Racial Wealth Divide

A report called "The Road to Zero Wealth" from the Institute for Policy Studies and Prosperity Now finds that, excluding durable goods, the median wealth for black families is $1700, for Latino families it's $2000, and for white families it's $116,800. Even white high school dropouts are wealthier on average than black and Latino college graduates.

While households of color are projected to reach majority status by 2043, if the racial wealth divide is left unaddressed, median Black household wealth is on a path to hit zero by 2053 and median Latino household wealth is projected to hit zero twenty years later. In sharp contrast, median White household wealth would climb to $137,000 by 2053.

Even earning a middle-class income does not guarantee a family middle-class economic security. White households in the middle income quintile—those earning $37,201-61,328 annually—own nearly eight times as much wealth ($86,100) as Black middle-income earners ($11,000) and ten times that of their Latino counterparts ($8,600).

Update (September 17):  A Federal Reserve report shows that the wage gap between blacks and whites is also growing.

Update (September 24):  Sophia Tesfaye reports on a PRRI survey.

White college-educated Americans are far less likely to say poverty is a critical issue — only 37 percent, compared to 47 percent of white non-college-educated Americans and a majority of Hispanic and black Americans (at 52 and 69 percent, respectively).

Chauncey DeVega concludes:

Healing the racial wealth and income divide would help America as a whole. Unfortunately, too many white Americans see the fight against racism and racial inequality as a "zero sum" game they are terrified of losing -- even if that view hurts them in the medium term, and could ultimately destroy our country.