Black Californians would need more than 248 years to close the socioeconomic gap with white residents at the current rate of progress, according to a new report from the UCLA Black Policy Project. The study, which builds on a landmark 2000 analysis, reveals persistent racial disparities across multiple sectors despite some improvements over the past two decades.
The report utilizes an “Equality Index” to measure outcomes in economics, housing, health, education, criminal justice, and civic engagement. While Black Californians saw a 21.7% improvement in overall socioeconomic outcomes from 2000 to 2020, they still scored 30% lower than white Californians across all measures, with an index score of 0.69 compared to the white baseline of 1.00.
“According to that rate of change, closing the racial gap between Black and white Californians would take over 248 years,” said Michael Stoll, faculty director of the Black Policy Project and author of the report.
The study also found that California’s Black population declined for the first time in decades, dropping from 2.2 million to 2.1 million. This decrease was particularly pronounced in major urban centers, with Oakland experiencing a 46% decline in Black residents.
Housing affordability emerged as a significant challenge, with Black homeownership declining by nearly 6% between 2000 and 2020. The median income for Black households remained stagnant while other ethnic groups saw increases of over $10,000 during the same period.
Despite these challenges, the report noted that targeted public policy actions, such as improving access to higher education courses and implementing criminal justice reforms, had positive impacts on outcomes for Black Californians.
See “Persistent socioeconomic gaps for Black Californians would take more than 248 years to close unless more is done: Report” (April 12, 2024)
