Gaberiel Jones Jr.
I was 10 years old. My grandfather and I piled tackle boxes and fishing rods into the back of a maroon Mazda. I climbed into the passenger seat and secured my seat belt while holding two plastic containers of worms. On the way to the lake, we stopped at a gas station for a couple of sodas. When he went to pay, there was a man at the counter with a bottle of water and no money. My grandfather bought it for him,and as we headed back to the car, said,“Remember the golden rule, Gabe: Treat others like you would like to be treated.”
I remembered that.
Nearly a decade later, sitting in my college history class, the instructor asked,"Whoknew the golden rule?" My hand shot up and I remarked, “Treat others like you want to be treated!” with the confidence of an 18-year-old sporting freshly minted chin whiskers. “No, the gold and rule,” he corrected.“He who has the gold makes the rules.”
In retrospect, the differences in our language reflected a “should be vs. as is” dichotomy in United Statespolicy. After all, the U.S. is not fueled by justice, ethics, empathyor equity, but by wealth.
Today, as a public health researcher, I am confronted with the reality that wealth is the most powerful predictor of health outcomes in the United States.Wealth is essential to accessresources that enhance health status,such as safe housing, clean air and water, healthy food, adequate health careand quality education. Studies of wealth in the U.S. reveal severe racial inequities: For every dollar in wealth white Americans possess, black Americans have only 7 cents. This translates to poorer access to resources and poorer health outcomes for black Americans.
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Why the wealth gap? The answer lies in our history — the history that people don’t want to talk about. The history that the U.S. and its wealth were originally established on the free labor of enslaved black people,and that after emancipation, racial discrimination persisted in political practices such as housing segregation, employment discrimination, lending discriminationand income disparities. Housing is a good example of how this history has played out, as home ownership accounts for approximately 60% of the wealth of the U.S. middle class.
In 2018, the U.S Census Bureau reported that 73%of white Americans owned their homes,compared with 42%of black Americans. These trends in wealth and homeownership are not new;they are not coincidental;they are not the result of poor effort on the part of black Americans. They are instead the fruits of toxic trees deeply rooted in our nation’s history of discriminatory policy and practice. Sadly, this history did not end with the civil rights movement— ittransformed.
When the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968, government-sanctioned housing discrimination through processes like redlining was deemed unlawful. However, inequities in access to homeownership persist today. In an analysis of 31 million home mortgage disclosure records of nearly all attempts to purchase homes with a conventional mortgage from 2015 to 2016, black Americans were more likely to be denied for home mortgages, even when controlling for applicant’s income, loan amountand neighborhood where the applicant hoped to buy a home. Unfortunately, wealth-inhibiting practices are not limited to housing policy, nor are they limited to any particular decade of U.S. history.
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So what are black communities to do? For us individually, it is critical to understand the power of earning compound interest and the harm of paying compound interest on debts, the differences between a Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and a traditional IRA, the importance of investing early and often, building an emergency fundand having a term life insurance policy if you have dependents. Those are things we can do for ourselves.
But for all of us, we must also demand justice and accountability from our policymakers. Remember, they work for us. There must be an acknowledgment of the theft that has been perpetrated on black Americans and our ancestors. Upon acknowledging this theft, it is not acceptable to simply stop stealing. Instead, the theft must cease, what has been stolen must be returned,and there must be intentional policies implemented to reverse the harm caused by the theft itself.
If the people we put in office refuse to represent us, we must vote them out and elect people who will. Policymakers: No more games, no more disguising the gold and rule as the golden rule, no more fish stories. Action.
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Gaberiel JonesJr.is a senior program coordinator at the Youth Violence Prevention Research Center at the University of Louisville, a Ph.D. candidate in health promotion and behavioral sciences, and a hip-hop artist whose music reflects his research interests (social justice, wealth building, revealing historical truths). As a senior program coordinator, he works with the Louisville Youth Voices Against Violence fellowship, a group of young adults working to develop strategies to combat structural violence in their communities.
FAQs
Income inequality is a global issue with several causes, including historical racism, unequal land distribution, high inflation, and stagnant wages. As gaps increase thanks to crises like COVID-19, the world needs to take action in education, labor market policies, tax reforms, and higher wages.
What is the racial wealth gap in the United States? ›
Figure 2 shows that from 1989 to 2022, the Black-white median wealth gap has averaged $172,000, and rarely dropped below 10% of this. However, between 2019 and 2022, the gap breeched 10% of the average—signaling an increase in disparity not seen since 2007, when the gap reached $214,970.
What race holds the most wealth in America? ›
In 2021, households with a White householder made up 65.3% of all U.S. households and held 80.0% of all wealth.
When did wealth inequality start in America? ›
The return to high inequality began in the 1980s. The Gini first rose above 40 in 1983. Inequality rose almost continuously, with inconsequential dips during the economic recessions in 1990–91 (Gini 42.0), 2001 (Gini 44.6) and 2007.
Why is the gap between rich and poor growing in the US? ›
A main cause for the widening income disparity is the huge pay gap. According to Equilar, the median income of CEOs of listed companies in 2021 was 20 million dollars, up 31 percent from 2020, while that of average employees increased from around 69,000 dollars to some 72,000 dollars, up about 4 percent.
What is the wealth inequality in the United States? ›
SOURCES: Federal Reserve Board's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances and authors' calculations. To be in the top 10%, a family needed $1.92 million or more (about $507,000 more than in 2019). Their average wealth was $7.73 million, up 17% from 2019. To be in the next 40%, a family needed at least $192,000 in wealth.
Which race has the most millionaires? ›
More solvent White households typically had $128,400 in 2021, and richer White households were mostly millionaires, with a median net worth of $1.5 million. In percentage terms, the increase for more solvent White households (30%) was greater than the increase for wealthier (18%) and richer (13%) White households.
Which US state has the highest wealth inequality? ›
Gini index values by state
New York (Gini index = 0.5208), Connecticut (0.5008), Massachusetts (0.4975), California (0.4953), and Louisiana (0.4915) were the states with the highest Gini coefficients in 2022; Washington, D.C. (0.5111) had the second largest value, behind only New York.
What is the average income of white Americans? ›
The median income in 2022 was at 81,060 U.S. dollars for white, non-Hispanic families. This is a slight decrease from the previous few years.
Which race is the poorest in the US? ›
Poverty and race/ethnicity
The US Census declared that in 2014, 14.8% of the general population lived in poverty: As of 2010 about half of those living in poverty are non-Hispanic white (19.6 million). Non-Hispanic white children comprised 57% of all poor rural children.
Thirty-seven percent of white Americans have savings to cover three months of expenses, compared to 50% of people of color. Hispanic/Latino Americans are most likely to have three months of savings (57%), which aligns with them being most likely to save over 10% of their paycheck each month.
What is the richest race on Earth? ›
The Saudi Cup (G1), raced over 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles) on dirt at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, immediately became the richest in the world when set at $20 million on its inaugural running — a purse it has maintained through 2022.
What is the richest 1% in the US? ›
You need more money than ever to enter the ranks of the top 1% of the richest Americans. To join the club of the wealthiest citizens in the U.S., you'll need at least $5.8 million, up about 15% up from $5.1 million one year ago, according to global real estate company Knight Frank's 2024 Wealth Report.
What is the average net worth of a black man? ›
Single Black men's median wealth was $10,100, compared to Single Black women's median wealth of $1,700. Single White women have slightly higher median wealth levels than single White men. Single White women's wealth is estimated at $81,200 compared to single White men at $78,200.
Why is income inequality so bad in the US? ›
Tax policy – Pre-tax income inequality in the U.S. is similar to other developed countries, but markedly rises after taxes and transfers. Immigration – Relatively high levels of immigration of less-skilled workers since 1965 may have reduced wages for American-born high school dropouts.
What are the causes of income wealth inequality? ›
Income and wealth inequality can be caused by differences in the growth of income of different social groups. Changes in employment and taxation and government policy can also affect levels of inequality.
What is a causing factor towards the income gap? ›
Income inequality in the U.S. has been increasing since the 1970s. Throughout the 20th century and up to the present, this inequality has been exacerbated by government tax and labor policies and ongoing discrimination by race and gender. A weakening middle class has also contributed to income inequality.
What are the problems caused by the wealth gap? ›
Excessive inequality can erode social cohesion, lead to political polarization, and lower economic growth. Learn more about the inequality, its causes and consequences and how the IMF helps countries in tackling inequality.
What caused the wealth gap in the Great Depression? ›
A major reason for this large and growing gap between the rich and the working-class people was the increased manufacturing output throughout this period. From 1923-1929 the average output per worker increased 32% in manufacturing. During that same period of time average wages for manufacturing jobs increased only 8%.
