{quotes} I thought that this article gave some interesting facts. I think the fact that it talked about the difference between economics of white and blacks without linking it to racism but instead to class was interesting. We started out talking about the 10 highest paid people and stating that at least half of that list was made up of African Americans. With people like Oprah and Michael Jackson. But then to go on and talk about how barely any African Americans made up the Forbes list was shocking. I couldn't understand what the difference was. The article then talked about the difference between income and wealth. How people like Oprah and Michael Jackson were rich because of their income. Wealth was a whole other story. Wealth dealing more with, "access to life chances" (p2). Whereas income is money over time wealth is your stock of assets owned at a particular time (p3). Having this wealth can create opportunities that many other do not have and it is something that generally is passed down from generation to generation.
This wealth creates a bit of inequality between the races. The article states that, "wealth reveals a particular network of social relations and a set of social circumstances that convey a unique constellation of meanings pertinent to race in America" (p3). The article basically talks about how the economic issues in American between races does not only stem from racism but also from class. There are many examples of the setbacks of African Americans and why they don't share the abundance of wealth that Whites have. One of the examples given is the fact that economic transformation never happened. The Homestead Act never made the freed slaves into a land owning class. Because of the racial discrimination they were never allowed to enter the housing the market the same way as other races. Also how the FHA were more apt to give loans to white people and even if you could afford home ownership you were assigned to central city communities. Which ended up cutting them off from investments in their homes leaving them to decrease in value and therefore not deemed desirable by the FHA. Another example of economic hardship was the inability to get a mortgage. "When it comes to mortgages blacks are rejected far more than whites". I was astounded when I read that the poorest whites were more likely to get approved than the African Americans with the highest incomes.
So essentially there was no way for Blacks to build on their wealth. They were in a losing situation. There was nothing to pass on to their children and therefore they could help build future wealth either. Eventually even the gap between black and white incomes started to grow wider. It is something that started from the very beginning and is why things are the way they are today. I found it interesting when the authors wrote about it being almost like a domino affect. Starting out with slavery. Whites essentially got a head start on wealth because they were always land owners. Even the poorest white men could gain land and Black could not. Even if they did have some sort of savings they had to use it to buy their freedom so white people were always economically one step ahead. And this continued through the years with every setback Whites moved forward because they had the opportunity to whereas there always seemed to be a barrier for African Americans. Whether it be Housing, being approved for loans or mortgages, getting jobs, joining the military, the unfairness of social security, or even just getting paid equally to the white man. I find that class does play a role in this in a sense. Class typically affects where you are in the world and what kind of job you get, what kind of place you live in, etc. But I cannot agree that racism has nothing to do with it. We cannot make this entirely a class issue. They even give the example of self employment. This is supposed to go hand in hand with the 'American Dream'. Self Employment is the American way. However, African Americans find the hardest time with this out of all the races (p45). They talk about how, "discrimination and violence have punctuated black entrepreneurial efforts of all kinds" (p45). So what they are saying is that Blacks have the hardest time with this and yet it is not connected to class because they talk about how the other races have an easier time with self employment, how they do not have that extreme stereotype branded on them and therefore it is easier to find employment. Overall, I found the article interesting and learned a few things I did not know.
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