30% Unemployment, Pre-Recession: Immigrant Communities Need Real Recovery

Last week, the world's central bankers got together for a little strategy session in Colorado, and declared that the recovery is on its way. This is the way it works with recessions. They ravage the world, leave millions hungry and homeless, and are eventually said to be 'over.'

For communities of color, 'recovery' can be a vapid term. People of color consistently face rates of unemployment higher than what whites experience in the worst recessions. Meanwhile, people of color in the labor market are pulling in wages of 60 cents for every dollar that white people earn. And, on top of all that, the safety net was dismantled long ago for those on the very bottom. If this is what recovery is going to look like, we've got a problem.

In this video, community organizer Shaw San Liu of San Francisco's Chinese Progressive Association explains what the inequitable economy means for her community -- before, during, and after the officially recognized recovery.

It's time we take seriously that some people are locked out from the onset and build a truly fair economy for everyone.

Check out arc.org/recession to learn more