How long will it take Black Americans to catch up to their white neighbors¡¯ quality of life?
The headline answer is 320 years, at least according to a new report by the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility. Specifically, that¡¯s the estimate based on a combination of economic, health and other metrics for the 8.7% of Black Americans who live in what McKinsey dubs ¡°stable rural counties,¡± where the catch-up period is longest.
The shortest catch-up time is 110 years, in ¡°trailing rural counties¡± where residents of all races are struggling. In the ¡°urban periphery¡± ¡ª the suburban counties that by most measures deliver the best quality-of-life outcomes for their Black residents ¡ª it¡¯s 120 years. This is assuming things stand still for white residents, which outside of those trailing rural counties they probably won¡¯t.
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