Wealth disparities in U.S. - how to close the gap

Many homeless people are limited to sidewalk housing and assets restricted to what they can carry.

by Tomi Johnson, Metro Atlanta...With all the hype surrounding the racial wealth gap and conservatives discouraging the use of the race card being played, it is still apparent that black family assets have been declining since the 1970's.

If the U.S. economy is the lead economy in the world, and that economy is based on white wealth, racial inequalities, and high poverty rates, what does that say for the future of the world?

Rakesh Kochhar, Richard Fry, and Paul Taylor's recently released Pew Research Center report, "Wealth Gaps Rises to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics," is based on 2009 data. The gap - White household wealth (net worth) is 20 times greater than Black households and 18 times greater than Hispanic households - may be wider than the report suggests because of the recession. (http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2011/07/SDT-Wealth-Report_7-26-11_FINAL.pdf)

According to economist Darrick Hamilton, associate professor at the Milano School of International Affairs in New York, where wealth is concerned, African Americans "are in a perpetual state of crisis."

Hamilton said it is a myth that black households are not frugal, and he deems historical public policies, high unemployment, racially segregated occupations, lack of inheritance advantages, and predatory lending scams as some reasons why blacks are poor.

"The racial wealth gap remains exorbitant and stubbornly persistent," Hamilton said.

He claims that wealth provides access to elite schools and the ability to finance expensive medical procedures, reside in higher amenity neighborhoods, exert political influence, purchase better counsel when in legal trouble, and opportunity to withstand hardships during emergencies.

Hamilton said the late historian Manning Marable from Columbia University and Duke University Economist William Darity as well as other leading African American economists have already given methods to solve the problem of racial inequality. Remedies include changes in generational wealth transmission, implementation of baby bonds/asset building programs, and passage of a Full Employment Act.

To view Hamilton's February 2, 2011 speech to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on "Racial Economic Inequality in America", go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdEQUxJfkvk.

©2011 Tomi Johnson. All rights reserved.