Over the past two weeks, Americans struggled to make sense of tragic shootings that seemed disconnected at first glance. Anti-Semite James Von Brunn killed Stephen T. Johns, a black security guard at the Holocaust Museum. George Tiller's murder a few days earlier seemed to be about abortion, yet his shooter, Scott Roeder, also had roots in the racial purity movement. Yesterday, it was reported that the murders of Raul Flores and his daughter in Arizona were charged to three people with white supremacist ambitions.

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When General Motors filed for bankruptcy on Monday, it left behind a long trail of grievers -- twenty-one thousand of them. The loss of these good, union jobs and the many more that will be shed when related businesses close are devastating families and communities. For black workers, who are highly concentrated in the auto industry, these have long been some of the few reliable jobs that pay living wages, supplying families of color the with the possibility of entering the middle class.

Read the rest of the article at the Huffington Post. 

Seth Wessler, researcher and author of “Race and Recession: How Inequity Rigged the Economy and How to Change the Rules”, was recently a guest on ‘Voices from the edge.’

Applied Research Center Says Solving Structural Inequities will Alleviate Recession

To learn more and download the report, go to www.arc.org/recession

A report released today by the Applied Research Center (ARC), a racial justice think-tank, finds that an inclusive and equitable national economic recovery will require that the country address deep patterns of racial discrimination and disparities. The report, titled “Race & Recession,” found that numerous policies and institutional practices that create racial inequity are among the root causes of the subprime mortgage crisis and economic downturn.  While several economists and analysts have focused on the “what” and “how” questions behind the current recession, an in-depth analysis of income, unemployment, foreclosures, and public benefits brings the largely overlooked “who” into the analysis: Who were predatory loans targeted towards? Which Americans are losing jobs?

This weekend the New York Times reported that middle class families of color have been most hurt by the subprime crisis in New York City. The article confirms previous findings that show middle and upper income borrowers of color across the country are more likely to receive predatory, high cost loans than whites -- even low-income whites. As a result Black, Latino, Asian and American Indian families are burdened with the heaviest weight of foreclosures.

Read the full article at the Huffington Post. 

Analysts Review Obama’s First 100 Days

By CYNTHIA POST
www.atlantadailyworld.com

The Applied Research Center recently launched their analysis and report of President Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office, examining both highs and lows of policy decisions around race and the economy, health care, immigration, and civil rights.