Essence: Joy-Ann Reid, Richard Lawson, Yesha Callahan, and Dr. Walter Kimbrough took to the Essence Fest Power Stage to Discuss Ways Black Children Can Get Ahead.
In the United States, predominantly white school districts receive $23 billion more in funding than non-white schools, according to an EdBuild report. That financial disparity contributes greatly to the nation’s economic divide, leaving the Black community in search of educational opportunities that will help youth better compete with their White counterparts.
On Friday, actor Richard Lawson, MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid and Dillard University’s Dr. Walter Kimbrough joined ESSENCE News and Politics Director, Yesha Callahan on stage at Essence Festival to discuss the disparities in more detail. Not surprising, HBCUs and community colleges were named as a possible way forward for the Black community.
“The reality is that if you looked at the amount of money that Black people pour into this system we would be the 15th largest country in the world. So that tells us that we have a buying power,” Lawson said of the economic wealth in Black communities. “So hopefully in some way, if there is some kind of think tank, some kind of group of educators and then venture capitalists who can direct the money that we make and power that we have towards Black children, a great difference can be made.”
For many Black students, wealth is a determining factor for attending an institution of higher learning. It’s why Joy-Ann Reid says that college can be “a complicated issue.” Though a four-year institution helps Black graduates get ahead in the workforce, student loans after a 12-year period prove that it can also contribute to our overall wealth. Kimbrough noted that White men pay off 44 percent of their college loan within the first 12 years of graduating. In that time, Black women’s loans have increased by 13 percent.