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Angela Sims: Tax structures and underinvestment leave Black middle‑class suburbs fiscally constrained
Summary
In an interview on the Social Justice Forum, Dr. Angela Sims said that local tax bases, historic underinvestment and predatory lending have produced a "vicious fiscal cycle" in majority‑Black suburbs such as Prince George's County, limiting those communities' ability to fund schools and services and urging federal and state remedies including targeted revenue and reparative funds.
Dr. Angela Sims, assistant professor of sociology and urban studies at Baron College, Columbia University, told host Darren Heyman that local tax structures and historic patterns of disinvestment have left Black middle‑class suburbs with weaker market values and fewer resources to provide public goods.
"What I'm arguing is that this long—this long‑standing asymmetry of resources across racial groups... is still with us," Sims said, describing how smaller tax bases force jurisdictions to either levy higher rates or accept lower revenues that reduce investment in schools, roads and other services. She framed Prince George's County as a "best‑case scenario" for Black affluence that nonetheless illustrates persistent constraints.
Sims recounted fieldwork in Prince George's County and…
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