Examining the Racial Wealth Divide in 1968: Beyond Black & White Perspectives | A Kemetic Minds Data Science Inquiry

The Racial wealth gap should be a great blog post to look into further for additional reference. So, let's look at the wealth gap between other races not often mentioned. I'm doing this to dispel the notion that I might be targeting any specific group. Additionally, I noticed many different sources mainly highlighting Black, White, and Latino comparisons, but what about the others? That is an excellent argument from one of my viewers:

Here was the one comment on the video I received, which was interesting; I'll gladly go to work on the comment, by the way:

Part One: What is your point? 

First, the short video was not an attack video on white people but a data highlight. My intuition tells me it was taken as an attack video due to the derogatory and condescending nature of the reply. 

 

Response: The title of the video initially was The 1968 wealth gap between black and white families, so the short was to highlight the disparities back then. 

 

Point Two: The difference reflects that in the U.S., there are many more millionaires among Whites than blacks. 

 

Response: The difference in wealth is not only that there are millionaires among whites (true), but the generational wealth transfer that black families were left out of, stolen labor, and opportunities that were also historically stolen leading up to the 1968 wealth gap which was why the fair housing act was fought for during the Civil Rights era (Fair Housing Act, 1968).

 

 

Post-Emancipation Promises and Failures: Juneteenth in 1865 marked the beginning of what was supposed to be an era of Black wealth creation. Freed African Americans, after suffering institutionalized theft during slavery, were now free to earn, own property, and build wealth. However, the racial wealth gap persisted and grew over time, a result of continuous discrimination and thwarted economic opportunities. Despite the end of slavery and civil rights achievements, Black Americans faced new forms of discrimination that impeded wealth accumulation. In 1863, Black Americans owned a mere half percent of the national wealth, a figure that had only marginally improved over a century later (History et al.).

 

 

 

The Black-White Wealth Gap Over Time: Research by Derenoncourt, Kim, Kuhn, and Schularick shows the wealth gap between White and Black Americans. They used historical census data, state tax records, and consumer finance surveys to construct a consistent measure of wealth by race. The White to Black per capita wealth ratio decreased in the years immediately following Emancipation but remained significantly disproportionate. Starting from virtually nothing, Blacks saw their wealth rise faster than Whites initially. Still, systemic barriers and exclusion from wealth-building policies like the Homestead Act and the GI Bill contributed to the wealth gap ​(Derenoncourt et al., n.d.).

 

 

 

Historical Policies and Racial Wealth Gap: A piece from the St. Louis Fed discusses the historical context of the racial wealth gap. It highlights how Black Americans were often excluded from significant wealth-building policies such as the 1862 Homestead Act and the GI Bill of 1944. Additionally, the destruction of Black wealth during events like the Tulsa race massacre and the failure of promises like the "40 acres and a mule" pledge significantly contributed to the wealth gap. These historical factors underscore how systemic biases and structural barriers, rather than individual choices, have shaped the racial wealth gap in America (Boshara, Hernández Kent, & Ricketts, n.d.). ​

 

Point Three: What are the same numbers for Blacks in comparison to Jews, Asians, gays, Persians, Arabs, etc? Who lives in America? 

 

In 2020, black wealth had a median of $24,000; adjusted for 2023, inflation would equal $28,530.87.

 

Is it the Jews? - According to a Pew Research Center article (2020), "As a whole, U.S. Jews are a relatively high-income group, with roughly half saying their annual household income is at least $100,000 – much higher than the percentage of all U.S. households at that level." (para, 2).  

 

• Black/Jewish (2020): 4:1 Ratio or $118,878.64 (2023) vs $28,530.87 

 

LGBTQ - In 2022, The median household wealth was $82,000 for female same-sex couples, $185,000 for mixed-sex couples, and $48,000 and $39,000 for single men and single women, respectively, regardless of their sexual orientation (Hernández et al., 2022). Taking the mean or average from those four numbers, we have $88,500. 

 

• Black/LGBTQ (2022) : 4:1 $93,040.90 (2023) vs $28,530.87

 

Asians - In 2021, the median household wealth of Asian American families was $206,400, which statistically aligns with the wealth of White households ("Racial Wealth Snapshot: Asian Americans and the Racial Wealth Divide," 2023).

       

•  Black/Asian (2021) : 9:1 Ratio $216,990.29 (2023) vs $28,530.87

Arab - In 2010, the median income for U.S. households was $51,914, roughly $4,500 less than the median income of Arab households, recorded at $56,433, as shown in Figure 2 (Asi & Beaulieu, 2013).

 

• Black/Arab (2010 in 2023 Dollars): Over 3:1, $79,625.41 vs $28,530.87

 

Persians -  In 2019, the median household income of Iranian immigrants was $79,000. This figure stands higher than the median incomes of the overall foreign-born population, which was $64,000, and the native population, at $66,000.

 

• Black/Persian (2019): Inflation adjusted to 2023 is $95,072.73 vs $28,530.87
  

 

For the sake of comparison, I thought I would go ahead and place the white wealth statistics on the page to get a complete picture. 

 

• Black/White: 8:1 Ratio $188,00 vs $28,530.87

Now, let us correlate the numbers, compare, contrast, and plot all the races on a chart. I adjusted the numbers to the 2023 inflation rate for this research to get a more accurate current number.

The disparities are present, and it is interesting how there is a current racial wealth gap that still exists in 2023. A comprehensive reparations plan to make a more equitable society will help strengthen the economic outlook across America now and in the future.

 

Here is an updated version of the previous chart with Indians included: 

11/20/2023 - Using 2020 Census records I updated the chart to show hispanic and other nationalities: 

 

Here is today's video; if you missed it, check out the Reparations playlist; thanks for reading.

 

Reference 

Asante-Muhammad, D., & Sim, S. (2020, May 14). Racial Wealth Snapshot: Asian Americans and the Racial Wealth Divide. National Community Reinvestment Coalition. https://www.ncrc.org/racial-wealth-snapshot-asian-americans-and-the-racial-wealth-divide-2023/&#8203

Asi, M., & Beaulieu, D. (2013, May 1). Arab Households in the United States: 2006-2010. U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2013/acs/acsbr10-20.html​``【oaicite:0】

Bennett, N., Hays, D., & Sullivan, B. (2022, August 01). Wealth Inequality in the U.S. by Household Type. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/08/wealth-inequality-by-household-type.html​

Boshara, R., Hernández Kent, A., & Ricketts, L. R. (n.d.). History’s Lasting Imprint on the Racial Wealth Gap. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Retrieved from https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2022/mar/history-and-us-racial-wealth-gap

 History News Network. (n.d.). Why the racial wealth gap persists, more than 150 years after emancipation. Retrieved from https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/179601

Hernández Kent, A., & Scott, S. (2022, December 1). New analysis finds LGBTQ+ households trail in income and wealth. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2022/dec/new-analysis-finds-lgbtq-households-trail-income-wealth​

Derenoncourt, E., Kim, C. H., Kuhn, M., & Schularick, M. (n.d.). Exploring 160 Years of the Black-White Wealth Gap. National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w30101

U.S. Inflation Calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

Pew Research Center. (2021, May 11). Economics and well-being among U.S. Jews. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/economics-and-well-being-among-u-s-jews/&#8203

Scherer, Z., & Mayol-García, Y. (2022, September 28). Hardships and Wealth Disparities Across Hispanic Groups. U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/09/hardships-wealth-disparities-across-hispanic-groups.html​ 

Stewart III, S., Chui, M., Manyika, J., Julien, J. P., Hunt, D. V., Sternfels, B., Woetzel, J., & Zhang, H. (2021, June 17). The economic state of Black America: What is and what could be. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/the-economic-state-of-black-america-what-is-and-what-could-be​