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The racial wealth gap is the stark difference in white and nonwhite families’ net worth: as of 2021, the average white family has 10 times the wealth of the average Black family and eight times that of the average Latinx family. Over 400 years of racist policy have created this gap by funneling profits and resources towards white people. McGhee particularly emphasizes the role of federally guaranteed mortgages, which have enabled white Americans to build wealth but which have long been denied to Black Americans.
Racial Wealth Gap Quotes in The Sum of Us
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Chapter 7
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Public policy created this problem, and public policy should solve it. Because of our deliberately constructed racial wealth gap, most Black and brown families can’t afford to rent or buy in the places where white families are, and when white families bring their wealth into Black and brown neighborhoods, it more often leads to gentrification and displacement than enduring integration. The solution is more housing in more places that people can afford on the average incomes of workers of color.
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Chapter 10
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Wealth is where history shows up in your wallet, where your financial freedom is determined by compounding interest on decisions made long before you were born.
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Racial Wealth Gap Term Timeline in The Sum of Us
The timeline below shows where the term Racial Wealth Gap appears in The Sum of Us. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: Ignoring the Canary
...homes to people of color. These official redlining policies are the main source of the racial wealth gap today: the average white family has 10 times the wealth of the average Black family,...
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Chapter 7: Living Apart
White people choose segregation because of public policy, which created a racial wealth gap . As a result, most nonwhite families simply can’t afford to live in white neighborhoods,...
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Chapter 10: The Solidarity Dividend
...Mullen outline in their book From Here to Equality. Such a program would eliminate the racial wealth gap and finally give most Black people the financial freedom to pursue the American Dream.
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