through the National Housing Act of 1934 implemented by the Federal Housing Administration. These government handouts are largely responsible for the large black-white gap in wealth we still see today. Fortunately, unlike the 20s, we currently have laws that criminalize racial discrimination in hiring and wage allotmen...