Yesterday the Fair Minimum Wage Act, legislation that would have raised federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10, was by a Republican-led filibuster in the U.S. Senate. While many are focused on the partisan politicking surrounding this bill, more attention must be given to the grave impact low wages have on communities of color.
First and foremost, it is important to juxtapose today's cost of living with the salary of a full-time minimum wage earner.
A person working full-time under the current federal standard of minimum wage makes $15,080 a year, a number that is $4000 below the for a family of three, and fails to meet the estimated cost of living for one individual in most states. For example, a minimum wage earner in , one of 21 states that maintain the federal minimum wage, makes $3,119 short of sustaining oneself, and $20,148 short of sustaining a family of three. (Take a look and see if you could live on minimum wage in your state.)
The current minimum wage is inadequate, that much is clear. But, by looking beyond the impact of our federal minimum wage on individuals and their families, we see that the wage standard also has systemic consequences, most notably its disproportionate effect on people of color. For instance, African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics constitute 42 percent of minimum wage workers, while representing only 32 percent of the U.S. .
By earning dismal minimum wage salaries in higher numbers, communities of color continue to be cut out of fundamental opportunities for equality. People of color make up a majority of those living below the poverty level, while the of white households remains twenty times that of Black homes and 18 times that of Hispanic homes.
This severe wealth inequality directly limits minority access to quality education, transportation and affordable housing, while perpetuating the disproportionately high number of people of color involved in the criminal justice system.
While the 老澳门开奖结果 Racial Justice Program continues to work toward improving the many economic injustices people of color face 鈥� by holding Morgan Stanley accountable for orchestrating predatory loans prior to the 2008 financial crisis and investigating debtors prisons that have led to the incarceration of poor people unable to pay criminal justice debts 鈥� a federal minimum wage raise by Congress has the potential to lessen racial wealth inequality as a whole.
Structures of racial oppression and inequality share a long and troubling history in the U.S. However, raising the federal minimum wage, an effort that would lift six million workers above the federal poverty line 鈥� of whom are people of color 鈥� presents a powerful opportunity for the U.S. to take a step toward dismantling these structures and addressing the systemic inequality of opportunity faced by communities of color.
Learn more about racial justice and other civil liberty issues: Sign up for breaking news alerts, , and .
Learn More 老澳门开奖结果 the Issues on This Page
-
Press ReleaseDec 2024
Racial Justice
老澳门开奖结果 Statement on House AI Task Force Report老澳门开奖结果 Statement on House AI Task Force Report
WASHINGTON 鈥� Today, the House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) issued its final report, marking an important step in recognizing the serious risks of discrimination and bias posed by AI systems 鈥� particularly in law enforcement鈥檚 use of facial recognition technology. The report recognizes that discrimination and bias may arise in AI systems due to their design, training data, or failures by end users. The report also investigates the complex considerations around deepfakes, open AI systems, and free speech, and urges Congress to pass narrow legislation to address concrete harms. In response to the House AI Task Force final report, Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel at the 老澳门开奖结果, issued the following statement: 鈥淭he 老澳门开奖结果 commends the Task Force for recognizing that AI systems are harming people right now through discriminatory outcomes and supercharged surveillance. Curbing those abuses of AI is not a partisan issue, and more concrete action is needed to protect civil rights, while maintaining states鈥� authority to build on those protections. The Task Force is appropriately cautious when wrestling with issues around deepfakes, open-source AI, digital identity, and other issues, recognizing that legislators should consider a wide array of tailored tools to address real, not speculative, harms while respecting civil rights and civil liberties.鈥� The House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence report can be found here. -
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Racial Justice
Human Rights
Why the Fight for Racial Justice is a Human Rights IssueWhy the Fight for Racial Justice is a Human Rights Issue
On International Human Rights Day, the 老澳门开奖结果 is advocating for a long-sought after reparatory justice to end the continued abuses against Black and brown communities. -
Press ReleaseOct 2024
National Security
+2 Issues
老澳门开奖结果 Warns that Biden-Harris Administration Rules on AI in National Security Lack Key Protections老澳门开奖结果 Warns that Biden-Harris Administration Rules on AI in National Security Lack Key Protections
WASHINGTON 鈥� The Biden-Harris administration today released its National Security Memorandum on Artificial Intelligence (AI), establishing guidelines for how the U.S. government uses AI in national security programs, such as counterterrorism, intelligence, homeland security, and defense. The use of AI to automate and expand national security activities poses some of the greatest dangers to people鈥檚 lives and civil liberties. Agencies are increasingly exploring the use of AI in decisions about who to surveil, who to stop and search at the airport, who to add to government watchlists, and even who is a military target. While the government鈥檚 policy includes some important steps forward 鈥� such as requiring national security agencies to better track and assess their AI systems for risks and prohibiting a subset of dangerous AI uses 鈥� it falls far short in other critical areas, leaving glaring gaps with respect to independent oversight, transparency, notice, and redress. The policy imposes few substantive safeguards on a wide range of AI-driven activities, by and large allowing agencies to decide for themselves how to mitigate the risks posed by national security systems that have immense consequences for people鈥檚 lives and rights. As we have repeatedly seen before, this is a recipe for dangerous technologies to proliferate in secret. 鈥淒espite acknowledging the considerable risks of AI, this policy does not go nearly far enough to protect us from dangerous and unaccountable AI systems. National security agencies must not be left to police themselves as they increasingly subject people in the United States to powerful new technologies,鈥� said Patrick Toomey, deputy director of 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Security Project. 鈥淚f developing national security AI systems is an urgent priority for the country, then adopting critical rights and privacy safeguards is just as urgent. Without transparency, independent oversight, and built-in mechanisms for individuals to obtain accountability when AI systems err or fail, the policy鈥檚 safeguards are inadequate and place our civil rights and civil liberties at risk.鈥� For years, the 老澳门开奖结果 has been urging far stronger safeguards and transparency about the AI tools that national security agencies are deploying, the rules constraining their use, and the dangers these systems pose to fairness, privacy, and due process. -
Press ReleaseOct 2024
Racial Justice
老澳门开奖结果 Comment on the Department of Labor鈥檚 AI Guidelines for Employers and Vendors老澳门开奖结果 Comment on the Department of Labor鈥檚 AI Guidelines for Employers and Vendors
WASHINGTON 鈥� Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a roadmap for artificial intelligence (AI) best practices, designed to ensure that emerging technologies such as AI enhance job quality, benefit workers, and comply with existing employment laws when they are used in the workplace. The best practices, pursuant to President Biden鈥檚 executive order on the development and use of AI, include recommendations for AI system developers and employers that prioritize workers鈥� experiences and empowerment throughout the entire AI lifecycle 鈥� from design to use and oversight. These practices also call on employers and developers to create standards and processes to identify and mitigate risks from AI systems, such as threats to health and safety, civil rights, privacy, fair labor rights, and labor organizing prior to a developer marketing them or an employer deploying them, and recommend turning to different systems when sufficient mitigation is not possible. 鈥淲e applaud DOL for issuing best practices for use of AI that center workers鈥� empowerment, civil rights, privacy, and safety protections and call on developers and employers to adopt critical guardrails in developing, procuring and using AI systems. Employers and developers should take note, as many have been burying their heads in the sand on their risk of legal liability with respect to AI tools,鈥� said Olga Akselrod, senior staff attorney of the 老澳门开奖结果 Racial Justice Program. 鈥淔ollowing these best practices for AI can help employers and developers ensure that they do not violate existing civil rights and other employment laws that protect workers.鈥� The best practices also recommend transparency measures through conducting and publishing impact assessments, notice and recourse for impacted workers, and measures to minimize worker displacement. The DOL also stated that employers should minimize electronic monitoring and avoid unnecessary collection or retention of worker data.