A strong majority of mayors are worried about the racial wealth gap in their cities, a report from the Boston University Initiative on Cities finds.

Based on a survey of 126 mayors of cities with more than 75,000 residents, the 2021 Menino Survey of Mayors: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap (20 pages, PDF), found that 67 percent of mayors are concerned about the racial wealth gap, with leaders of bigger cities significantly more concerned than those of smaller cities (58 percent vs. 26 percent), and those with lower housing costs more significantly concerned than those with higher costs (52 percent vs. 32 percent). The survey revealed a large partisan divide, with 80 percent of Democratic mayors versus 30 percent of Republican mayors expressing concern.

According to the survey, which was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, 81 percent of mayors believe that access to capital disproportionately burdens small business owners of color, and among those who believe that the racial wealth gap is a problem in their cities, support for generic racially targeted programs such as support for Black and Latinx small business ownership and homeownership is almost unanimous. Majorities of mayors of both parties agree that housing programs should emphasize the goal of homeownership over renting, but Republicans agreed at a higher rate (73 percent) than Democrats (55 percent).

While all mayors recognized widespread discrimination in their communities, the gap between Democratic and Republican mayors was quite sizable when asked about racial groups. In particular, Democratic mayors were significantly more likely to perceive discrimination against Black and Latinx people in their cities, by margins of 46 and 39 percentage points, respectively, and were also more likely to believe that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, people with disabilities, and women experienced discrimination in their city by a margin of 30 percentage points. Mayors were considerably less divided by partisanship when we asked about other economic, age, gender, and social identities, and virtually no mayors said they believe that white people or Christians experience more than a little discrimination in their cities.

(Photo credit: Getty Images/CHUNYIP WONG)