Poll: Washington D.C. Has Least Racial Equality in USA

The personal finance website WalletHub released the results of an analysis, “State Economies with the Most Racial Equality,” focused on the unemployment rates — 6.2 percent for blacks compared to 3.2 percent for whites — and other gaps.

But the analysis also revealed that Washington, DC, is at the bottom of the list (Number 51) in most equality categories. The analysis looked at all 50 states and D.C.

“In order to determine which states have the most racial equality in terms of employment and wealth, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across eight key metrics,” the press release on the analysis said. “Our data compares the difference between white and black Americans in areas such as annual income, unemployment rate and homeownership rate.”

And, ironically, demographics in the nation’s capital are a plurality black, at 45.39 percent. And the vast majority of people in all races in D.C. are Democrat — 91 percent, according to the New York Times.

Demonstrators protests the death of George Floyd near Lafayette Square across the White House on June 2, 2020 in Washington, DC.D - Anti-racism protests have put several US cities under curfew to suppress rioting, following the death of George Floyd in police custody. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Demonstrators protests the death of George Floyd near Lafayette Square across the White House on June 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Here are the categories where D.C. came in dead last:

Median annual income gap
Labor-force participation rate gap
Unemployment rate gap
Homeless rate gap

D.C. was number one in only one category: Homeownership rate gap. North Dakota came in last in that category.

In the overall equality rating, the top ten are Alaska, New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, Texas, Washington, Florida, South Dakota, Kentucky, and Colorado.

The analysis asked the website’s experts, “Why does the District of Columbia’s economy rank last for racial equality?”

“The reasons why the District of Columbia’s economy ranks last for racial equality include the fact that it has the highest gap between the percent of white and black company executives in the country, as well as the highest unemployment-rate gap,” Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst, said. “The District of Columbia has one of the highest gaps in the poverty rate between white people and black people, as well.”

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