Black Wealth Matters

For generations, white households have enjoyed far greater access to wealth and security than their black counterparts.

By Chuck Collins / OtherWords As protesters march through our cities to remind us that black lives matter, grievances about our racially fractured society extend far beyond flashpoints over police violence. What is the state of the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about, particularly as it relates to economic opportunity? Racial inequality in earnings remains persistent. African-American workers under 35 earn only 75 cents on the dollar compared to their white contemporaries. Latinos earn only 68 cents. Examining income alone, however, is like tracking the weather. If you want to explore the true tectonic shifts of the earth, you have to look at wealth and net worth — that is, what people own minus what they owe.