Joint Center Hosts ‘Pandemic Relief Priorities for Black Workers’ Twitter Chat with Experts

On September 11, the Joint Center hosted a Twitter chat with experts on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Black workers, and what should be doing about it. The experts included Joint Center Vice President Jessica Fulton, Groundwork Collaborative Managing Director of Policy & Research Janelle Jones, Center for American Progress Senior Economist Gbenga Ajilore, and American University Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy Bradley Hardy.

During the tweetchat, the Joint Center asked experts a series of questions including: 1) How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected Black workers and their families?; 2) How have previous stimulus packages helped Black workers?; 3) How have previous stimulus packages neglected Black workers?; 4) What should we be paying more (or less!) attention to when we think about how Black workers are handling the current crisis?;  5) what can policymakers do to ensure that Black workers aren’t left behind as the rest of the economy begins to recover; and 6) What can allies, advocates, policymakers, and workers do to be supportive?

The tweetchat follows the release of the Joint Center’s report, Pandemic Relief Priorities for Black Communities, which includes a section, Provide Financial Support for Black Workers.

See highlights from the tweetchat, including answers from experts on the aforementioned questions, below. Read the entire thread here.

A1: Many of us know people who have been affected. One of my cousins was an essential worker and passed away early on–and he’s one of many Black workers who put their lives on the line #BlackWorkerStimulus

— Jessica Fulton (@JessicaJFulton) September 11, 2020

Bad. Very bad. Pandemic has imparted large negative shock overall, esp. for Black families. New work shows decline in employment for Black women was largest of all demographic groups. #BlackWorkerStimulus

from @TheIFS paper by Moffitt, Ziliak: https://t.co/0a0XKr8HI9 pic.twitter.com/GpsD47IMb9

— Bradley Hardy (@bl_hardy) September 11, 2020

A2: The CARES Act and $600 weekly boost to UI helped prevent an estimated 2.1 million Black people from falling under the poverty line.

OBVIOUSLY still work to do since poverty remained at 15.2% for Black people, but it did not hurt! #BlackWorkerStimulus https://t.co/kxeoALFsxT

— Janelle Jones (@janellecj) September 11, 2020

A2a. The $1,200 check was helped and the expanded UI was helpful to counteract racist UI policy, primarily in Southern states. #BlackWorkerStimulus

— Gbenga Ajilore (@gbenga_ajilore) September 11, 2020

A3. Previous stimulus packages have not set up the systems we need to respond quickly to crises like these. We have not yet seen policies that automatically trigger when we hit a certain level of unemployment, for example. #BlackWorkerStimulus

— Jessica Fulton (@JessicaJFulton) September 11, 2020

A3: The way the racial wealth gap is set up, for every white person's $1, Black people own $0.10. So practically NO safety net for recessions & public health emergencies. This needs to be the normalized target for stimulus relief. #BlackWorkerStimulus 2/5 https://t.co/ptEClJtds8

— Janelle Jones (@janellecj) September 11, 2020

A4: We need to be getting more money out to states and cities! Black workers and their families depend on state & local governments for jobs and services. And many states have already started cutting essential things like education. https://t.co/jKDjqogB9o #BlackWorkerStimulus

— Jessica Fulton (@JessicaJFulton) September 11, 2020

A4: One core point is that even households with moderate to higher incomes often lack savings buffer, esp. among Black families. Especially vulnerable during this time. Many Black families lack either. @TrevonDLogan and I show here https://t.co/thRYwW8lsF #BlackWorkerStimulus pic.twitter.com/PxdCRLCtbU

— Bradley Hardy (@bl_hardy) September 11, 2020

A5: Stop the immediate suffering! Policymakers should #savethe600 & #extendUI, send more stimulus checks, & implement automatic stabilizers to avoid bipartisan deadlock. #BlackWorkerStimulus 1/2 https://t.co/4E8MiuJzFy

— Janelle Jones (@janellecj) September 11, 2020

A5a. I’ve written and tweeted a lot about the #JobsDay numbers for African Americans and how they’ve fallen behind. Our policies need to be targeted towards closing racial gaps in labor market outcomes. #BlackWorkerStimulus https://t.co/qS5dV157sZ

— Gbenga Ajilore (@gbenga_ajilore) September 11, 2020

If we leave Black workers behind, we’re leaving poor White, Latina/o, and Asian American workers and their families behind too. We’re in this together, and we need policy to reflect that. #BlackWorkerStimulus

— Jessica Fulton (@JessicaJFulton) September 11, 2020

We are the economy & it won't fully recover if Blacks haven't. We can't declare success until those usually left behind are no longer struggling.& #BlackWomenBest is a great measure. If we experience econ recovery so will everyone else #BlackWorkerStimulus https://t.co/JHjzLkixvc

— Janelle Jones (@janellecj) September 11, 2020