When we hear about how America’s young people are experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, they’re often portrayed as irresponsible super-spreaders who prioritize their desire to party over the safety of others.

But I’ve heard something very different from youth of color in California, who were struggling for economic equity long before the coronavirus took hold. Facing unemployment rates of more than twice the national average, these young people are seeing their dreams of college and good-paying jobs slip away. They wonder if they’ll end up working alongside their parents, who risk coronavirus exposure every day to pick food, process chickens, and scrub hospital floors “because there’s no other option,” said a high school student living in California’s Central Valley. “We are navigating a workforce that doesn’t work for us. Our people and our families are in a fight for their lives right now. Nobody’s talking about it.”

We must do more than talk. We must actively dismantle systemic and structural racism, and finally provide the access and resources all young people need to succeed, thrive, and fully contribute to society. This includes providing youth with high-quality education and training, jobs with growth potential, wealth-building opportunities, and support and mentorship so that they can advance to leadership in business, government, the arts, and civil society. Instead of demonizing young people, we must value and invest in those who are coming of age amid the historic calamities of COVID-19 and the economic crash. There is no better time to lean into the racial reckoning of 2020, and finally repair the harms of historic and continuing racial oppression before they condemn another generation of people of color to suffering, despair, and injustice.

This is not only a moral call, but also an economic imperative. Just, fair inclusion is the path to a prosperous new economy. The nation’s rapidly changing demographics are well known, as is its shift to a knowledge-based, globalized economy in which human capital drives growth. Who will be our next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, builders, leaders, and skilled workers if we squander the potential of teens and young adults of color?

Read the full article about investing in young adults of color by Angela Glover Blackwell at Stanford Social Innovation Review.