U.S. economy "has never worked fairly for Black Americans," says Treasury Secretary Yellen

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday warned that the systemic inequities have been lurking in the U.S. economy and her department still needs to work "to narrow the racial wealth divide," according to a report by ABC News on Tuesday.

"From Reconstruction, to Jim Crow, to the present day, our economy has never worked fairly for Black Americans -- or, really, for any American of color," the Treasury chief told an event honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Since taking office in January last year, Yellen said that she and her team have worked hard to "ensure that neither the figurative bank of justice -- nor any literal economic institution -- fails to work for people of color," according to the report.

However, there is still vast work needed to be done to address race-based economic disparities -- many of which were heightened over the past year as COVID-19 took a disproportionate toll on communities of color, the report pointed out.

"The insidious legacy of slavery in the United States, as well as decades of racist policies that followed, results in systemic economic issues that are still present today -- such as the racial wealth gap," the report added.