Welcome back to the Ten Blocks Podcast. This is your host, Brian Anderson, the editor of City Journal.

Coming up on the show today, we have a special treat for our listeners. Despite the tremendous

progress made by many African Americans over the past half century, the black community in America

continues to experience higher than average poverty and lower than average educational outcomes,

including alarming high school dropout rates, among other troubling social indicators.

But how do we explain today's disparities? Is racism to blame? Well, last week, the Manhattan

Institute hosted a fascinating discussion with Glenn Laurie, Professor of Economics

at Brown University, to talk about his reflections on the persistence of racial inequality

in America and what's behind it. And we're excited to bring it to you today. The next voice

you'll hear will be Jason Riley, a senior fellow at the Institute, and a member of the Wall Street Journal

editorial board who introduced Dr. Laurie at the event. We hope you enjoy.

This is my fourth year hosting conference on race-related issues for the Manhattan Institute. And when my colleagues and I sat down a few months ago to start planning this one, I can assure you

that we had no idea how much material we would have to work with based on recent events.

It occurred to me that we could do an entire conference based on what's happening in Virginia

this week.

But that's my point.

That's what's different about what we're attempting to do here today.

So much of the discussion about racial inequality gets hung up on these sorts of things.

A medical school yearbook page with photos of people in KKK costumes and blackface.

A governor and state attorney general darkening their skin to imitate black celebrities

at college parties back in the 1980s.

A congressman from Iowa who promotes neo-Nazis on Twitter and tells the New York Times,

...