2MAIN STREET MARSHALL PLANIt is time for the nation to treat its urban communities and cities as the jewels that they are. Our cities and urban communities are the economic drivers of the nation. They are where our great universities are situated, where our great cultural institutions exist, the center of the hopes, aspirations, and diversity of our nation. They define America to the world. We are inspired by this undeniable reality to propose a comprehensive plan to rebuild and accelerate the growth of America’s urban communities and its people – and by doing so, we accelerate the growth and progress of the nation as a whole.History teaches us some powerful lessons. Nearly 70 years have passed since the post-World War II economic recovery initiative known as the Marshall Plan spurred the fastest period of growth in European history. Industrial and agricultural production skyrocketed. The poverty and starvation of the immediate postwar years disappeared, and Western Europe embarked upon an unprecedented two decades of growth that saw standards of living increase dramatically. In the intervening years, the National Urban League has sought to replicate that economic success story in America’s impoverished inner cities. Whitney M. Young, who served as executive director from 1961 to 1971, first proposed a domestic Marshall Plan in 1964. Many elements of his plan, which called for $145 billion in spending over 10 years, were incorporated into President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty legislation.Enthusiasm for the social safety net waned over the 1970s and 1980s, however, in the 1990 edition of the State of Black America, National Urban League President John Jacob again called for an urban Marshall Plan. “America can’t compete if she continues to warehouse a significant proportion of her work force in poverty and ignorance,” he said. “And she cannot compete without investing in human resources.” In 2016, in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the State of Black America, the National Urban League reiterated the need for a bold and comprehensive plan to lift urban communities out of poverty and stimulate their economic growth, and embark on the development of the Main Street Marshall Plan.African Americans were disproportionately battered by the Great Recession and have benefited least from the fragile economic recovery that followed. The Black unemployment rate remains double the rate for whites. Black Americans continue to lag behind in wealth, income and homeownership, and across all educational levels. The Main Street Marshall Plan: From Poverty to Shared Prosperity is a forward-leaning investment of $4 trillion over 10 years - $2 trillion for physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and buildings, and $2 trillion for human development, such as education, job training and health insurance. The Main Street Marshall Plan is aimed not only at combating poverty but at promoting equality and eliminating disparities. America must unite behind policies that drive economic recovery not only for African Americans but for urban communities and all low-income and working class Americans. A MESSAGE FROM NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE PRESIDENT AND CEO MARC H. MORIAL:
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