Wednesday, May 19, 2010

A $95,000 question: why are whites five times richer than blacks in the US?







guardian.co.uk
Chris McGreal in Washington
Monday 17 May 2010 19.47 BST

A huge wealth gap has opened up between black and white people in the US over the past quarter of a century – a difference sufficient to put two children through university – because of racial discrimination and economic policies that favour the affluent.
A typical white family is now five times richer than its African-American counterpart of the same class, according to a report released today by Brandeis University in Massachusetts.
White families typically have assets worth $100,000 (£69,000), up from $22,000 in the mid-1980s. African-American families' assets stand at just $5,000, up from around $2,000.
A quarter of black families have no assets at all. The study monitored more than 2,000 families since 1984.

Full Story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/17/white-people-95000-richer-black
To see Brandeis study, go to: http://iasp.brandeis.edu/pdfs/Racial-Wealth-Gap-Press-Release.pdf (Press Release) and http://iasp.brandeis.edu/pdfs/Racial-Wealth-Gap-Brief.pdf (Research Brief)



To purchase "The Hidden Cost of Being African American" go to the AAAA Bookstore, p. 12: http://www.affirmativeaction.org/bookstore.html

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