Comment: And people still wonder why so many African-Americans are taking to the streets in protest at police brutality. Whether or not the killing or abuse of an African-American by a police officer was justified is NOT the point. The point is, why do so many African-American males find themselves in confrontation with the police? What are the social conditions that produce this? Read on.
The median African-American household's net worth is just over $7,000, compared to white households with more than $111,000.
According to a new study that concludes the gap is so wide, it would take black families over 200 years to catch up. The study called 'The Ever-Growing Gap', released by the Corporation for Enterprise Development and the Institute for Policy Studies on Tuesday, examined wealth accumulation over the past 30 years.
Wealth-building policies have favored white families over black families, the study found, including the GI bill and generous mortgage rates after WWII that disproportionately helped white families achieve wealth at a time of nationwide segregation.
The federal government spent more on schooling for veterans than on the Marshall Plan, which helped rebuild Europe's economy. "Along with funding higher education on that massive scale, the GI bill also financed 40 percent of the mortgages in 1946 and 1947," stated the report, explaining the economic boom of the 1950s for so many white Americans.
The study said the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s challenged segregation, which contributed to some progress for African-Americans in the last 30 years.
According to US Census Bureau data, in 2013, 83.4 percent of African-Americans received a high school diploma, or its equivalent, up from 25.6 percent in 1964. Graduation rates for African-Americans in 1968 were 38 percent of the white rate, whereas today it is more than 60 percent.
When poverty was examined, it showed a decline from nearly 42 percent for African-Americans in 1966 to about 27 percent in 2012.Despite those gains, the study found African-Americans made almost no gains in income, and "do not even earn 60 percent of what white Americans earn, and this gap has barely moved in more than 40 years."
Over the past three decades, the average wealth of white families has grown by 84 percent, which is a staggering three times as fast as the rate for African-American families, and 1.2 times the growth rate for Latino families, according to the study.
Discriminatory housing policies and market practices have resulted in home ownership among only 41 percent of black families and 45 percent of Latino families, compared to 71 percent of white families. Home ownership is one of the greatest sources of Americans' wealth.
Looking towards America's future economic security, researchers see a looming problem unless public policy intervenes. "By the middle of the 21st century, the United States will be a majority minority nation. If we hope to ensure a strong middle class, historically the backbone of the national economy, then the financial health of households of color will become even more urgent than it is today," stated the study.
The group's report comes with recommendations, which include identifying policies that perpetuate wealth division, fixing tax policies to ensure that families of color build wealth and closing federal estate tax loopholes and creating an annual net worth tax on high-wealth individuals.
As inflation rises, the cost of living rises, as does inflation ($1 was equal to $7.66 in today's rates)
The average hourly wage was $2.18 or in todays money right about $15.00. Most white americans dont earn $15.00 today, hence the encouragement to raise minimum wage to that figure.
So really EVERYBODY is making 60% less hourly than they used to in 1966.
If you look at the lowest average hourly wage in america last year, the lowest figure is over $14.00 which frankly makes no sense since large swaths of america in the services industry work for federal min. wage which is $7.25 $7.25 is less than $7.66 which is the worth 1 1966 dollar. The average income in america HAS been split by more than half when you look at buying power.
All of these economic numbers are so overly twisted, dressed up, blatantly lied about, then paraded around for whomever is pushing an agenda. Be it the government saying everything is all right, or by some group crying "racism" "we deserve free stuff or special legislation".
Furthermore the white families in america have had approximately 200 years extra than colored americans to amass wealth. That might be the major reason why the average colored family would take 200 years to catch up on familial wealth.
1776 -1996 = 190 years.
smh.