Dropping some knowledge on you folks !
White Families Are $95K Richer Than Black Families, on Average
By Lawrence Watkins
The Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University just released a new study revealing startling information about the gap between black and white families when it comes to wealth. According to the study, the wealth gap between white and black American families has increased fourfold since 1974. Over a 23-year period, the authors of the study found that the wealth gap rose from $20,000 to $95,000. They define wealth as the dollar value of your assets minus your debts.
Thomas M. Shapiro, Tatjana Meschede and Laura Sullivan worked on the study and found other results that were equally revealing:
1) Middle-income white households saw greater increases in wealth than high-income African American households. Middle-income whites have seen a $74,000 increase in wealth during this time period, while high-income black families saw only an $18,000 increase.
2) In 2007, one in 10 African Americans owed $3,600, doubling their debt since 1984.
3) At least 25 percent of all African American families had no assets to turn to during tough economic times.
Blacks in Business
The new generation of African Americans going the entrepreneurial route are well equipped and more knowledgeable than ever before. Despite facing many obstacles unparalleled to other races many African Americans have aspired to receive equality and the right to ownership since the ending of slavery. Now, in the 21st century we are able to see their successes as they become business moguls and CEOs of major companies.
Black Progress
Digital Divide Narrowed
The divide between African-Americans and the rest of the population has been practically eliminated. In recent years the number of blacks online and with high-speed internet has doubled. This gives our community more access to jobs, networking, and inexpensive goods and services. Today, more than 68 percent of African Americans report they are online, compared with 71 percent of all Americans. At one point, that divide was closer to 20 percent.
Black Progress
Race Relations
Overt racism and bigotry have been shunned and pushed to the margins of American life. Inclusion and equal opportunity have been embraced as key principles in America as well. Discrimination, while not eliminated, is no longer humored or tolerated in the larger society the same way it was 50 years ago.
Black Progress
Education
In recent years black graduation rates have been on the rise. School standards, charter schools and the no child left behind act have been cited as reasons for black students' progress in test scores for reading, writing skills, math, and social sciences. Consequently, the number of black men in women enrolling in college is increasing and in many states, the number of African Americans in or heading to college is actually on par with the region's overall population.
Black Progress
Hip-Hop Culture
What started as musical expression in the slums of the inner cities has turned into a $4 billion-a-year industry. Some say hip-hop is the most important contribution to the American cultural landscape since blues, jazz, and rock and roll. Now that's progress! Hip-hop literally forced the important melding of black and white and Latino cultures after the 1960s and 1970s. Today, hip-hop is not one thing, it is every thing: fashion, language, music and movies.
Black Progress
The Black Athlete
Michael Jordan, the Williams sisters, Tiger Woods, Barry Bonds, and Jerry Rice. These names have revolutionized the sports industry. They have collectively made a mark for black athletic talent in the minds and hearts of people around the world as household names. Those names became synonymous with the games they dominated and with talent unmatched by any other person in history. Love sports or not, the black super-athlete has been an important part of our progress in the last 25 years.
Black Progress
Blacks in Hollywood
History was made at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002 when Halle Berry became the first African American woman to win Best Actress. Denzel Washington continued the legacy of greatness when he was awarded Best Actor for Training Day 39 years after Sidney Poitier was the first black man to win the award. They have helped open the door even more for a new generation of leading black men and women in film, not to mention Oscar winners.
Black Progress
Political Power
Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell are just a couple of examples of how African-Americans have advanced in the world of politics and government. In the last 25 years more black lawmakers, mayors and politicians have come on the scene. It is estimated that in the last 25 years nearly 9,000 blacks have been elected to public office. Powell and Rice have been influential in the advancement of black women and men in the U.S. government by their presence and success at the highest levels.
Black Progress
Empowered Black Women
Call it the Oprah effect if you want, but since this media mogul hit the scene, she has had an impact on all women, not just black women. Oprah Winfrey became America's first black female billionaire, and as inspiring as she is, she certainly won't be the last. She is a potent personality and a cultural phenomenon. Even though Oprah never depended on a black consumer base, her business activities reflect certain aspects of the expansion of black business activity in last 20 years. For instance, black women are more likely than black men to secure a small business loan.
Black Progress
A Black President
As Barack Obama continues on his path as the first African-American President of the United States, history and progress is being made. It was monumental when Barack defeated Hillary Clinton in the primary to lead the Democratic Party, but before him there was the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others, who can not be discounted for helping pave the way.
Black Progress
The results of this study bolster the move for reparations, paying back the black community for wealth losses during slavery. Part of the gap in wealth between whites and blacks comes from divergent community structures that give whites more power than blacks to control economic decisions. One example is the 16.5 percent unemployment rate for black Americans, which is about double the rate for whites.
Danielle Douglas, an expert on small businesses and wealth building, said that even though there are reasons that the community deserves reparations for the wealth gap created through slavery and Jim Crow, we are probably going to be waiting forever for that inequality to be addressed. "We tend to still come from a victim mentality and while we are deserving of our 40 acres and a mule, we aren't getting it. So we need to learn to navigate the system and find ways to create our own destiny. It's a mindset."
Douglas, who trains small-business owners to find the resources they need, says that African Americans have to ensure that they and their families are financially literate and empowered to increase their own economic prospects. Also, the government can take steps to create economic opportunities for small businesses in urban communities to allow black families to have a share of the economic pie.
Do you have any ideas for how the black community can address the crisis of this wealth disparity? It's clear that no one is going to help us but ourselves. As even the Latino community is beginning to outpace us in terms of employment, now is the time for us to take complete control of our economic destinies.
Later,
Kevin B. Humphrey/CVO
The Humphrey Group Ltd
www.miraclestreams.com
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