Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes
I am continuing in the systemic racism series here on the Broadening the Narrative blog. To learn more about this series, you can read the first post [“Systemic Racism Series Introduction”] and the second post [“Systemic Racism Series: Whiteness”]. Today’s post addresses systemic racism in wealth. I will include the data and history behind the racial wealth gap, provide action steps, and link recommended resources for further exploration and education.
I am continuing in the systemic racism series here on the Broadening the Narrative blog. To learn more about this series, you can read the first post [“Systemic Racism Series Introduction”] and the second post [“Systemic Racism Series: Whiteness”]. Today’s post addresses systemic racism in wealth. I will include the data and history behind the racial wealth gap, provide action steps, and link recommended resources for further exploration and education.
Data
Let’s look at the numbers.
Using the “U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts,” the percentages of the U.S. population based on race are as follows: White alone (76.5%), Black or African American alone (13.4%), American Indian and Alaska Native alone (1.3%), Asian alone (5.9%), Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (0.2%), Two or more races (2.7%), and Hispanic or Latino (18.3%).
According to the statistics for the “Wealth, Asset Ownership, & Debt of Households Detailed Tables: 2014” from the U.S. Census Bureau, the net worth of households by race were as follows: non-Hispanic White households ($130,800), Black households ($9,590) and Hispanic households ($17,530). Data was not available for Native American wealth.
In the Race Forward video “What Is Systemic Racism? - Wealth Gap,” Jay Smooth explains that “in 2010, black Americans made up 13% of the population but only had 2.7% of the country’s wealth.” And in the article “Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys” by Emily Badger, Clair Cain Miller, Adam Pearce, and Kevin Quealy, “Some of the widest black-white income gaps in this study appear in wealthy communities. This fits with previous research that has shown that the effects of racial discrimination cross class lines. Although all children benefit from growing up in places with higher incomes and more resources, black children do not benefit nearly as much as white children do… This study found, however, that broad income disparities still exist between black and white men even when they’re raised in homes with the same incomes and the same family structure… African-Americans made up about 35 percent of all children raised in the bottom 1 percent of the income distribution. They made up less than 1 percent of the children at the very top.”
I know there is pushback through a variety of arguments when systemic racism as evidenced in wealth disparities is being discussed. People may cite the fact that the net worth of Asian households in 2014 was $156,500. They may also want to point out that the wealth gap shrank among lower-income families from 2007-2016. These points, and many others, are worth exploring, and people have. In the MTV Decoded episode “Are All Asians Rich?,” featuring Lily Du, the model minority stereotype is addressed as well as poverty in the Asian American community and a historical overview is given. Ijeoma Oluo has a chapter in her book So You Want to Talk about Race dedicated to answering the question “What is the model minority myth?” She wrote, “So who and what do we not see when we see the ‘model minority?’ Quite a lot: Pacific Islanders...Extreme economic disparity...Extreme educational disparity...Limits on professional success...Hate crimes against Asian Americans...Health and safety of Asian American women...Lack of political power...Everyday discrimination and microaggressions against Asian Americans...Common struggle with other people of color” (Olou, 2018, pp. 194-199). In the Pew Research Center article “How Wealth Inequality Has Changed in the U.S. Since the Great Recession” by Rakesh Kochhar and Anthony Cilluffo, the writers state, “The larger losses for lower-income white families may have arisen from their greater exposure to the housing market crash. In 2007, 56% of lower-income whites were homeowners, compared with 32% each of lower-income blacks and Hispanics.”
I can’t possibly address each rebuttal and the rebuttals aren’t the point of this post. I do care about all people in poverty, and I’m aware that focusing on poor people of color appears to be an unfair favoring of poor people of color. In focusing on the wealth gap between black and white households, I don’t want to diminish the historical and current suffering experienced by other people of color or the numerous ways the government in the United States has failed to provide justice for all. I don’t want to erase or gloss over the harm inflicted on other groups. When I think of the wealth gap between black and white households, I do want to share an interview in which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. explained that no other group has been systemically oppressed in the same way, where the African population and their descendants for 244 years, with rare exceptions, were enslaved. Quoting a section of this interview below is not a way of communicating that the suffering of other people does not matter or to make oppression a competition but to simply highlight these words from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I can’t possibly address each rebuttal and the rebuttals aren’t the point of this post. I do care about all people in poverty, and I’m aware that focusing on poor people of color appears to be an unfair favoring of poor people of color. In focusing on the wealth gap between black and white households, I don’t want to diminish the historical and current suffering experienced by other people of color or the numerous ways the government in the United States has failed to provide justice for all. I don’t want to erase or gloss over the harm inflicted on other groups. When I think of the wealth gap between black and white households, I do want to share an interview in which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. explained that no other group has been systemically oppressed in the same way, where the African population and their descendants for 244 years, with rare exceptions, were enslaved. Quoting a section of this interview below is not a way of communicating that the suffering of other people does not matter or to make oppression a competition but to simply highlight these words from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The fact is that the Negro was a slave in this country for 244 years. That act, that was a willful thing that was done. The Negro was brought here in chains treated in a very inhuman fashion. And this led to the thingification of the Negro. So he was not looked upon as a person. He was not looked upon as a human being with the same status and worth as other human beings. And the other thing is that human beings cannot continue to do wrong without eventually rationalizing that wrong. So slavery was justified, morally, biologically, theoretically, scientifically, everything else. And it seems to me that white America must see that no other ethnic group has been a slave on American soil. That is one thing that other immigrant groups haven’t had to face. The other thing is that the color became a stigma. American society made the Negro’s color a stigma and that can never be overlooked. So, I think these things are absolutely necessary. The other thing is that America freed the slaves in 1863 through the Emancipation proclamation of Abraham Lincoln but gave the slaves no land or nothing, in reality, and as a matter of fact, to get started on. At the same time, America was giving away millions acres of land in the West and the Midwest, which meant that there was willingness to give the white peasants from Europe an economic base, and yet it refused to give its black peasants from Africa, who came here involuntarily in chains and had worked free for 244 years, any kind of economic base and so emancipation for the Negro was really freedom to hunger. It was freedom to the winds and rains of heaven. It was freedom without food to eat or land to cultivate and therefore it was freedom and famine at the same time. And when white Americans tell the Negro to lift himself by his own bootstraps, they don’t look over the legacy of slavery and segregation. I believe we ought to do all we can and seek to lift ourselves by our own bootstraps, but it’s a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps. And many Negroes by the thousands and millions have been left bootless as a result of all of these years of oppression and as a result of a society that deliberately made his color a stigma and something worthless and degrading.”
History
Now let’s look at the past. Remember the history of whiteness? The current wealth disparities exist and persist for a reason. We don’t live without our past as a nation informing and shaping our present.
In the clip referenced above of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking about the color of people from Africa and of African descent becoming a stigma, King mentioned the favoring of poor white peasants from Europe over involuntary and formerly enslaved black peasants after emancipation. Three examples of this are the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act of 1935, and the G.I. Bill. These are the only three I will write about here, but there are other policies and practices that were intentionally racist in their language and/or in their implementation.
In the article “Land and the Roots of African-American Poverty,” edited by Sam Haselby, the writers explain, “Because of the date of the [Homestead] Act’s passage, few people from the South initially received any benefit from it. Yet given that it effectively remained in place until 1934, well over 1.5 million white families – both American-born and immigrant – eventually profited from it. And, although the process was rife with fraud, as many homesteaders sold their plots to corporations, the original claimants pocketed the income from land sales, establishing a basis of wealth and capital. By the end of the Act, more than 270 million acres of western land had been transferred to individuals, almost all of whom were white. Nearly 10 percent of all the land in the entire US was given to homesteaders for little more than a filing fee...By the end of the SHA [Southern Homestead Act] 10 years later, nearly 28,000 individuals had been awarded land. Combined with the claimants of the original Homestead Act, then, more than 1.6 million white families – both native-born and immigrant – succeeded in becoming landowners during the next several decades. Conversely, only 4,000 to 5,500 African-American claimants ever received final land patents from the SHA. The Homestead Acts were unquestionably the most extensive, radical, redistributive governmental policy in US history. The number of adult descendants of the original Homestead Act recipients living in the year 2000 was estimated to be around 46 million people, about a quarter of the US adult population. If that many white Americans can trace their legacy of wealth and property ownership to a single entitlement programme, then the perpetuation of black poverty must also be linked to national policy. Indeed, the Homestead Acts excluded African Americans not in letter, but in practice – a template that the government would propagate for the next century and a half. With the advent of emancipation, therefore, blacks became the only race in the US ever to start out, as an entire people, with close to zero capital. Having nothing else upon which to build or generate wealth, the majority of freedmen had little real chance of breaking the cycles of poverty created by slavery, and perpetuated by federal policy. The stain of slavery, it seems, is much more widespread and lasting than many Americans have admitted. Yet it is the legacy of the Reconstruction – particularly the failure of land redistribution – that so closely coupled poverty and race in the US.”
On the Race: The Power of an Illusion website, you can see in the Background Readings, “The landmark Social Security Act of 1935 provided a safety net for millions of workers, guaranteeing them an income after retirement. But the act specifically excluded two occupations: agricultural workers and domestic servants, who were predominantly African American, Mexican, and Asian. As low-income workers, they also had the least opportunity to save for their retirement. They couldn't pass wealth on to their children. Just the opposite. Their children had to support them."
In the clip referenced above of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking about the color of people from Africa and of African descent becoming a stigma, King mentioned the favoring of poor white peasants from Europe over involuntary and formerly enslaved black peasants after emancipation. Three examples of this are the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act of 1935, and the G.I. Bill. These are the only three I will write about here, but there are other policies and practices that were intentionally racist in their language and/or in their implementation.
In the article “Land and the Roots of African-American Poverty,” edited by Sam Haselby, the writers explain, “Because of the date of the [Homestead] Act’s passage, few people from the South initially received any benefit from it. Yet given that it effectively remained in place until 1934, well over 1.5 million white families – both American-born and immigrant – eventually profited from it. And, although the process was rife with fraud, as many homesteaders sold their plots to corporations, the original claimants pocketed the income from land sales, establishing a basis of wealth and capital. By the end of the Act, more than 270 million acres of western land had been transferred to individuals, almost all of whom were white. Nearly 10 percent of all the land in the entire US was given to homesteaders for little more than a filing fee...By the end of the SHA [Southern Homestead Act] 10 years later, nearly 28,000 individuals had been awarded land. Combined with the claimants of the original Homestead Act, then, more than 1.6 million white families – both native-born and immigrant – succeeded in becoming landowners during the next several decades. Conversely, only 4,000 to 5,500 African-American claimants ever received final land patents from the SHA. The Homestead Acts were unquestionably the most extensive, radical, redistributive governmental policy in US history. The number of adult descendants of the original Homestead Act recipients living in the year 2000 was estimated to be around 46 million people, about a quarter of the US adult population. If that many white Americans can trace their legacy of wealth and property ownership to a single entitlement programme, then the perpetuation of black poverty must also be linked to national policy. Indeed, the Homestead Acts excluded African Americans not in letter, but in practice – a template that the government would propagate for the next century and a half. With the advent of emancipation, therefore, blacks became the only race in the US ever to start out, as an entire people, with close to zero capital. Having nothing else upon which to build or generate wealth, the majority of freedmen had little real chance of breaking the cycles of poverty created by slavery, and perpetuated by federal policy. The stain of slavery, it seems, is much more widespread and lasting than many Americans have admitted. Yet it is the legacy of the Reconstruction – particularly the failure of land redistribution – that so closely coupled poverty and race in the US.”
On the Race: The Power of an Illusion website, you can see in the Background Readings, “The landmark Social Security Act of 1935 provided a safety net for millions of workers, guaranteeing them an income after retirement. But the act specifically excluded two occupations: agricultural workers and domestic servants, who were predominantly African American, Mexican, and Asian. As low-income workers, they also had the least opportunity to save for their retirement. They couldn't pass wealth on to their children. Just the opposite. Their children had to support them."
In “How the GI Bill's Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans,” Erin Blakemore wrote, “Though the bill helped white Americans prosper and accumulate wealth in the postwar years, it didn’t deliver on that promise for veterans of color. In fact, the wide disparity in the bill’s implementation ended up helping drive growing gaps in wealth, education and civil rights between white and black Americans. While the GI Bill’s language did not specifically exclude African-American veterans from its benefits, it was structured in a way that ultimately shut doors for the 1.2 million black veterans who had bravely served their country during World War II, in segregated ranks...Though the GI Bill guaranteed low-interest mortgages and other loans, they were not administered by the VA itself. Thus, the VA could cosign, but not actually guarantee the loans. This gave white-run financial institutions free reign to refuse mortgages and loans to black people. Redlining—a decades-old practice of marking maps by race to characterize the risks of lending money and providing insurance—made purchasing a home even more difficult for black veterans. Lenders froze out poorer neighborhoods, ensuring that loan assistance and insurance would be denied. And new white suburbs often came with overtly racist covenants that denied entry to black people.”
Once you pair the numbers with the history, a much different picture is painted than what is taught to most of us in the United States. I shared this in last month’s post, but I will share it again. Bill O’Reilly tweeted on July 19, 2018, “Enjoying my time in Ireland. Visited County Cavan where my ancestors were evicted from their land in 1845. That forced them to come to America legally so they wouldn’t starve. Pardon me if I reject the ‘white privilege’ scenario if applied to my family.” Ibram X. Kendi responded to this by sharing the post on Instagram on July 21, 2019 with the caption, “To reject the existence of White privilege is to say White people have more in the US because they are more. And to say Whites are more is a racist idea. This is why rejecting ‘the “white privilege” scenario’ is essentially accepting the Whites are superior scenario.” Logically speaking, if the United States were a true meritocracy, the wealth disparities addressed in this post would not exist. The only way to hold to meritocracy, and not see it as the myth of meritocracy, is to think that the disparities exist because of racist reasons. If we teach that the net worth of white households is more than the net worth of black households because white people just worked harder, this is racist. If we teach that the net worth of Asian households is more than the net worth of white households because Asians have better values, this is dehumanizing in a different way as the model minority stereotype makes Asians more than human. In Robin DiAngelo’s book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, DiAngelo wrote, “To say that whiteness is a standpoint is to say that a significant aspect of white identity is to see oneself as an individual, outside or innocent of race- ‘just human.’ This standpoint views white people and their interests as central to, and representative of, humanity. Whites also produce and reinforce the dominant narratives of society - such as individualism and meritocracy and use these narratives to explain the positions of other racial groups. These narratives allow us to congratulate ourselves on our success within the institutions of society and blame others for their lack of success” (DiAngelo, 2018, p. 27).
Action Steps
Complete additional research on the topic of the wealth gap. Obviously there is more to explore regarding wealth and systemic racism than I could possibly cover in a single blog post because this is a complicated and multi-layered topic. I will link additional resources at the end of the post.
Have action that follows the research and reflection.
- In her book So You Want to Talk about Race, Ijeoma Oluo wrote, “Support increases in the minimum wage...we cannot ignore the fact that a larger proportion of people of color work in lower-wage jobs, and that a raise in those wages will disproportionately help people of color and can help address the vast racial wealth gap in this country” (Oluo, 2018, p. 233).
Vote, show up, and engage in meaningful ways to dismantle systems of oppression. Do all of this under the leadership of people of color.
Complete additional research on the topic of the wealth gap. Obviously there is more to explore regarding wealth and systemic racism than I could possibly cover in a single blog post because this is a complicated and multi-layered topic. I will link additional resources at the end of the post.
Have action that follows the research and reflection.
- In her book So You Want to Talk about Race, Ijeoma Oluo wrote, “Support increases in the minimum wage...we cannot ignore the fact that a larger proportion of people of color work in lower-wage jobs, and that a raise in those wages will disproportionately help people of color and can help address the vast racial wealth gap in this country” (Oluo, 2018, p. 233).
- Another action is to support reparations in your personal life and by the government. Support initiatives that seek to acknowledge wrongs done, repent of those wrongdoings, and intentionally repair the damage. I wrote a post about reparations in August titled “Reparations before Reconciliation” if you would like to read it. At the Charlotte Justice Conference, Reggie Singleton led a session on Reparations. He spoke about how political power is important, but economic power is essential. I am not saying that there weren't any hardships for other groups because there certainly were for immigrant populations, Indigenous people, and those who were poor and white. I just believe that if we can focus our efforts on righting past wrongs, paying reparations, and submitting to black people, particularly black women, we can live up to our ideals as a nation. But more than living up to our ideals as a nation, I am compelled to support reparations because as a follower of Christ I want to emulate Christ. Jesus was not responsible for any of the brokenness around Him. Yet, He set about fixing it by His life and, ultimately, His resurrection. I may not be responsible for the system, but I have benefited, and I have been complicit. I want to do all I can to fix the brokenness around me, not as a “white savior” but because I love my neighbor. And I am inclined to prioritize black women because if life is better for black women, I really believe life will be better for everyone. I also think of 1 Corinthians 12:23-26 and the parable from Luke 14:7-11.
Vote, show up, and engage in meaningful ways to dismantle systems of oppression. Do all of this under the leadership of people of color.
What to Expect in Future Posts
At this time, I plan to address systemic racism as seen in employment, education, the justice system, housing, surveillance, foster care, healthcare, the environment, media, military, politics, and the Christian church in future posts. I will give action steps for myself and readers and provide additional resources.
At this time, I plan to address systemic racism as seen in employment, education, the justice system, housing, surveillance, foster care, healthcare, the environment, media, military, politics, and the Christian church in future posts. I will give action steps for myself and readers and provide additional resources.
As I look at the Equal Justice Initiative calendar and read it to my kids, I see that every single day conveys at least one injustice, usually based on race. These are past and present injustices, spanning hundreds of years, demonstrating that racism in this country is not simply an individual problem. Rather, racism is a systemic problem, infecting institutions and structures. Further, this problem centers around justice, therefore it's a problem God is concerned about, which means I must be concerned. In my opinion, systemic racism is not solely a political issue but also a spiritual issue. I am called to love my neighbor, and one way I can do this is by joining the fight to dismantle systems of oppression so that all people can flourish.
(Resources are linked below.)
Videos to View
“What is Systemic Racism? - Wealth Gap” with Jay Smooth
“The Racial Wealth Gap” Explained series episode in Season 1 on Netflix
“Stealing Bread” by Micah Bournes
The Next Question Video Web Series (Hosted and produced by Austin Channing Brown, Jenny Booth Potter, and Chi Chi Okwu)
“Is Racism Over Yet?” with Laci Green
“Social Justice Equity” lecture by Tim Wise
Podcasts (for your listening pleasure and discomfort)
Pass the Mic: “On ‘Social Justice and the Gospel’ Part 1”
Pass the Mic: “On ‘Social Justice and the Gospel’ Part 2”
Almost Heretical: “Mark Charles - The Truth of Our History”
Music (that may make you uncomfortable)
“A Time Like This” by Micah Bournes
“Too Much?” by Micah Bournes
“Land of the Free” by Joey Bada$$
“Facts” by Lecrae
“Cynical” by Propaganda feat. Aaron Marsh and Sho Baraka
Recommended Reading
Articles
“Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys” by Emily Badger, Clair Cain Miller, Adam Pearce, and Kevin Quealy
“Unequal Opportunity Lenders? Analyzing Racial Disparities in Big Banks’ Higher-Priced Lending” by Andrew Jakabovics and Jeff Chapman
“How Slavery and Discrimination Fueled a Massive Racial Wealth Gap” by Lexie Schapitl
“Of Sh*tholes and Section 8: A Response to Rod Dreher” by Jemar Tisby
“The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"Examining the Black-White Wealth Gap" by Kriston McIntosh, Emily Moss, Ryan Nunn, and Jay Shambaugh (This link was added to this post on March 12, 2020.)Books
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist
The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee
There There: A Novel by Tommy Orange
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