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Why Blacks Are 13x Poorer in America
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Feb 6, 2025
#blackexcellence #blackculture The racial wealth gap has been expanding in recent years even as Black wealth is rising. But why? "Fifteen Cents on the Dollar" book - https://a.co/d/6GQTn8c
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has anybody else seen these charts about
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household income according to race well
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I have I've seen them all over the place
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the wealth Gap in America is a stark and
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persistent issue with black households
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typically having significantly less
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wealth than their white counterparts
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even at a time where black wealth is
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increasing the racial Gap is actually
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getting wider and wider in today's video
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we will explore the factors contributing
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to this disparity examining historical
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context systematic discrimination
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housing and lending practices and the
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role of public policy understanding
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these factors is crucial to addressing
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and ultimately closing this wealth Gap
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so we're going to start with the
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historical context of slavery and its
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aftermath the roots of the racial wealth
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Gap in America can be traced back to the
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institution of slavery no brainer there
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for over 250 years black people were
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enslaved and forced to work without
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compensation building much of the
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nation's wealth while being
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systematically denied the opportunity to
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accumulate any for themselves but I'm
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constantly being reminded slavery ended
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over 150 years ago so we should be good
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right well you're dead wrong the
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abolition of slavery in 1865 which it
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really didn't end in 1865 was followed
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by the black coat and Jim Crow laws
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which continued to enforce racial
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segregation and economic disparity
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obviously I don't have to Deep dive into
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how slavery held back black people
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hopefully everybody can understand that
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so let's look at the policies after
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slavery ended that have held us back
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starting with a little known policy
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called the Homestead Act the Homestead
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Act of 1862 provided millions of acres
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of land to white Americans at little to
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no cost enabling them to build wealth
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through Agriculture and property
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ownership giving them all a little piece
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of America however black people were
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largely excluded from this opportunity
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either through direct discrimination or
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through a lack of access to the
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resources and information needed to
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claim the land the Homestead Act
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originally signed by Mr President
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Lincoln granted 246 million Acres of
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western land for pretty much free can
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you even imagine that just getting acres
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and acres of land for free and all you
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have to do is tend to it and by the way
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just so you understand that's close to
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the land mass of both California and
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Texas for pretty much free an individual
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could literally receive 160 Acres of a
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government Land by first filing an
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application then promising to just
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improve the land for 5 years and then
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just file for the deed of ownership by
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1934 1.5 million white families
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benefited from this land giveaway since
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the original Homestead Act was signed
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during the Civil War a second Homestead
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Act the southern Homestead Act was
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enacted in 1866 in that act unoccupied
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southern land was offered exclusively to
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African-Americans who are now Alfrey and
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loyal white Southerners but the offer
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seemed good on paper but proved to be
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ineffective for several reasons some of
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these reasons include the recently freed
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slaves obviously didn't have any cash
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because they've been working for free
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for the last 250 freaking years and some
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people even argue longer than that also
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to file for an application it could take
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possibly several weeks to travel to one
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of the land offices in each state and
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they had to travel through pretty
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dangerous territory four people that
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just got out of a civil war to try and
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claim land that a lot of people didn't
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want them to have and that's for slaves
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who were truly free there was a
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significant number of black people that
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were forced into labor contracts even
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after slavery ended meaning they kept
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working on plantations for years after
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their freedom by the time this radical
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land redistribution had come to an end
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black people were left in the dust even
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former Confederate soldiers were able to
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get land there were black families that
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did receive land under the Homestead Act
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but the percentage was very very small
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in 2000 it was estimated that 46 million
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people living in the US about a quarter
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of the US adult population were
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descendants of the original Homestead
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Act recipients although many
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homesteaders failed plenty of them were
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able to either work the land they
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received or sell it to corporations
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later on and pass down that wealth now
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let's look at housing discrimination one
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one of the most significant factors
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contributing to the wealth Gap is
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housing discrimination the practice of
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redlining which began in the 1930s
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involved Banks and other institutions
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refusing to offer mortgages or loans to
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people living in predominantly black
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neighborhoods this prevented many black
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families from purchasing homes which for
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decades has been the primary means of
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Building Wealth in America red lining
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especially affected families who
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migrated to the north and Midwest these
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families left the South to escape RAC R
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ISM and find better opportunities but a
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different type of racism was waiting for
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them red lining was rampant in the
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midwest which explains why some of the
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biggest wealth and education gaps in the
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country are found in cities in the
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midwest now you have black people living
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in segregated communities that are
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underserved be it in education or
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well-paying jobs and when strong black
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neighborhoods and communities popped up
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they were often torn down in racist
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riots if you haven't seen our video on
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some historical black towns that were
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destroyed catch it up there black kids
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growing up in underserved communities
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with less opportunities go into lower
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paying jobs those that can even go to
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college have to borrow more money than
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their white classmates to go to college
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I mean their stories about whole
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communities having to get together to
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send one person to college at that point
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again they're already starting behind
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financially before they even graduate
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college and when they finally make it to
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the workplace even in higher earning
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Fields black people often make less
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money according to the economic policy
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Institute black men earn approximately
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73% of what white men earn and black
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women earn even less at about 65% of
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what white men earn first comes College
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then home ownership that's the American
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dream home ownership has been a key
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component of wealth accumulation in
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America but black home ownership rates
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lag significantly behind those of white
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Americans according to the US Census
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Bureau as of 2020 about 74% of white
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Americans own their homes compared to
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just 44% of black Americans so now let's
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look back at another big policy that
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contributed to the massive wealth Gap we
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have today the New Deal of Roosevelt and
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the GI Bill helped to create the
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American middle class after World War II
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but black Americans again were largely
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excluded from these benefits the Social
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Security Act of 1935 for example
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excluded domestic and agricultural
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workers
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positions predominantly held by none
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other than black people at the time
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similarly discriminatory practices
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prevented many black veterans from
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accessing the educational and housing
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benefits of the GI bill this exclusion
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from the ability to create wealth either
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via home ownership or a high-paying job
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means black families have less or no
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wealth getting passed down from
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generation to generation income is
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different from wealth wealth is what you
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own minus what you owe and even two
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people working today at most places who
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are black and white making the same
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income would statistically speaking have
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very different levels of wealth one of
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the most significant factors in the
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wealth Gap is the lack of inherited
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wealth among black families white
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families are more likely to inherit
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money property and other assets
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providing a significant Head Start in
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wealth accumulation so what does the
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racial wealth Gap look like in numbers
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according to the burkins institute in
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2022 for every 100 in wealth held by
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white households black households held
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only about $15 there is a
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$240,200 difference in wealth between
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the median White household and the
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median black household the largest gap
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in wealth growth was in stock equity
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which made up nearly 30% of white wealth
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but only 4% of black wealth so I bet
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you're asking all right Jared I see what
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you're saying what should we do about
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this ever growing racial wealth Gap one
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proposed solution to addressing the
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racial wealth Gap is that little RW that
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many Americans just lose their mind over
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when they hear it yep you got that right
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reparations reparations for the
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descendants of enslaved Africans
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reparations could take the form of
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direct payments investment in Black
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communities or other measures aimed at
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compensating for the historical
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injustices that have contributed to the
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current wealth disparity I've done a
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video on cities that were entertaining
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some reparation proposals make sure to
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watch that if you haven't yet above all
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since various policies created and Flame
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the wealth Gap it's policies that are
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needed to close it too hey I mean
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reparations can be one policy right let
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me know in the comments what your
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thoughts are about reparations it's
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always a crazy Hot Topic there are so
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many other things that I would have
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liked to address in this video but I
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could have been here for probably years
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upon years there are books and books
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some of them maybe I'll leave below that
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talk about all the different ways that
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African-Americans or blacks were held
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back in this country we didn't even get
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into how they weren't even allowed to go
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to school weren't allowed to read there
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are so many things and so much research
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that you could do I encourage you all to
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go and do that say so much more on this
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topic in every single recession who got
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hurt the worst during the Great
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Depression Did You Know that half half
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of African-Americans were without work I
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just really don't think that most people
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understand what African-Americans went
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through in this country in 2008 who was
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targeted the most for faulty
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discriminatory Home Loans before the
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2008 crash and I'm sure a lot of people
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would say that it's their fault but
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learning about the stock market learning
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about home ownership learning about
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maintaining your own home comes with
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experience and when you have parents
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before you that didn't own any stocks or
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maybe didn't own their first home with
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the ending of Jim Crow laws and thinking
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that blacks were supposed to figure this
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all out in one person's lifetime one
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maybe two generations is just crazy to
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me so thanks again bye
#Discrimination & Identity Relations
#Housing & Development
#Poverty & Hunger