THE AMERICAN RACIAL WEALTH GAP PART 1
Posted: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 by Unknown in Labels: African American, Barak Obama, Bill O'reilly, minority, poor, President Obama, racial, redistribution, wealth, wealth gap
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First of all, what is wealth? Wealth is what you own minus what you owe. Your wealth is the amount left over, which allows you to start a business, buy a home, send a child to college, or save towards your retirement. (I'm sure most of us already know this, but I simply want to do a quick brush-up for my readers that may need it.)
To be able to succeed in America, the possession of wealth is extremely important. Obviously, without wealth there is no way that families or even communities can become economically secure. Our government and nation recognize this, hence the policies which provide subsidies and incentives for asset building. However, because these rewards and opportunities provided by our nation are not distributed equally, there is an ever widening wealth gap in America. Reform is needed.
INCOME EQUALITY DOES NOT LEAD TO RACIAL EQUALITY
This study places high income individuals as earning more than $50,000 in 1984 and middle income individuals as earning $30,000 in 1984.
LACK OF WEALTH LEADS TO INCREASE IN DEBT
Both low wealth whites and low wealth African Americans experience economic decline and stagnation, meaning they are unable to increase their wealth. Unfortunately, African Americans are more likely to have very low levels of wealth. One in four African American families have no assets at all.
Low and negative wealth individuals and families now have to use credit as an emergency resource and as a means to make ends meet. One in ten African Americans owe at least $3,600. Sadly, most African Americans have more debt than they do assets. [here]
THE LENDING MARKET PREYS ON THOSE IN DEBT
It is a fact that low income people pay more for accessing credit. Because many of the minority communities are laden with low and negative wealth families, this is open field for predatory lending to take place. This is the reason why there are so many payday lending and check cashing stores in inner city neighborhoods. Low income individuals also resort to more credit card debt as well. All of these sources of lending, of course, give astronomical interest rates, which in most cases is almost impossible for low income individuals to ever pay back in full.
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