(BCN) — An area economist startled by the staggering disparities pushing African Americans to the margins in Santa Clara County is launching a video and podcast challenge hoping to carry extra consideration to the problem.

Chuck Cantrell’s “Dying to Stay Here” video was formally launched at CreaTV studios in San Jose earlier this month. The roughly nine-minute movie overviews racist societal buildings and enterprise cycles that disproportionately punish African Americans in the costly Silicon Valley, making it tougher to stay in the area.

“Marginalized people are the canaries in an economic coal mine. African Americans are singing a song,” Cantrell advised San Jose Spotlight.

Cantrell, an African American economist and San Jose planning commissioner, evaluated 18 completely different units of public information centered on well being, employment, toddler mortality, faculty populations, wealth gaps and unhoused populations, amongst different areas.

“It’s publicly available data, I didn’t do anything people can’t go and discover on their own,” Cantrell stated.

Employment Disparities

One of the starkest disparities Cantrell highlights in the challenge are employment traits. He stated since 1974, every time African Americans attain full employment in the labor market, a recession usually follows.

He keys in on a enterprise follow referred to as “last in, first out,” the place the latest workers at an organization are sometimes the primary to be let go or laid off in a recession.

He stated the follow has in impact change into a racist development, as African Americans are the final labor group to achieve full employment in booming economies, and the group with probably the most extreme unemployment figures as quickly as a recession strikes, based mostly on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics information. African Americans, for instance, skilled roughly double the speed of unemployment of white staff in current recessions, together with in 1983, 1992, 2003 and 2010.

At the height of the pandemic in spring 2020, Hispanic or Latino staff had the best share of unemployment, about two factors greater than African Americans. But by summer season 2020 and since then, African Americans have skilled the best unemployment ranges, successfully double that of white staff in 2022.

Cantrell added that incomes are inclined to lower extra for African Americans later rejoining the labor market than different teams.

“So it’s literally last in, first out, and you do that twice here, with diminishing wages and lower savings because you spent everything you had to survive, and after two cycles, it’s nearly impossible to live here,” Cantrell stated.

Pushed To The Edge

Cantrell stated for 3 many years there’s been a constant decline of African Americans in Santa Clara County, who now make up lower than 3% of the area’s inhabitants.

At the identical time, African Americans account for about 18% of the county’s homeless inhabitants. Hundreds of unhoused people die on the streets annually in the county, with mortality charges as excessive as 20%, Cantrell stated.

“We’re not leaving, we’re literally dying to stay here,” Cantrell stated in the video.

If the traits do not change, his evaluation signifies that inside 35 years, the area may very well be going through “essentially the extinction of African Americans.”

The uneven taking part in discipline for African Americans in Santa Clara County highlighted by Cantrell resonates with the Rev. Jethroe Moore II, president of the NAACP San Jose/Silicon Valley, who has advocated for years for modifications to enhance fairness. He, too, has confronted financial challenges in the expensive space.

“His is another voice, another way of crying out, for the same thing we are showing you on paper,” Moore advised San Jose Spotlight of Cantrell’s challenge. “We are seeing something happen to one subset of people, it’s only so long before it starts happening to others.”

He stated Cantrell’s challenge suits into a bigger image of a broad devaluation of African Americans by the town, county and personal companies, which has been referred to as out in a number of reviews and research, and collated in paperwork such because the annual Silicon Valley Pain Index.[

Devaluation of African Americans

Some of the most recent numbers from the index show that 26% of African American or Black residents own a home in Santa Clara County compared to 63% of white residents. This gap has widened since 2015 when it was 35% to 60%.

White workers with a bachelor’s degree receive 62% average higher compensation for their work in comparison to African American workers with a bachelor’s degree in the region. Meanwhile, about 16% of African Americans in the county are in poverty, compared to Vietnamese Americans at 10%, Latinos at 9%, Filipinos at 7%, Korean at 5%, whites at 5% and Asian Indian at 2%.

“If people are continually telling you about or warning you about something, and you’re not doing something as a county or city, it’s neglectful on your part,” Moore said.

In addition to economic inequities, Moore said the history and contributions of African Americans have been destroyed, ignored or undervalued in the county and the state as a whole, leading to “cultural deserts” where African Americans feel isolated.

“It’s the inner stress that we have that kills us, it’s the stress of being alone, it’s the stress of not being recognized or being heard,” Moore said.

Cantrell said while the short video project is mostly designed to get more people thinking about the issues and help spark dialogue, it isn’t focused on solutions.

To more deeply explore the topics and data, Cantrell plans to launch an accompanying “Dying to Stay Here” podcast. It will feature interviews with local residents and experts in economics and health to discuss how the community and its leaders can step up to address the issues facing the African American community.

“There’s plenty to be done about it,” Cantrell said.

Moore said leaders need to take action now to address the exodus of African Americans from the region.

“If this community really wants to not just talk about diversity, equity and inclusion, but if they really want to practice it, they must ask themselves what can they do to stop the flight of (African Americans),” Moore said. “Why are we leaving?”

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