Here's how the Federal Reserve Just Told Black Folks "You Don't Really Matter"

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen is living in a bubble because the Fed just doesn’t see that. Perhaps the Fed wants to put the brakes on an economy already struggling up a hill on low fuel? Amy Traub, a senior policy analyst at Demos, believes the Fed’s interest-rate hike is a “small step toward slowing down the economy.”

Not only are people out of work, Traub explains, but added pressure undermines collective worker-bargaining power for more jobs and higher wages. “Job openings are still scarce (1.5 workers for every available job), so it’s either hard to leave your current position for a better one or to convince your boss you need a raise. That means wages are still essentially flat.”

“Increasing interest rates begins to push unemployment back up and wages back down,” she says. “It is communities of color, which are already struggling with higher unemployment and disproportionately lower pay, that stand to be hit hardest.”