equality series is michelle holder, assistant professor of economics and new york's john jay college of criminal justicele, great to have you with us. we heard from chair powell, saying the tight labor market really does a lot of good things for minorities but that usually takes almost a decade to achieve. how devastating has the pandemic been on minorities so far? michelle: thank you for having me. it has been pretty devastating. the worst downturn since the great depression, so as you might imagine, even during economically prosperous times, african-americans, latin xs, there unemployment was always higher than white americans, but given this pandemic and the economic fallout there of, it has been rightdifficult for -- now. we also heard from him in the economist calling the economics profession a disgrace, that it is racist, sexist, and elitist. you are in the industry. tell us about what you see in the economic profession in addressing these issues. michelle: you know, it is a turbulent time right now in the united states. and thee, the pandemic unfortunate death of george floyd really has exposed s