Why are disparities widening for African Americans in Chicago?

The promise of America is that all citizens should have the ability to live the American Dream. In Chicago and throughout America, the dream has become elusive for the vast majority of African Americans. Interestingly, nearly 60 years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his celebrated “I Have a Dream” speech, which challenged the conscience of the nation to live up to its commitment to African Americans, progress has been stagnant. The data shows racial disparities are getting worse.

The following startling facts reveal how disparities are rising for African Americans in Chicago, Illinois and nationwide:

• Last year, the Chicago Department of Health reported that for the first time in decades, life expectancy for African American Chicagoans fell below 70 years old. In 2020, the gap in life expectancy between African American and white residents was 10 years, an increase from 8.8 years in 2017.

• The U.S. homicide rate for African American boys ages 16 to 17 was 18 times higher than that of white boys, a study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in 2022 stated.

• The poverty rate for Black Chicagoans in 1960 was 29.7%; today, it is about 34%.

• The median income for African American households in Chicago is less than $36,000 a year, while white households is more than $82,000 a year, the Chicago Urban League’s annual “State of Black Chicago” report for 2023 shows.

• According to the Urban League’s 2023 report, the unemployment rate for African American Chicagoans is more than 16%. For white residents, it is a little less than 11%. The jobless rate among African American teens, 16 to 19 years old, in Chicago was 87% in 2021 compared with 67% of all U.S. teens, a University of Illinois at Chicago study found.

• According to the Illinois State Board of Education, the achievement gap between Black and white students is 36 percentage points.

• The African American population in Chicago has dropped to 29.2%, but a city of Chicago disparity study from 2021 revealed that African American firms received only 7.7% of city prime contracts and subcontracts between 2015 and 2019. Hispanic- and Asian-owned businesses fared much better at 17.1% and 16.4%, respectively.

• A 2022 state report found African Americans made up only 1% of majority owners of marijuana dispensaries, while 88% of dispensaries in Illinois are white majority-owned. Illinois marijuana sales hit a record high of more than $1.5 billion last year.

• According to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, 65,611 people experienced homelessness in Chicago in 2020. The coalition reports that more than half of those experiencing homelessness are Black.

The Urban League’s report this year underscores vast disparities in income, unemployment, housing, homeownership, homelessness, education and health care.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in recognition of growing health disparities, created the Healthy People 2000 effort with a goal of reducing health disparities by 2000. When the agency failed to meet that goal, it created the Healthy People 2010 campaign. Health disparities persist. African Americans suffer disproportionately from heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, prostate cancer for men, breast cancer for women and much more.

Elected officials should be troubled by the widening inequities. During the 1990s economic boom, African American communities on the South and West sides remained trapped in poverty, according to the 2000 census. Between 1960 and 2010, median income for Black Chicagoans rose by only $24,571, whereas for white Chicagoans, it increased by $51,052, the Chicago Reader reported in 2013.

Elected leaders have failed to fully address glaring disparities that place African Americans first in many negative socioeconomic indicators. African American progress has moved at the pace of a tortoise. This is unacceptable, given all the political influence African Americans wield in key government positions, such as Illinois House speaker, U.S. House minority leader, Illinois lieutenant governor, Cook County Board president, Cook County state’s attorney and chief judge, and Chicago mayor.

The government finds money to deal with emergencies. For example, the city is spending $51 million to house migrants and provide for their welfare. The widening inequality affecting African Americans is an emergency.

Here are some common sense solutions to close the racial disparity gap and improve the quality of life for African Americans:

1. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle should declare a state of emergency regarding the disparities affecting African Americans. The declaration would free up state, local and federal funding to address the widening disparities.

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2. Pritzker, Johnson, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Preckwinkle and the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus should meet to address violence in African American communities. They should develop a plan and meet weekly to ensure that citizens in Chicago are safe.

3. Pritzker, Johnson, Preckwinkle, Welch and Lightfoot should announce a Healthy Illinois campaign focused on Chicago communities with the highest levels of poverty, unemployment and health disparities. They should mobilize health care assets to reduce disparities. They must address food deserts and ensure citizens have access to fruits and vegetables.

4. Pritzker, Johnson and Preckwinkle should retool the minority contracting programs. They should provide transparent reporting of racial contracting data quarterly and remove barriers for minority businesses to compete.

It is time to close the gaps that keep African Americans from attaining the American Dream. As long as African Americans continue to struggle with disparities, our city will not realize its full potential, and African Americans will not achieve the American Dream.

Willie Wilson is a business owner, philanthropist and former mayoral candidate.

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