January 18, 2012 | 12:58 PM | By

Racial Gaps By Job, Education and Housing

Yesterday, we posted a fascinating infographic illustrating the state of Latino and Asian immigrants in D.C. Today, we’ve come across a few new charts from the Urban Institute that compare racial gaps in education, housing and jobs from four metro areas, including D.C.

Of the four places examined, the D.C. metro area has the narrowest black-white gap when it comes to home ownership. But the disparity grows wider when just looking at the District proper. For instance, nearly 50 percent of black households in the region own their homes. In D.C. alone, that percentage drops to 39 percent.


Martin Luther King Jr. fought not only for civil rights, but also for economic justice. At the time of his death, most American urban areas, in the North as well as in the South, were highly segregated and African Americans were denied equal access to good schools, well-paying jobs, and homeownership—all essential pathways to economic success.

Today, more than four decades later, African Americans (on average) still don’t enjoy the same school quality, job opportunities, or home ownership access as whites. But the disparities have narrowed considerably and growing numbers of black Americans have succeeded in climbing the ladder of social and economic opportunity.

Read more at: blog.metrotrends.org