Have we really achieved racial equality?
In America, whites have 26 times the wealth of African-Americans. So says census data.
Not 26% more. Not twice as much. Twenty six times as much. Specifically, the median household wealth (net worth) for white, non-hispanic housholds in 2009 was $149,900, and the median household wealth for African-Americans was $5,677.
These numbers confirm just how hard the Great Recession has whacked minority households.
But there is a deeper issue. Can someone please explain to me how, in a country where we are told again and again that we are “all created equal,” after 150 years, one group ends up with 26 times more capital resources than the other?
MLK’s dream was that his four young children would “one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” What are we supposed to think – that one group has twenty six times as much character as another?
Have we really achieved racial equality?
When answering, please identify the state where you were born.