Because this book is so good, and this chapter is a must read, here is part 2 from chapter 2 in Darity's book (see QT from yesterday for part 1):
Chapter 2.2:
"One powerful example that challenges the thinking of those who prefer America’s feel-good myth of equality is 1/
Chapter 2.2:
"One powerful example that challenges the thinking of those who prefer America’s feel-good myth of equality is 1/
https://twitter.com/AlsoACarpenter/status/1337065684157648896
2/ "provided by a close analysis of wealth disparity in this country. Wealth is the best single indicator of the cumulative impact of white racism over time. Wealth—the difference between what we own and what we owe (or the difference between the value of our assets and our debts
3/ "or the net value of our property)—is the economic measure that best captures individual, family, and household well-being:
"'Wealth serves as a primary indicator of economic security. Wealthier families are better positioned to finance elite independent school and college
"'Wealth serves as a primary indicator of economic security. Wealthier families are better positioned to finance elite independent school and college
4/ "'education, access capital to start a business, finance expensive medical procedures, reside in higher amenity neighborhoods, exert political influence through campaign financing, purchase better counsel if confronted with an expensive legal system, leave a bequest, and/or
5/ "'withstand financial hardship resulting from any number of emergencies. . . . Wealth provides financial agency over one’s life. Simply put, wealth gives individuals and families choice; it provides economic security to take risks and shield against financial loss.'[7]
6/ "Data from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances indicates that median black household net worth ($17,600) is only one-tenth of white net worth ($171,000).[8] That means, on average, that for every dollar the middle white household holds in wealth—measured by assets like homes,
7/ "cash savings, and retirement funds—the middle black household possesses a mere ten cents.[9]
"Among black households with positive net worth there is a greater reliance on home ownership as a source of wealth than among white households. Customarily, we have assumed that
"Among black households with positive net worth there is a greater reliance on home ownership as a source of wealth than among white households. Customarily, we have assumed that
8/ "equity in a home was a secure and stable source of wealth, but recent experience during the Great Recession has torpedoed that belief. The collapse of home ownership and equity value in homes has affected black households adversely and disproportionately.[10]
9/ "Moreover, home ownership and total wealth do not track each other as closely as many Americans imagine. For example, a survey conducted in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in 2014–15 demonstrates that the rate of African American home ownership (42 percent) is slightly
10/ "higher than that of the city’s Asian Indians (40 percent), an immigrant community consisting disproportionately of highly educated, affluent professionals. On the basis of home ownership rates, one might expect the two Los Angeles communities to have similar net worth;
11/ "however, the median Asian Indian household net worth was $460,000, as opposed to only $4,000 for African Americans, less than 1 percent of the former.[11]
12/ "The difference appears to be due to far greater rates and levels of ownership of financial assets by Asian Indian households. Fifty-nine percent of Asian Indian households owned stocks, mutual funds, and investment trusts, while only 22 percent of African American households
13/ "owned the same types of assets.[12] The capacity even to enter markets for remunerative financial assets is contingent on having a significant endowment of wealth in the first place.[13]
"From 2005 to 2009, an interval that captures the impact of the Great Recession,
"From 2005 to 2009, an interval that captures the impact of the Great Recession,
14/ "median household wealth (all assets minus all debt, the latter including mortgages, credit card balances, and other loans) among blacks actually fell by a whopping 53 percent, compared with a drop of 16 percent among whites.[14] Clearly these vast disparities in black and
15/15 "white wealth are not consistent with claims of any circumstance approximating racial economic equality."
We'll get some possible explanations for the differentials tomorrow!
We'll get some possible explanations for the differentials tomorrow!
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