Facts - Unsubstantiated?

Stefano Esposito/Sun-Times August 10, 2020

I do not condone rioting and looting.  I have seen this up close while living in Baltimore. 
When rioting and looting occurs everyone loses – the looters, the store owners, the community, the police, and the politicians.
 
There has been no national or statewide plan or initiative put forth to address any of the grievances on social justice.  The congress cannot put together a plan that supports the people  at the bottom of the economic ladder, regardless of their race or ethnicity.  Those suffering the longest will have the greatest outcry – violence, looting, and riots.  By any measure, it is the Black community that has been suffering the longest.  Expect the long hot summer of unrest to extend right into the fall.
 
The facts underscore the reasons for the explosion of anger and violence seen in Chicago.  It is a precursor for unrest in more cities with large, concentrated Black populations in the coming months.  How long should the American people expect Black folks to wait for resolution of the social justice grievances to be addressed while there is persistent unemployment and underemployment across the country?  Add to that the trauma of the disproportionate number of Covid-19 deaths in the Black community.  Quite frankly, I am surprised that we have not seen these events take place before now.

Let’s consider the facts surrounding the Black community in Chicago and the country in general.
 

1. According to Fortune’s survey back in May 2020: 24% of Black workers report they have lost their jobs and another 31% have seen cuts to their hours compared to 11% and 28% respectively for Whites.
2. The unemployment rate among Black workers has been greater than 10% in 405 months or 69.6% of the time since the US Bureau of Labor Statistics started calculating it in 1972 (Fortune, Lance Lambert, July 6 2020).
3. For those that successfully applied for unemployment, the additional $600 per week provided by the federal government ended a week ago.  There is no extension to this additional money in sight.
4. While Black Lives Matter and other grass root organizations have marched in protest for months, no concrete measures to address the racial justice inequity for Black people has been  presented in any major city or any state in America.
5. The state of Illinois has now reported 194,080 cases overall and 7,636 confirmed deaths.  It is expected to continue to rise.
6. Overall, the death rates of Blacks in all age groups is higher relative to our percent of the population than any other race or ethnic group.

Looting and rioting is the outcry from people who have been ignored.  What is the response going to be?  If it is more robust policing and incarceration, the cycle continues unabated.
 
There has been no national or statewide plan or initiative put forth to address any of the grievances on social justice.  The congress cannot put together a plan that support the people  at the bottom on the economic ladder regardless of their race or ethnicity.  Those suffering the longest will have the greatest outcry – violence, looting, and riots.  By any measure, it is the Black community that has been suffering the longest.  Expect the long hot summer of unrest to extend right into the fall.