Economist Who Pushed for Racial Justice
His parents encouraged his inclination to question opinions which didn’t align with the facts he understood to be true, then to undertake further research to confirm the accurate facts, which approach he used as an adult to push for racial justice among workers.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
William (Bill) E. Spriggs (“WS”) was born in Washington, D.C., where he grew up along with later time in Virginia. His father had served during World War II as a fighter pilot with the ‘Tuskegee Airmen’ (an all-Black unit since the U.S. military was not racially integrated until after the war) before becoming a physics professor at Norfolk State University in Virginia and at Howard University in D.C., both historically Black institutions of higher education (known collectively as HBCU – Historic Black Colleges and Universities)
The mother of WS was also a military veteran who became a public-school teacher after earning her college degree while her son, WS, was in elementary school.
CHILDHOOD
Around the dinner table, young WS listened to his parent educators discuss the serious issues of the day and was encouraged to offer his own opinions. His parents told him it was ok to be skeptical of others’ opinions, even if they were adults.
EDUCATION
Following his public high school graduation, WS earned a Bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Williams College in Massachusetts and attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, where he earned both Master’s and Doctoral degrees in economics.
(“Economics is a social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.”)
While in graduate school, WS served as co-President of the graduate student teachers union, helping to rebuild it after a largely unsuccessful strike the year before.
Recalled a fellow grad student, WS “stood out at Wisconsin not only because he was the only Black graduate student in the economics department but even as a graduate student, (WS) was skeptical of the orthodox theories that his professors were teaching about how companies set workers’ wages – theories that left no room for racial discrimination or other forces beyond supply and demand.”
FIRST ADULT JOB NEVER A BINDING CAREER COMMITMENT
Unlike many other graduate students at well-regarded academic programs, WS wasn’t interested in teaching at nationally, top-ranked schools, opting instead to teach at a historically Black institution, as his father had. Thus, his first two academic teaching posts were at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro and then at Norfolk State University, before taking a series of jobs in federal government and ‘think tanks.’
WS eventually returned to teach at Howard University, where he was Chairman of its economics department for four years.
COMMITTED TO ECONOMICS WITH A SOCIAL PURPOSE
One of the most prominent Black economists of his generation, WS served as an Assistant Secretary of Labor in the Obama administration after holding other public-sector roles earlier in his career. But he was best known for his work outside of government as an outspoken and frequently quoted advocate for workers, especially Black workers.
In addition to his role as Chief Economist at the A.F.L.-C.I.O., during Professor Spriggs tenure at Howard, he mentored a generation of Black economists while pushing for change within a field – economics – dominated by White men.
“Bill was somebody who was deeply committed to the idea that we do economics because we have a social purpose,” said a Duke University economist. “That this is not a discipline that should be deployed just for playing parlor games, and that we should use the ideas that we develop from economics for the design of social policies that will make the lives of most people far better.”
WS worked on varied issues, including trade, education, the minimum wage, and Social Security. But the topic he came back to most frequently, and spoke most passionately about, was that of racial disparities in the labor market. Black Americans, he pointed out time and again, consistently experienced unemployment at double the rate of White people – which he described as “a troubling fact that got too little attention among economists.”
“Economists have tried to rationalize this disparity by saying it merely reflects differences in skill levels,” WS wrote in an opinion article in The New York Times in 2021, before going on to dismiss that claim with a striking statistic: The unemployment rate for White high school dropouts is almost always below that of overall Black unemployment.
WS also stated that “Modern economics has a deep and painful set of roots that too few economists acknowledge. In the hands of far too many economists, it remains the assumption that African Americans are inferior until proven otherwise.”
CAREER SATISFACTION
“Bill was a towering figure in his field, a trailblazer who challenged the field’s basic assumptions about racial discrimination in labor markets, pay equity and worker employment,” said President Biden.
The Director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy at the Economic Policy Institute, Valerie Wilson, said “I would not be an economist today without Bill Spriggs.” Early in her career, she was taking a break from graduate school while considering leaving the field altogether when one of her professors recommended her for a job working for Dr. Spriggs at the National Urban League. “He helped restore her passion for economics by showing her an approach to the work that was less theoretical and more focused on the real world,” she said. After two years at the Urban League, she told Dr. Spriggs that she was going back to graduate school for economics.
His response: “We need you in the profession.”
_________________________________________________________________________________
This career story is based on several sources including an obituary for William E. Spriggs written by Ben Casselman, published by The New York Times on June 11, 2023 plus internet research.
