From the publisher: Crain's Equity

Over the past several months, the widening wealth gap in America has drawn more headlines than it has in years. Certainly, we have COVID-19 to thank in large part for surfacing the issue as businesses shut down and a bright light shone on the economic ledge on which many people live.

Nowhere is that gap wider than it is between whites and people of color, especially Black people.

Thanks to a landmark Citigroup report last month, we now can put a price tag on the costs of institutional racism that has held Black people back for generations—$16 trillion since 2000 alone. That lost opportunity in our economy is both stunning and shameful.

In Chicago, we see it play out in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

The city has moved backward when it comes to the number of Black-owned businesses. Black unemployment is higher. Black AG亚洲国际游戏homeownership also has retreated. Against almost every measure, Black wealth has decreased in the past quarter century while white wealth has increased significantly.

Chicago should be more prosperous and would be if wealth-building opportunities were expanded.

Starting today, Crain's will explore the wealth gap issue in-depth in a monthly print and digital special section titled "Equity.''

We will expand our journalism to report on a broad range of topics including investment in minority suppliers, corporate inclusion issues, diversity in the C-suite and boardroom, business lending gaps and more. We will invite outside voices to help shape the conversation around these topics. Like our beloved monthly public policy feature, Crain's Forum, we will make sure Crain's Equity content is open and free for all to read.

The opportunity to grow our coverage in this area is only the beginning. We are committed to broadening our daily coverage, too, to bring in more diverse voices and viewpoints and coverage of broader sections of our marketplace as we have done with Crain's Forum.

As always, we welcome feedback on what we are doing. Please don't hesitate to contact us directly or through our social platforms.

Most of all, thank you for your continued interest in Crain's Chicago Business and for reading.