Excessive regulation stifles economic growth and has a disproportionate negative impact on small businesses. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that federal regulation alone costs the U.S. economy up to $1.9 trillion in lost productivity and added expenses. It estimates that the cost of regulation is...
One of the key goals of the Civil Rights Movement was to ensure that every black citizen had a voice in selecting elected officials at the federal, state and local level. That was the intent of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. “Every American citizen must have...
The church has long been the most important institution in the black community. During slavery, black churches founded by freedmen and freedwomen established schools for black children. They fought slavery and provided shelter to many fleeing slavery. During reconstruction, black churches sent missionaries to teach former...
The influx of millions of people into our country illegally has strained public services and placed a disproportionate burden on black communities. In education, black students are more likely to suffer the consequences of expanding class sizes to accommodate immigrants than are white students. According to a...
Federal, state and local excise taxes hurt blacks disproportionately because they require the poor to pay a higher portion of their incomes in taxes. Excise taxes include gasoline taxes. They also include so-called “sin taxes” that are imposed ostensibly to curb consumption of unhealthy products such...
Law enforcement agencies have become too focused on revenue-generating activities. These activities have not only hurt minorities disproportionately, but strained relationships between police departments and the communities they serve. Fines, fees and forfeitures are tools that were intended to help officers fight crime. But because they also...
The failure of K-12 school systems in preparing black students for college is compounded further by college admissions and support practices that set black students up to fail. Colleges are admitting many black students who are unprepared for rigorous college environments. They’re often accepted with lower...
Improving neighborhood safety and protecting businesses located in black communities is critically important to improving the quality of life for blacks. But strained relations between law enforcement and black communities has made this difficult. In Baltimore, for example, homicides soared in the wake of criticism of...
Education is considered the key to upward mobility, yet many black students remain trapped in failing schools. And they are significantly more likely to be trapped in such schools than white students. In Newark, New Jersey, for example, where blacks make up over half the student population,...
Although the black unemployment rate is historically low, it is still nearly double the white unemployment rate. All too often, blacks are still denied jobs opportunities – not due to racism committed by individuals – but due to regulations that were created for the explicit purpose...