Why Truth & Reconciliation Can’t Wait

Our country has made deeply meaningful progress since the Civil Rights Movement. But progress and healing are rarely linear. Today, truth-telling has become controversial, and repair has been politicized.

Still, the need for healing has never been greater. Many of the disparities rooted in our history of slavery continue to shape the opportunities available to families today. This is a measurable reality.

Compared to white Americans, Black Americans:

• Hold just 15 cents for every dollar of white household wealth. The median Black household holds $44,100 in wealth compared to $284,310 for the median white household, a gap that has actually grown in dollar terms even as Black wealth has increased in recent years.
• Have a lower life expectancy, with Black men living an average of 5.2 years less than white men and Black women 3.1 years less. Within cities, those disparities can be devastating. In Chicago, the life expectancy in the wealthy Streeterville neighborhood is 90 years old, but just 9 miles away in the South Side neighborhood of Englewood, it is just 60.
• Experience nearly twice the unemployment rate of white Americans, with the Black-to-white unemployment ratio holding at approximately 2-to-1 through 2024.
• Are 54% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease and more than 3 times as likely to die in childbirth, with a 2024 maternal mortality rate of 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 14.2 for white women — a gap that has widened in recent years, not narrowed.
• Are significantly less likely to receive mental health treatment. Among adults who report poor mental health, white adults are far more likely to have received services in the past three years (50% vs. 39% for Black adults). Only 4% of U.S. psychologists are Black, and Black Americans are nearly twice as likely as white Americans to be uninsured.
• Will earn substantially less over their lifetimes, a disparity confirmed in research published in 2024, driven by compounding gaps in both income and life expectancy that have persisted across generations.
• Are less likely to hold a college degree. Approximately 30% of Black Americans over 25 have earned at least a bachelor's degree, compared to 39% of white Americans.
• Are nearly 38% less likely to own a home, and Black mortgage applicants are 1.7 times more likely to be denied a home loan than all applicants.
• Are incarcerated at 5 to 6 times the rate of white Americans and receive federal sentences averaging 13% longer for comparable offenses, and Black youth are 5.6 times more likely to be placed in juvenile facilities than their white peers.

In America, the remnants of slavery don’t live only in history books. They live in policy gaps, hospital rooms, courtrooms, and ZIP codes. With a concerted national effort around truth and reconciliation, we believe America can heal.

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