Lost in the 21st Century

Contrary to what the Right Wing, the Tea Party, the Republican Party and certain Supreme Court Justices may think, just because we have twice-elected an African-American President does not mean racism and it’s long-term impacts are a thing of the past.

Very disturbing- really shocking- news from this new study….

This really shows how hard it is for minorities, not just Blacks, but also Hispanics and Asians,  to move ahead in America.  This is especially true if you look deeper at some of the drivers of income disparity such,  as  less inherited wealth and homeownership rates and home values resulting from segregated neighborhoods.  It’s not just coming from the expected sources of income/education disparity and unemployment….

From MSNBC (emphasis mine):

The racial wealth gap between blacks and whites has increased by $152,000 in the past 25 years, according to a new study [PDF] from Brandeis University’s Institute on Assets and Social Policy. The median wealth of white families has shot up precipitously since 1984, while the median wealth of black families has barely moved.

“Tracing the same households during that period, the total wealth gap between white and African-American families nearly triples, increasing from $85,000 in 1984 to $236,500 in 2009,” write the authors of the report. The chief driver of the inequality increase, they write, was disparities in homeownership, with household income arriving in second and unemployment in third.

White households were found to benefit disproportionately from average income increases, and residential segregation was said to be a major reason for inequality in homeownership. Additionally, “whites received about ten times more wealth than African-Americans” among those earning an inheritance.

“Our analysis found little evidence to support common perceptions about what underlies the ability to build wealth, including the notion that personal attributes and behavioral choices are key pieces of the equation,” they write. “Instead, the evidence points to policy and the configuration of both opportunities and barriers in workplaces, schools, and communities that reinforce deeply entrenched racial dynamics in how wealth is accumulated and that continue to permeate the most important spheres of everyday life.”

via Study: Black/white wealth inequality has exploded since ’80s — MSNBC.

From the Washington Post:

The large and growing wealth gap separating white and black families is the product of stubborn barriers that disproportionately consign African Americans to less-valuable real estate and lower-paying jobs, according to a new study.

A long-term examination of the financial lives of black and white Americans revealed that African Americans typically face a subtle but persistent opportunity gap that has served to widen financial disparities remaining from a long history of overt discrimination, according to a report to be released Wednesday by Brandeis University’s Institute on Assets and Social Policy.

via Study ties black-white wealth gap to stubborn disparities in real estate – The Washington Post.