Industrial Flight and the Decline of Black Communities
All manufacturing workers and communities have suffered because of factory job loss and industrial flight — but the impact on Black workers has been profoundly and disproportionally negative.
Resources
Tale of Many Cities
A look at how industrial flight led to the decline of black communities in cities nationwide.
The Takeaways
Manufacturing in the 20th century allowed black workers, often for the first time, to begin to build wealth, create vibrant communities and move into the middle class.
Massive factory job loss hit America's black communities especially hard. Proportionally, more black workers were unemployed than white workers — and stayed unemployed for longer. The wealth gap and housing discrimination also made things worse for black manufacturing workers to rebound.
Smart policy will allow the black community to begin to reverse the devastating impact of industrial flight. Infrastructure investment, workforce development and worker-friendly trade policies will create jobs and strengthen U.S. manufacturing, which will benefit black workers.