Guardian | Kansas
City is booming. Employers and investors have poured into the
midwestern city since the recession. At least $1bn has gone into its
sparkling new downtown, revitalized arts district and shiny new condos.
So why is Sly James, its highly regarded outgoing mayor, so unhappy?
James, who steps down in July 2019, is leaving office with a sense of
disappointment that despite Kansas City’s obvious accomplishments, the
city’s recovery has left one large section of society behind: African
Americans.
About 30% of Kansas City’s population is black. Every month,
seemingly, Donald Trump uses Twitter to trumpet how well black people
have done under his presidency. Nationwide African American unemployment
is now 6.5%, down from a peak of 16.8% at the height of the recession.
But national numbers
in a country as big as the US can be misleading. For many African
Americans in the Kansas City area, the spoils of a roaring recovery have
passed them by.
“The impact of all things racial has left neighborhoods divided and
segregated and that leads to a perpetuation of things like poverty and
lack of opportunity,” says James, adding he would “have to disagree
[with anyone] who says that the real African American unemployment
situation is 5.9%”.
Kansas City may boast an unemployment rate of 3.6%. But take the
city’s Blue Hills neighbourhood. Blue Hills is 91% African American and
the unemployment rate is 17%. Neighbouring Ivanhoe is 86% African
American and the unemployment rate is even higher, at 26%.
