When I started my life in public service four decades ago, it was to tear down the barriers that hold people back from developing their talents and achieving their dreams. That’s what I’m still fighting for today.
But more than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King marched and John Lewis bled, race still plays too big a part in determining who gets ahead in America—and who gets left behind.
In America today, one in three Black men will go to prison in their lifetime. African American women earn 64 cents and Latina women 56 cents for every dollar a White man earns. African Americans are nearly three times more likely to be denied a mortgage as whites. The median Black family has just eight percent the wealth of the median White family. Two-thirds of children living in poverty today are African American or Latino. And Black children are 500 percent more likely to die from asthma than White kids.
We need a new and comprehensive commitment to equity and opportunity for communities of color. That means making major new investments to create jobs and economic opportunity, ensure equal pay for women, and end redlining in housing once and for all. It means strengthening access to credit, promoting entrepreneurship, and making it easier to start and grow a business. It means replacing the school-to-prison pipeline with a cradle-to-college pipeline, so every child can live up to his or her God-given potential.
Read more at EBONY http://www.ebony.com/news-views/exclusive-hillary-clinton-outlines-plan-to-strengthen-communities-of-color-998#ixzz3qilka0NE
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