WHY DOES THE NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE PUBLISH AN EQUALITY INDEX?

Economic empowerment is the central theme of the National Urban League’s mission. The Equality Index gives us a way to document progress toward this mission for Black and Hispanic Americans relative to whites.

WHAT IS THE EQUALITY INDEX TRYING TO DO?

The Equality Index uses pie charts to show how well Black Americans are doing in comparison to whites when it comes to their economic status, their health, their education, social justice, and civic engagement.

The Equality Index measures the share of that pie which African Americans get.

Whites are used as the benchmark because the history of race in America has created advantages for whites that continue to persist in many of the outcomes being measured.

THE 2022 EQUALITY INDEX OF BLACK AMERICA IS 73.9%. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

That means that rather than having a whole pie (100%), which would mean full equality with whites in 2022, African Americans are missing about 26% of the pie.

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