Even 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech, the topic of racial income inequality still plagues the nation and Athens.
In the city of Athens, the average white household makes more than twice the median black household, about the same amount as the median Asian household and about $30,000 less than the median Hispanic household.
The data might look sporadic at first glance, but the fact that Athens has a small minority population and is a college town could distort those figures, said Nick Claussen, spokesman for the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services.
For instance, the city of Athens is about 86 percent white with only 2.4 percent Hispanic or Latino population. Athens County is even less racially diverse, with 92 percent of the citizens being white and 1.5 percent Hispanic or Latino population, according to the 2010 U.S. census.
But the income disparity in America is not limited to Southeast Ohio.
The disparity between whites and all minority groups has grown — the largest being between whites and Hispanics which grew to almost 75 percent since 1970, when Pew Research Center began tracking Hispanics’ income, according to the study.
Claussen warns, however, of the stereotype that many of those seeking government assistance are single mothers, but people from all backgrounds are struggling — partly because of Athens’ changing job market.
“A lot of factory jobs have closed and gone; mining jobs (have) closed, replaced by retail jobs and fast food jobs,” Claussen said. “We’re happy to have those, but there aren’t a lot of high paying jobs with good benefits."
ld311710@ohiou.edu
