Commonwealth Magazine: Private sector needs to honor King’s memory
As we lionize the work and legacy of Dr. King, and celebrate the work of public sector and unions to uplift the middle class, it cannot be missed that our private sector has done nothing to create pathways to success for them.
According to a recent report published by Demos, half of Latinos and 61 percent of black workers in Massachusetts public sector jobs earn wages adequate to sustain a family. Compare that to 27 percent of Latinos and 35 percent of workers in the private sector who are black, and the picture is clear: on average, private industry fails to provide sustainable wages for historically marginalized communities.
In an op-ed published in CommonWealth Magazine, Rev. Mariama White-Hammond writes about how Demos’ report concludes that the private sector has failed our middle class.
