As I researched racial wealth inequality this past week, I got angrier and angrier. How could the oppression of and violence against Black Americans be such a salient theme throughout our history, yet so conveniently forgotten or rather, written over? I think it’s safe to say that most of what we know about America’s history is accumulated from what we learned in grade school. Looking back, it felt like we were learning about these stories and happenings as if they were a thing of the past. And maybe that’s because history books are written from the perspective of those in power. As a young student, it felt like we were learning about racism as something that we as a country have overcome. However, that sentiment was only that, a sentiment. Reality tells a very different story in which the race you are born into is still one of the biggest predictors as to whether or not you’ll succeed in life.
The story of racial wealth inequality in the past 400 years parallels the history of policing in America and that’s no coincidence. This NPR Throughline podcast talks about the origins of American policing and how those origins put violent control of Black Americans at the heart of the system. It’s a reminder of how time and time again, Black Americans have risen up, only to be brutally violated and reminded to stay down. Elmore Bolling is a striking example of how black people could be murdered and gunned down yards away from their own property for the sole reason that “he was too successful to be a Negro,” someone who knew Bolling told a newspaper at the time.
Here’s a picture of the current state of racial wealth inequality in the U.S. as told by a compilation of quotes from a variety of linked resources.
“Today’s racial wealth gap is perhaps the most glaring legacy of American slavery and the violent economic dispossession that followed.” “A vast wealth gap, driven by segregation, redlining, evictions and exclusion, separates black and white America.” “Any financial progress that black people made was regarded as an affront to white supremacy.”
“A 2018 survey found that whites severely underestimate the racial wealth gap. They think that black wealth is about 80% that of whites. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that black wealth is about 9% that of whites.” And “the gap is worsening. Between 1983 and 2013, white households saw their wealth increased by 14%. But during the same period, black household wealth declined 75%.”
“The median net worth of a white household in 2016 ($171,000) was about 10 times the median net worth of a black household ($17,600), according to the Federal Reserve.” “Black families have $5.04 in net worth for every $100 held by white families.”
The racial wealth gap in the U.S. is unfathomably wide. It's such a big chasm, it's hard to wrap your head around when it's not negatively impacting you personally. I hope you are as enraged as I am after learning more about our country’s history and how even today, the racial wealth gap is only increasing. Next week, we’ll delve into what we can do. Let’s keep listening, learning, and taking action. Let’s strive to build a society based on loving and supporting one another instead of oppressing. Let’s build a society we would be proud to live in.