Measures of economic success often include household income, family savings,
educational attainment, homeownership, property values, employment, health, life
expectancy, and community incidence of violent crime. By almost any measure, African
Americans are at or near the bottom when they are compared to other demographic
groups. And although there are pockets of aff luent Black communities, such as Prince
George's County, Maryland near Washington, DC, too many predominantly African
American communities languish at or near the bottom. This book attempts to describe
the main causes of Black economic disparity, presents a plan to address the disparity,
and proposes a comprehensive plan of execution.
Essentially, the solution proposed is a Plan for Black Reparations. However, no fi nancial
payout to individual African Americans is proposed. What is advocated is signifi cant
reform in several of the community services used by and that aff ect African Americans.
These include access to mental health services, reforms in the delivery of childcare,
welfare, educational, and criminal justice services to the Black community; incentives
for both Black marriage and home ownership, and fi nancial literacy. The execution of
the plan involves pre-qualifi cation and a strict adherence to basic bookkeeping and
time-honored business practices; following a prescribed set of rules and regulations to
ensure fi nancial transparency and a set of measurable goals to make sure that the Plan
is moving toward closing the gaps in African American economic disparity.
