In 1953 alone—the year that his daughter Joanie was born—June had five different employers, bringing him a total income of $2,900 (nearly $29,000 in 2021 dollars). Eventually, he found steadier work as a janitor, mopping floors and cleaning toilets at a private school for disabled children. He worked the night shift. This was not just a professional loss, but a financial one. Black janitors earned 41 percent less than white mechanics. The gap between these incomes, over the next twenty years of June’s working life, would come to $192,000 of lost earnings in today’s dollars.
