Center Perspectives
Tawanna Black
Realizing Dr. King’s Vision: Equitable pay for ...

St. Paul - So much of America’s progress would not have been possible without the transformational work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, the Center for Economic Inclusion recognizes Dr. King’s work to more equitably pay workers in the service sectors.

Racial Equity

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Statewide Housing Amendment: An Innovative Solution to Close Racial Homeownership Gaps

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Isaac Russell

By Isaac Russell Director of Policy

Across the country, many states and municipalities are facing critical housing challenges—shortages of affordable housing can lead to crises for low-income renters, which also means that potential first-time homeowners are priced out of the market.  

In Minnesota, these pains are felt acutely and disproportionately by Indigenous people and people of color. The Center’s Indicators for an Inclusive Regional Economy show racial homeownership gaps persist, even among households with similar incomes. This suggests that Black, Indigenous, Latine, and Asian families face additional burdens to homeownership beyond earned income. Among families earning between $50,000 to $100,000 annually, only 41% of Black households own their homes compared to 72% of White households. These racial disparities also exist among low-income renters. Low-income Korean American, White, and Black households are hit hardest, with more than 3 in 5 renters in these communities being disproportionately rent-burdened.  

Dedicated Affordable Housing Dollars: A Constitutional Approach 

To find solutions, policymakers and industry groups are looking for statewide solutions to address these housing crises. One innovative solution to move the needle is a proposal for a constitutional amendment that would dedicate revenue to the construction of affordable housing, rental assistance, and homeownership.  

While this solution alone will not solve racial inequities in housing, it does address one of the foundational problems, which is a shortage of affordable housing. If we define affordable housing as 30 percent of area median income, the metro area is short approximately 71,491 units. To build a single unit of affordable housing, including years-long subsidization of the unit, costs approximately $300,000. This comes out to an over $21 billion price tag to build these units. According to the Minnesota Housing Partnership, our state is short approximately 103,600 units with a price tag of $31 billion. 

Accessible Homeownership Builds Inclusive Regional Economies 

Across Minnesota, this crisis extends to families that wish to purchase a home. It is estimated that 27,000 families can afford homeownership but continue to rent due to the lack of available housing stock within their price range. To facilitate more home ownership among underrepresented communities, we must address stagnant funding to programs designed to help construct new housing. These include programs such as the HOME Investment Partnership Program and the Community Development Block Grant Program, which have helped to compound multi-year housing shortages. The urgency for such investments can be seen in the Metropolitan Council’s projections, which show the region will gain 367,000 new households by 2040. That means we will need nearly 13,000 new housing units of all types. The region has produced less than this number per year for the past decade! An inclusive economy makes the stability and wealth-building benefits of homeownership accessible to all households, regardless of their race or ethnicity. 

Systemic Solutions for Systemic Problems 

All of this goes to the heart of why the Center supports a constitutional amendment that dedicates three-eighths of a percent sales tax to the building of affordable housing, makes financial resources available for homeownership, and provides support for housing stability. Modeled after our very successful Legacy Amendment, this initiative creates three advisory committees that will provide recommendations for lawmakers when they decide how they will allocate resources.  

To make this happen, we need legislation that authorizes a referendum for voters. This referendum will require support from a wide array of stakeholders to let the public know of this initiative and also a show of support from constituents.  

We know this one amendment will not solve all our housing challenges, but it is one of the tools in the toolbox that will build the homes Minnesotans need.   

Promoting Racial Equity Through a Child Tax Credit

Betsy Ohrn

By Betsy Ohrn, Director of Research

As tax season ends, we highlight the important work that is being done to build equity in the tax code. One critical piece of legislation is Child Tax Credit-- a benefit that would provide significant critical resources to Black and brown families.

We are extremely excited to see this policy included in Governor’s Walz’s budget proposal. This is a unique opportunity to invest in families and promote racial equity across Minnesota.  

In 2021, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Congress established its first near-universal child benefit in the form of an expanded, monthly CTC. This CTC contributed to a decline in child poverty rates by over 40%. While there was hope the CTC would be made permanent, federal inaction has left it up to the states to continue this critical effort.  

The Governor's proposal follows a similar structure by providing a fully refundable tax credit for children younger than 18 years old and older kids with qualifying special needs. This proposal is estimated to benefit more than 360,000 families and would provide significant ongoing resources directly to families to help cover critical expenses and get their kids off to a strong start. The policy also boosts family income flexibility so families can spend the money where they most need it. 

Analyses find that a tax credit like this could impact 463,000 children, almost 38% of children in the state. It would cut child poverty in Minnesota by 25 percent and lift 22,500 children out of poverty. 

Furthermore, we know that a higher proportion of Minnesotan children are Black, Hispanic, Indigenous or Latino, about 33 percent, compared to 22 percent of all residents. For this reason, investing in Minnesota children, especially those with fewer economic means, is an investment in a racially equitable and inclusive economy.

In 2019, 11 percent of kids in Minnesota were living at or below the poverty line, but studies looked at that number by race and cultural community. The poverty rate for Somali children in Minnesota sits at around 57 percent, 58 percent for Burmese children, 31 percent for Mexican, 29 percent for Hmong, and at 32 percent for African American children. A CTC would make a significant impact on these communities.  

We are excited to learn more about the governor’s proposal and see the details discussed in the legislature. We encourage policymakers to follow the key design principles laid out by ITEP including making the credit fully inclusive, working to offer the credit as a monthly payment, and phasing it out by income.

Help make this historic investment a reality!  

Find and call your legislator and/or sign your organization on this letter to state policymakers coordinated by: Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota, Legal Services Advocacy Project, Minnesota Budget Project, & Minnesota Catholic Conference, urging them to step up for our families and children by creating a state Child Tax Credit - modeled on the federal expanded CTC’s success – in 2023. 

The letter below will be shared with Governor Tim Walz and members of the Minnesota Legislature at key moments in the policy debate. 

Let them know you support this meaningful step in enhancing the economic inclusion and well-being of children in Minnesota! 

  • Want to know more about "The Whiteness of Wealth?" Check out this important and powerful discussion with Dr. Dorothy A. Brown we held last January in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Revenue: "Unleashing the power of the tax code for equity."

Racial Justice Begins with a Transformational Bus Ride

Rebecca Toews

By Rebecca Toews, Communications Manager

When Jeanne Crain stepped onto the bus for the Reckoning for Truth, Trust, and Racial Justice Tour, organized by the Center for Economic Inclusion, she felt it would be a useful experience for her as President and CEO at Bremer Bank. What she didn’t realize before she joined a cross-sector cohort of peers in Selma, Alabama, was how truly transformational the experience would be both personally and professionally. 

“I was blind to so many aspects of how pervasive lynching was, and how many individuals it affected… how many individuals were unnamed, and also how [lynchings] were celebrated community events,” says Crain. 


Through a series of powerful yet intimate experiential opportunities spanning four days, Crain and 46 other executives leading Twin Cities-based organizations, immersed themselves in a small sampling of the history of Black people in the United States. They traversed the historic route between Montgomery and Selma, culminating in a reflective walk across the Edmund Pettis Bridge, scene of the now infamous events of Bloody Sunday.

“I was left speechless by this experience,” says Eve Onduru, VP of Marketing and Business Development with the Center for Economic Inclusion. “As a person from Kenya, I had obviously understood that my people were taken from their homes and forced into slavery, but I had not ever come so close to the places and stories. I could feel the presence of those whose backs this country was built on.” 

That is exactly the impact that Center Founder and CEO Tawanna A. Black and team had in mind when they evisioned the tours. “The tour is designed not only to share the history of racial exclusion and slavery in the United States, but more importantly, to help those in attendance to reckon with that history— to reflect with one another as a group and build accountability that will help them go back to their organizations and build truly equitable workplaces for their colleagues and employees,” says Black. 

Center staff member and tour facilitator Tiffany W. Worsley said the team wanted participants to sit in the truth of America from a physical and heart position. “We wanted to offer participants an opportunity to reckon with and ignite transformative antiracist change in Minnesota.” 

“We often hear, in Minnesota, that racism isn’t a problem because chattel slavery wasn’t allowed here, but racist acts and policy exist here in MN,” says Wilson-Worsley. “Participants told us about many light bulb moments of the role White supremacy plays in every aspect of their organizations. We know they left the tour truly understanding why they are responsible for creating equitable workplaces here in Minnesota.”

This experiential peer learning tour to Montgomery, Alabama invites participants to uncover a deeper understanding of the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow racism inherent in today’s racial disparities. The tour also sheds light on how the underpinnings of the Civil Rights movement must live on in our relationships, decisions, and investments today to catalyze new cross-sector anti-racist outcomes for the future.  

“Participants walk away from these tours understanding that although there is a shortage of opportunity in communities of color, there is no shortage of talent, innovation, or brilliance,” concludes Wilson-Worsley. “Investors and employers who join us have a unique opportunity to grow our region’s economy in measurable ways and to see an ROI by investing directly in Black communities.”