How the Urban League is Addressing a 'Triple Pandemic'

Despite daunting statistics and decades upon decades of struggles, Teddy McDaniel sees cause for optimism in his nonprofit’s continuing campaign for economic empowerment for Black people and other underserved minority groups.

McDaniel is President and CEO of the Urban League of Central Carolinas (Charlotte, NC). The local organization is one of 90 affiliates of the National Urban League, headquartered in New York. Charlotte’s branch opened in 1978.

As for those statistics: Unemployment remains significantly higher across the board for Black and Hispanic people, before and during the pandemic. According to federal labor statistics, in 2020 unemployment among white residents in North Carolina was 6.4%. It was 8.6% for Hispanic residents and 9.6% among Black residents.

In Charlotte, one in three Black and Hispanic households have a net worth of zero of negative — meaning their debt is higher than their assets — according to the 2019 Racial Wealth Gap study by the Urban Institute at UNC Charlotte.

By every measure, including home ownership, median income, and financial benefit from earning a college degree, Black and Hispanic populations lag far behind white people, the result of centuries of oppression, systemic racism and lack of opportunity.

Urban League’s mission is to help reverse those trends through a combination of workforce development, financial literacy education and improved standards of living.

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