Portland MLK dinner gives hundreds ‘reality check’ on racial injustice, tribal sovereignty

Outside of slavery, animosity towards Mainers of color assumed other familiar and far-reaching forms. Low wages and disproportionately higher incarceration rates have left people of color empty handed, according to speakers Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) analyst James Myall and Maine ACLU executive director Alison Beyea.

MECEP published a racial inequality report last June, authored by Myall, that showed Mainers of color were twice as likely as white Mainers to be unemployed. On average in Maine, white men with a bachelor’s degree also made roughly four dollars more an hour than similarly educated men of color. Women of color with a bachelor’s degree were even worse off, making about eight dollars less. Due to lower wages, Mainers of color also have a harder time affording health insurance.

Click here to read the full story, first published January 21, 2020, in Beacon.