Race and Reckoning
The Washington Post Democracy Dies in Darkness
Economy

The black-white economic divide is as wide as it was in 1968

14 charts show how deep the economic gap is and how little it has changed in decades. The covid-19 recession is also hitting black families and business owners far harder than whites.

Analysis by
and 
June 4, 2020 at 9:19 a.m. EDT
Hundreds of activists protesting the death of George Floyd marched to the White House from 14th and U streets in Washington, D.C. on May 29, 2020. Many held up their hands and chanted "Hands up, don't shoot!" (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

As Black Lives Matter protests grow across the nation over policing, the deep economic inequalities that African Americans face are coming to the forefront.

In many ways, the gap between the finances of blacks and whites is still as wide in 2020 as it was in 1968, when a run of landmark civil rights legislation culminated in the Fair Housing Act in response to centuries of unequal treatment of African Americans in nearly every part of society and business.