Economic empowerment is the central theme of the National Urban League’s mission. The Equality Index gives us a way to document progress toward this mission for Black Americans relative to whites. 

It uses pie charts to show how well Black Americans are doing in comparison to whites when it comes to their economic status, health, education, social justice, and civic engagement. The Equality Index measures the share of that pie that Black Americans get. Whites are used as the benchmark because the history of race in America has created advantages for whites that continue to persist in many of the outcomes being measured.