Today's Financial Racism Can Be Linked Back To “The Black Codes”

Close-up of US dollar bill
Alyssa Guzik
October 31, 2022

The Jim Crow era was horrendous for Black Americans, but economically it still isn’t over.

Jim Crow laws functioned as an  economic system which saw profit given to white men. After the abolition of slavery, angry racists enacted laws that kept Black people economically stunted.

These laws were about stripping away Black autonomy. Black workers received the worst and lowest-paying jobs. The Black Codes led to tens of thousands of our people being arrested and ultimately, forced into labor camps where their FREE labor was used to help white men profit. 

The passage of civil rights laws in the1960s didn't stop the economic blowback of Jim Crow. Those laws didn’t make things right.

The wealth gap exists because the financial system works against us. Black people are kept from higher-paying jobs,  lending discrimination continues, and the system keeps finding ways to keep us unable to  experience upward mobility.

Even as we continue to try and climb out of the economic pit that white supremacy has forced us into, it's clear that the cards have long been stacked against us. Our best bet is to start by working together for our liberation.

We have a quick favor to ask:

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