Citi report sees $16 tn drag on US economy from racism

Racial inequality has cost the US economy $16 trillion in wealth over the last two decades, Citigroup said in a report Thursday.

The banking giant -- pointing to the drag from unequal pay, housing discrimination, education disparity and other longstanding ills in the United States -- simultaneously pledged $1 billion in initiatives for Black-oriented business needs.

"Addressing racism and closing the racial wealth gap is the most critical challenge we face in creating a fair and inclusive society and we know that more of the same won't do," said Citigroup Chief Executive Michael Corbat in a press release.

"Citi is committed to leading the way and investing in communities of color to build wealth and strong financial futures."

The glossy 104-page report, which features a photo of a fist-bump between a white and Black person on its cover, lays out a gamut of issues, including policing and voting rights. Its release come as US businesses face pressure to respond to rising public concerns about racism.

The report notes the sizeable wage gap for Black and Hispanic workers, the result of "an extended history of job discrimination, plus unequal access to quality education in the US."

Citigroup pointed to the problem of financial "redlining" that has left Black consumers more vulnerable to predatory lenders, or to unfavorable terms from banks.

Black entrepreneurs also face more barriers to finance than white firms, the report said, noting that "if Black-owned firms are passing the gauntlet along myriad metrics, but still not receiving funding, then the epsilon may be bias."

Addressing racial equity gaps could add $5 trillion to US growth over the next five years, Citi said.

Citi pledged a number of steps, including $550 million to support home ownership for people of color and affordable housing by minority developers. Other programs support minority depository institutions, Black-owned suppliers and entrepreneurs. 

Citigroup also promised to strengthen its policies to become "an anti-racist institution," including by addressing bias in software design and representation of people of color in marketing materials.

US companies have been unveiling more socially-oriented initiatives in the wake of nationwide racial justice protests earlier this year, but skeptics say more concrete action is needed to back up the expressions of outrage after the killing of George Floyd. 

Much of corporate America remains dominated by white men at the highest levels, although Citigroup earlier this month tapped Jane Fraser as the first female chief executive of a large bank. Citi's chief financial officer, Mark Mason, is African American.

Yeah.

White people are fucking awesome.

Seriously...is there anyone that can compete?

Asian's perhaps, in limited form. 

The rest, well they owe us a great debt. Medicine, technology, education and so much more. Basically everything you see, use and appreciate...we made it baby.

WHITES!!!

Gooooooooooooo...whites!!!

What is quite funny is that Asians, an even smaller minority in the US, don't have any of the same issues. 

Strangely, they are actively discriminated against on numerous counts. Not for the benefit of whites but in fact to benefit the black population. 

The criteria for legal discrimination is as follows;

If you are hard-working and successful then you should be pushed down while others are held up. 

The stupid part is that those spreading this shit do further harm to black and brown communities because they instil in them the belief that the world owes them something. 

How many successful people do you know that walk around acting like they are owed? None, is the answer.

Discrimination against Asians

Woke up this fine Sunday morning and had a quick look in the mirror.

Yep, still white. 

Hell yeah!!!

Life is good.

I'm reminded of how, during the dark ages, which lasted for a around 700 years, whites were predominantly peasants with no access to education or rights, yet managed to build Europe into a force that ultimately conquered the world. Only later to return conquered territories by moral choice rather than through failed campaigns.

One wonders if any other race has ever won so consistenyly only to freely hand the spoils back to the loser/s. 

And one has to wonder, if the roles were reversed, would Africa show the same-restraint to Europe? Would the Middle East? Would China?

Ultimately, white nations have shown and continue to show more restraint than anyone else. 

That restraint involves sacrificing our own to rectify our mistakes too. 

Think for a moment how the world would look if Europe and the US sided with Hitler.

Flowers growing out of graves is all that would be left of most non-white races.

But go on Denny preach some more to those of us whose families were directly involved in stopping the greatest racial purge the world would have ever seen.

And then keep propping up Marxist groups. 

...Stalin, in case you didn't know, killed way more people than Hitler.

"Ultimately, white nations have shown and continue to show more restraint than anyone else. 

That restraint involves sacrificing our own to rectify our mistakes too."

Against our own better judgement sometimes...we knew what the price would be for abolishing Apartheid, but we still did..

Plum you are correct, the world would have been a lot different had it not been for our families volunteering for war duty and in many cases paid the ultimate price.

I for one do not for a minute think that the price Western civilization paid to stop Adolf was worth the world we now have. 

Look at Africa back 65 years ago peaceful, economies picking up after the war, food for all, and most folks content with life.

Sure there were civil wars in central and North Africa and there still are.

Now after handing all that land, robust economies, and farms back to the so-called indigenous folks all is lost.

Now even the imports in most western countries want to get the same treatment after collapsing their countries economy and starvation is widespread.

Bunch of fricken morons.

Take RSA what is not broken in the country other than crime, corruption, chaos, and starvation.

Zimbabwe was an excellent example of a country that is unrecognizable from what it once was and there are many, many more such disasters in Africa.

Eventually, Europe will go the same way with the influx of people from Africa just as the USA is struggling with at this very moment with family sponsorship of relatives with a never-ending family line waiting their turn.

The UK and France also got caught up with this policy and now they are saddled with the same problems.

All those lives lost for WHAT.

We will never learn, will we?

"I for one do not for a minute think that the price Western civilization paid to stop Adolf was worth the world we now have. "

That's quite the statement. Are you aware what would of transpired in the event of a Nazi victory in WW2? . The world may have some issues at the moment, but its still in a far better situation than it would of been had the Allies lost.

"The world may have some issues at the moment, but its still in a far better situation than it would of been had the Allies lost."

It depends on your perspective.

Go and spend a week in Liberia and then we'll talk again after.

The point being, many places are as bad as it can get. And many others are becoming that way.

Genocide is law and order?

I' m sorry if your life is chaos at the moment, but that doesn't mean its chaos for everyone else.

"I don't think you truly realize how awful things would be under Nazi rule."

I don't think you realise how bad the world is for some people today.

Haha you won't find me making excuses for the Nazis.

Just, it sucks to see a lot of the bad ideas and suffering, that people died to avoid, coming to pass anyway.