Race and Extreme Inequality

[Indigo Blue]

Race and Extreme Inequality
By Dedrick Muhammad, The Nation. Posted June 14, 2008.

Will Obama's presidential candidacy signal a change for impoverished African-Americans?

The current presidential campaign has sparked a lot of conversation about race, but it has primarily been at the symbolic and interpersonal level. It has failed to probe the underlying substance of racial economic disparities and the slow rate of progress toward equity in wealth and wages. Too many Americans naïvely see the strong presidential candidacy of Illinois Senator Barack Obama as evidence of the resolution of the racial divide.

Since 1968, the year Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, the income gap between blacks and whites has narrowed by just three cents on the dollar. In 2005 the median per capita income in the United States stood at $16,629 for blacks and $28,946 for whites. At this slow rate of progress, we will not achieve income equality for 537 years. And if politicians continue to dismantle government checks on income and wealth concentration, even these modest gains may be reversed.

Extreme inequality in the overall economy exacerbates income and wealth disparities between whites and people of color. These disparities remain shockingly wide and especially evident when we examine the polarization of assets and wealth in the United States. The black homeownership rate, for instance, sits at 47 percent and the Latino rate at 49.7 percent, compared with 75 percent for whites.

African-American families in the United States have a median net worth of $20,600, only 14.6 percent of the $140,700 median white net worth. The median net worth for Latino families is $18,600, only 13.2 percent of median white net worth. Between 1983 and 2004, the most recent year for which official federal data are available, median black and Latino wealth inched up from 7 percent to 10 percent of median white wealth. At this rate, we will not achieve wealth equality for 634 years.

-----

Dedrick Muhammad, senior organizer and researcher at the Institute for Policy Studies, is the author of Forty Years Later: The Unrealized American Dream, an April IPS report, and co-author of State of the Dream 2008 from United for a Fair Economy.

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/88097/

[BlooInBloo]

1. Who knows? There was a HuffPo article a week or two ago suggesting....

that an Obama Presidency could be even harder for black folks. The line of thought was that in order to be acceptable to white folks, Obama would have to white-i-fy himself so much as to end up being a net negative for black folks on average.

I dunno. Seems to me we're in uncharted waters, so we'll just have to wait and see.


EDIT: I'm too lazy to search for the link right now. I recall that it was one of the blog posts running down the left side, and the author was black. Feel free to find it if you like.

[Carnea]

2. Much Much harder A poor black man with no father can become President.

What the Fuck is your excuse?????

I kid... sort of....

The fact African immigrants of all stripes are passing native born poor blacks like they were standing still is a much bigger problem...

I hope this inspires a new generation of black youth and young adults to look past the stereotypes and realize then can achieve great things.

There needs to be an emphasis on education over other things in youth. Successful African immigrant groups value work ethic and education. It is cultural and honest to God it's to late to go into now without landing on a few land mines so I will stop her except to say there is a lot of work to be done things are not even and life is not fair but race relations are dramatically better than when I was a kid and are looking only to improve.

If you are using race as a reason for not succeeding in this life it's time to find a new crutch.

I'm looking forward to Obama as president and yes he will win... It's going to be a great thing for America I am optimistic about that.

[wellst0nev0ter]

3. Barack Obama Had A Middle-Class Upbringing

And black immigrants earn only around a thousand dollars more than native blacks in terms of average incomes (a phenomenon that can be explained by the fact that the pool of black immigrants in this country don't represent the population of their country due to the selective process of immigration) and the incomes of black immigrants are still well below that of whites.

Must be nice to have those blinders on.

[Carnea]

9. Perception vs reality....

The article asked a question

Will Obama's presidential candidacy signal a change for impoverished African-Americans?


I answered yes in many ways it will it will be harder for them the answer is also in the OP...

"Too many Americans naively see the strong presidential candidacy of Illinois Senator Barack Obama as evidence of the resolution of the racial divide."

The perception is pretty straightforward and it's not that bad a thing. After all one of Obama's biggest appeals as a candidate to independents and even Republicans is the perception that his election will once and for all bury are racial past.

Yes I know the facts don't measure up to this perception but the blinders are not mine.

I really think you will see a sea change in politics as it relates to African Americans.

[Number23]

4. Well,

The fact African immigrants of all stripes are passing native born poor blacks like they were standing still is a much bigger problem...

African and Asian immigrants are passing ALL native born Americans with the possible exception of Asian-Americans.

If you are using race as a reason for not succeeding in this life it's time to find a new crutch.

Is that what you honestly think people are doing? I don't know a single black person from Oprah to Condi to ANYONE that does not have harrowing tales of being constantly made to feel "less than" than our white counterparts. The reason these people are so lauded is that in SPITE of being shat upon and marginalized, they still worked their asses off to overcome. Do we need more black people to do this? Hell yes. But the idea that you would sit there and act as if racism and discrimination is some invisible crutch that black people have conjured out of thin air to justify not succeeding is so asinine and idiotic I can't even believe you fixed your fingers in the right position to type that crap.

There has been a saying in the black community for as long as I've been around that we have to "work twice as hard to get half as far." This feeling has been beaten into the souls of every black person I know and it ain't because we WANTED it to be. It was a realization that by virtue of the color of your skin, the cards were already stacked against you regardless of how smart, pretty, educated and driven you were. You had best be prepared to endure bullsh*t your white co-workers and friends will never have to endure if you want to succeed and you better do it with a smile so that you don't scare off the very people trying their damndest to keep you from getting ahead of them.

I hope this inspires a new generation of black youth and young adults to look past the stereotypes and realize then can achieve great things.

Black people have always achieved great things in this country but have too often gone unnoticed and unappreciated. Black people have created music, art and culture that is the most imitated in the whole damn world. Do some research on Black inventors, blacks in the military, blacks in government, black artists etc. and educate yourself on your fellow Americans. And most importantly, stop trying to allude that people who have been broken by a system that works overtime to break and diminish them need to find a new "crutch" or excuse for being broken.

[Carnea]

10. As I stated befiore it is a peception problem.

How can you claim your skin color is holding you back when Obama is president? May be a better way to say the new meme.

Guess what it is going to be a lot harder. This isn't an argument of stats but a very real sea change of perception.

Your post is so well written and lovely and I agree with most of it.

But if you don't think people use race as an excuse when there are much bigger things causing them not to succeed your fooling yourself.

Lets take race out of the equation. People of all races use excuses to explain there struggles in life instead of looking inside themselves for the answers. (Single mother, absent father, born fat, short, bald, ugly, disabled, poor, ect)

I am just suggesting that for African Americans the days of using race as an excuse are coming to an end. Right or wrong. Reality or not. The ability for someone to declare they can't succeed because the color of their skin is coming to a close.

And that is not necessarily such a bad thing.

[Bluerthanblue]

16. Oh, you are so wrong- so wrong-

I'm a white woman- ONe of my sons is African American.
I can tell you from painful and infuriating personal experience,that racial prejudice in this country is VERY real- and very wrong.

As for your statement about "looking inside yourself" well, that's all fine and dandy, but you can do all the "looking" you want- and still be held back by circumstances that you have no responsibility for- or ability to deal with effectively.

Many children have to invest everything they have to simply get through the day- Kids with only one parent- (Single Mother you refer to) Usually means that that parent is juggling more than one job in order to get by- This can mean kids are not only not getting much one on one time with their parent, but they are often picking up responsibilities that they really aren't ready to handle at such a young age- and their school work- sports- emotional well being often suffer greatly as a result.
I could go on down your list- to demonstrate how a disability and poverty impact kids in ways that leave them at a genuine disadvantage but I think you get where I'm coming from.

peace~

[Number23]

17. Excuse?

I am just suggesting that for African Americans the days of using race as an excuse are coming to an end.

Since when is acknowledging reality an "excuse?" I would dearly love for that day to come when black people who fail will LEGITIMATELY and HONESTLY be able to say that race was not the reason or played any part in their failure, but that day is a long time away. As I mentioned before, even the black people who DO succeed in this country often (if quietly) note that it was done in spite of having the cards stacked against them.

Obama becoming president is another nail in the coffin of racial injustice in this country, but if you think that it will be the final nail, YOU are fooling YOURSELF. Folks said the same thing when Jackie Robinson integrated baseball. And when Madame C.J. Walker became the first self-made female millionaire in this county of ANY race, or hell when Vanessa Williams became the first black Miss America, and yet racism for them and for millions of others endured.

[Hannah Bell]

6. he had a father. & his grandmother was vice-president of the bank of hawaii.

and he went to a private school. he was never poor, not even close.

so why don't you peddle that "excuse for not succeeding" crap elsewhere, k?

[ColbertWatcher]

8. I don't think DUer Carnea is saying that...

...at least not as something he/she truly believes, but more as the crap other people are likely to spew.

It comes down to the GOP-controlled media's favorite game of "isolated incidents".

When an African-American is accused of a crime, all African-Americans are criminals.

When an African-American is the victim of police brutality, it's an isolated incident and nothing to worry about.

When an African-American doesn't go to college, no African-American is able to go to college.

When an African-American is successful, it's an isolated incident and not a real threat to white America.

And on and on.

[Hannah Bell]

14. I think s/he is. Reread after "i kid - sort of..."

[Indigo Blue]

18. Carnea, we meet again. I can say nothing more than "May God bless you..."

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you will work for justice, equality and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.

- A Franciscan benediction


(This was one of my mom's (Sapphire Blue's) favorites.

[Asgaya Dihi]

19. I'm glad you took the time to sign up here

Welcome to DU, Indigo Blue.

[Selatius]

5. Martin Luther King was an advocate of democratic socialism. Maybe that's why he died.

"You can’t talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can’t talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You’re really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry… Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong…with capitalism… There must be a better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a Democratic Socialism."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Asgaya Dihi]

7. The elephant in the room nobody wants to see

is the prison system. We've all seen the stats. Almost one young black man in eight between 25 and 29 years of age behind bars right now, a very large lifetime chance that they'll end up at some point in custody or otherwise in the systems control, and the obvious problems of trying to move past the conviction with the weight of a record and the loss of benefits.

For anyone not familiar with the challenges our system offers *after* they get out, take a bit of your time to listen to the following documentary program from American Radioworks called Hard Time, life after prison. http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/hardtime/

Yeah, there are other issues at play as well, everything from culture to the problems of climbing out of poverty even with no extra challenges, but this is a huge contributing factor and probably the single one that would do the most good to attack and fix.

[Carnea]

11. Great article how private business and government work together

and really screw up helping prisoners.

This made me so mad I almost have no words.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article625341.ece

The paper calls this human interest I call it private business ripping off government and honestly destroying hope for newly released prisoners.

[Selatius]

15. If that's the fucking best America can do for its poor and down-and-out, then America won't survive.

It will not be remembered as a nation that really cared for the poor and powerless.

[Lyric]

12. Poverty relief and a massive overhaul of our criminal justice/prison system

are the only things that will ever bring about true "equality."

My brother-in-law Larry (rest his soul, he passed away in 2006) once gave me a very funny-but-sad analogy to describe the plight of impoverished black Americans. He said, "It's like we're standing at a car lot with empty pockets, and the dealer's got a sale going on...a brand-new Mercedes for twenty bucks. And all we can do is hang around outside of the lot and say, 'Damn, the price is good.' And if we manage to scrape up enough amongst ourselves to buy a damned car, they're all sold out."

That's what it comes down to. Political equality is important, but unless there are steps taken to provide true social justice and economic relief/opportunities, poor people are left out--because in the end, it costs money to make money. "Get a job" is an easy thing to say, but even getting a job requires money; money for childcare, good clothes and shoes, transportation, a photo ID, copies of vital documents, a place to wash clothes and take showers, and most importantly, education.

Even something as seemingly-simple as owning a washing machine and a dryer is a HUGE advantage to being able to get and keep a job. Not everyone has a laundromat nearby, and employers expect you to wear clean clothes every day. Hand-washing is not always feasible; even washtubs and scrub boards cost money. Often, a choice is required. Do I lose my job because I can't wash my clothes, or do I steal twenty bucks in quarters from a vending machine in order to have laundry quarters and cab fare to get me to the laundromat? If you get caught...into the criminal justice system you go, where having anything darker than White skin pretty much guarantees a harsher sentence. And yet, even a large chunk of people who claim to be progressive will say that "crime is never necessary." Don't think that the example I gave is far-fetched, either. This is precisely what happened to someone who used to be our next-door neighbor.

Being poor is a vicious way to have to live your life. It's easy to overlook to hell and horror of it when you're not right down in the midst of it with no support network. It takes money to make money. Grant programs for poor people (and loosened requirements to qualify for a TANF self-sufficiency grant), more programs to provide transportation, and maybe some inexpensive appliances, would be of more help than anything else I can think of. Our nation owes a deep debt to the descendants of the slaves, poor immigrants, and indentured servants upon whose backs our wealth was built. If we can pay for a war, we can pay for poverty relief grants and additional education funds for low-income students.

[flashl]

13. The greasy ladder

The Economist

Middle-income blacks are downwardly mobile. Why?

The Economic Mobility Project, an arm of the impeccably non-partisan Pew Charitable Trusts, compares contemporary Americans' family income (based on surveys conducted between 1996 and 2003) with their parents' (between 1968 and 1972). Overall, the picture is cheerful. Two-thirds of Americans who were children in 1968 and are now in their 30s or 40s enjoy higher household income than their parents did then. The same is true for black Americans. But black upward mobility consists largely of people from poor families moving up. Blacks born halfway up the income ladder, by contrast, show an alarming tendency to fall down. Only 31% of blacks who were children in 1968 and whose parents were in the middle fifth of America's income distribution now earn more than their parents did. The average household income for this group has actually declined—from $53,700 (in 2006 dollars) to $44,900. Nearly half fell all the way into the bottom fifth.

Really, more 'studies' are not required to understand what happen.

The Federal government has always been the #1 employer of minorities. The government hiring the largest number of minorities wildly skews Americans' perception of having met equal employment opportunities.

That fact and the routine pointing to 'the one' who made it through the American gauntlet of 'success' in the private sector as proof of the illusion of 'opportunity' (intentionally) misinforms the American public.

In the 80s, St. Ronnie, the great communicator, enters onto the national stage communicating 'voodoo' economics and the 'miracle' of government 8A programs.

Today, a large percentage of 'government' workers are actually private contractors under the control of companies without a 'right' to work. Private companies with at-will agreements have less to worry about 'equal opportunity' than the 'government'.

Since St. Ronnie, if you have been paying attention to the 'outsourcing creep' or 'shadow government', you would have noticed that today's reformed 'government' and nearly every job position within this 'reformed government' is 'outsourced' or is wholly under the control of 'private' companies .

Under the 'shadow government' ruse, not only have the number of 'shadow government workers' doubled in size of the government workforce its alleged to replace, the ensuing corporate welfare budget and accounting makes the Enron / Anderson scandals look like child's play.

The last frontier of 'government' jobs were in the military and intelligence sectors. The privatizing of the last frontier jobs is now complete through the use of Private Military Mercenaries (PMM) brought to you by groups such as Halliburton / Blackwater / SAIC / MPR / Booze Allen / Carlyle Group, etc.

Proof of the extensive use of PMMs is evident in Iraq where the PMM workforce is LARGER than the military force on the ground. Or, through Congressional hearings where we learn that U.S. General Officers use Blackwater for 'protection and security' while in Iraq.

So, if you ever wonder why your 'government' is not working for you. Think 'private' company running the 'government' via a low-bid cost+fee contract and know their motivation is profit not service.

Lastly, guess which group of middle-income 'government' workers who disproportionately experiences job lost to outsourcing and private companies since the 80's?