Guest Commentator

Meizhu Lui

Meizhu Lui is the Executive Director of United for a Fair Economy. She is co-author of the forthcoming book, The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide (New Press, June 2006). United for a Fair Economy is an independent national organization that raises awareness of the damaging consequences of concentrated wealth and power. Home contents menu

3 pieces

Guest Commentary

Chitlin’ Jobs: Black Folks Get Diminishing Scraps

By Meizhu Lui Guest Commentator

Slaves got the animal parts that their masters thought were unfit for whitefolks to eat. Pig intestines, it turned out, became an African American delicacy: chitlin’s. They also got the jobs unfit for white folks. Even after slavery ended, they have gotten jobs only after whites have had the first pickin’s. Unfortunately, there is no…

Slaves got the animal parts that their masters thought were unfit for whitefolks to eat. Pig intestines, it turned out, became an African American delicacy: chitlin’s.…

Continue reading 6 min

Guest Commentary

Stalling the Dream: Racial Gaps in the Car Culture

By Meizhu Lui Guest Commentator

Fifty years ago, the late Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, catalyzing history-making events. Imagine, however, if Rosa Parks had lived in New Orleans in September 2005 and was trying to escape from the gathering clouds of Hurricane Katrina. Would she have jumped in her car? Would she…

Fifty years ago, the late Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, catalyzing history-making events. Imagine, however, if Rosa Parks…

Continue reading 7 min

Commentary

Doubly Divided: The Racial Wealth Gap

By Meizhu Lui Guest Commentator

The vast racial gap in wealth is the product of centuries of easily documented U.S. public policy, yet willful denial of this history allows the debate over wealth disparities to revolve around bogus questions of culture. In effect, the myriad crimes of the U.S. government against Native Americans, Blacks, Latinos and Asians – policies designed…

The vast racial gap in wealth is the product of centuries of easily documented U.S. public policy, yet willful denial of this history allows the debate…

Continue reading 17 min