The Cost of Racial Equality

Knowing the cost of products is important. If you don't know how much your item costs, whatever it may be, you are likely to be overcharged or under-protected. Racial equality is very much like any product. Generally, you get what you pay for--assuming you are buying well-made products from reputable and professional sources. The more you pay, the more you get; the less you pay, the less you get. But everyone knows there are often wild exceptions to the general rule of getting what you pay for. Racial equality is no exception. Some low-cost racial equality programs provide tremendous bang for the buck. K-12 school integration, affirmative action in higher education, funding for anti-discrimination enforcement, and political equality in voting are just a few examples. However, by refusing to calculate the costs involved and choosing to pay little or nothing for racial equality, the nation is defaulting to the highest cost options. This is like trying to save money on transportation by not changing the oil in your car. Racial equality cost decisions are particularly problematic as the nation moves to being majority-minority by mid-century. Not knowing the costs for racial equality threatens American democracy.