Recognizing the Unrecognized: African American Economics and Economists

Written By Aarna

Our program repeatedly speaks of the presence of economics in all our lives. From buying our early morning coffee to deciding which neighborhood we want to buy our house in, it dictates a large amount of the decisions we make. Unfortunately, history has been witness to the extent of economic inequality Black Americans have faced and continue to face today. According to the Economic Policy Institute, black men on average are paid only $0.71 for every dollar paid to white men, and black women are paid only $0.64 on the white male dollar. Despite such shameful disparity, less than half of 1% of all top economics papers have explicitly addressed race/ethnicity within the last 30-year years.

Not to mention, the works of black economists continue to go unnoticed. Today, we would like to recognize some exemplary black economists for their contribution to the field.

Dr. Sadie Alexander

was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in economics in 1921. After completing graduate school, however, may employers dismissed her credentials, causing her to pursue law school.

Arthur Lewis

became the first African American man to win a Nobel Prize in economics. His work developed two models which marked out the causes of poverty among the population of developing countries.

William Darity Jr.

was the founding director of the Research Network on Racial and Ethnic Inequality at Duke University, and he launched the subfield of stratification economics in 2005.

Darrick Hamilton

has a TED Talk—which has received over 1.5 million views—that led to conversation during the past presidential election season discussing how inequality in America may be ended.

Ebonya Washington

is a professor at Yale University who recently published a paper on what economists can do to increase racial and ethnic diversity in their ranks.

Dania Francis

is a professor at the University of Massachusetts who has studied the implications of educational outcomes for black female students based on perceptions of black girls in the classroom.

The admirable individuals listed above are in no way an exhaustive list of all the black economists who have made strides in their fields, as there are countless more who have made phenomenal contributions in their work.

As Black History Month comes to an end, it is necessary that we realize the celebration of black people and accomplishments must not be limited to only one month. It is our responsibility to continue appreciating their work and presence in not only economics but also other realms throughout the remainder of our year.

Aarna
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