June 10, 2020 605 PM
The first point: The following figures were provided by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development before the pandemic economic collapse.
- The median Black family in the Twin Cities area earns $38,178 a year — which is less than half of the median white family income of $84,459 a year. This income inequality gap is one of the largest in the nation; only nearby Milwaukee, Wisconsin is worse. The state of Minnesota as a whole has the second biggest income inequality gap between Blacks and whites in the entire nation.
- Before the pandemic, the Black unemployment rate in Minnesota was at a historic low, but it was still double the white rate. In 2016, the Twin Cities area Black unemployment rate was more than three times the white unemployment rate.
- According to the most recent census data, the Black poverty rate in the Twin Cities area was 25.4%, which is over four times the white poverty rate of 5.9%. The Twin Cities area Black poverty rate is significantly higher than the national Black poverty rate of 22%, while the white poverty rate is significantly lower than the national one of 9%.
- While about three-quarters of white families in the Twin Cities own homes, only about one-quarter of Black families do. The area has a long history where “racial covenants” made it hard for Blacks to become homebuyers and live in white neighborhoods.
- In 2019, the incarceration rate of Blacks in the Twin Cities area was 11 times that of whites.
- The state of Minnesota has one of the nation’s worst education achievement gaps between Blacks and whites. In 2019, it ranked 50th when it comes to racial disparities in high school graduation rates.
The second point: In the digital age, one scene can have a dozen different viewpoints.
During a video conference with governors, President Tweet stated, “I saw what happened in Dallas, where they kicked a guy to death. I don’t know if he died or not, but if he didn’t, it’s a miracle. What they did to him, they were kicking him like I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” Trump said. “People don’t talk about that. They don’t talk about that. They’re talking about a lot of other things, but they don’t talk about that. But I saw what happened in Dallas. Those kids, they’re all on camera. They’re wise guys. It’s coming from the radical left. You know it, everybody knows it.”
In fact, he was not killed and a video from a different angle showed the man rushing a group of peaceful demonstrators with a machete. Some of the demonstrators scattered, while others attacked the man. He is now under police security.
The third point: June 15th is the last day to register to vote in the runoff Texas Democratic primary. Register so you can vote in the November general election. If you don’t vote, nothing changes.
