Hopefully not lost amid the ruckus over the debt ceiling is the Pew Research Center report on the effects of the recession on the wealth gap between whites on the on one side and people of color. Released Tuesday, the report looks at inflation-adjusted median wealth over the period 2005-2009. The Pew study defines wealth by subtracting a household's debt from its assets: houses, personal goods like cars and jewelry, cash and investments (stock and 401(k)s stacked up against mortgages, credit card debt and student loans, etc. The income of every group fell from 2005-2009 but, according to Pew, in this same period
inflation-adjusted median wealth fell by 66% among Hispanic households and 53% among black households, compared with just 16% among white households. As a result of these declines, the typical black household had just $5,677 in wealth ... in 2009; the typical Hispanic household had $6,325 in wealth; and the typical white household had $113,149.
An equally grim finding: TIME magazine explains that “35% of African Americans and 31% of Hispanics reported zero or negative net worth in 2009. By contrast, only 15% of white households were in the same boat.”
Pew believes that, compared to household income, wealth provides a more accurate snapshot of the financial well-being of Americans across race.
The picture presented by the Pew report is downright alarming, although it is unlikely to make the splash it ought to. White households were about 20 times wealthier than black ones in 2009, and 18 times wealthier than Hispanic ones. In some respects, it is a measure of relative trauma – all Americans have been traumatized by the recession.
I’d offer that bigger problem is that the numbers are, I daresay, expected. Widespread acceptance of the U.S. racial order among both whites and other racial groups leads all to do little more than shrug. Or respond, “That’s f*cked uuup,” shake ones head as if by second-nature, and move on. As if it were a tactless and painful comment about one’s hairdo leveled pointedly but in jest by a definite friend.
I’d offer that bigger problem is that the numbers are, I daresay, expected. Widespread acceptance of the U.S. racial order among both whites and other racial groups leads all to do little more than shrug. Or respond, “That’s f*cked uuup,” shake ones head as if by second-nature, and move on. As if it were a tactless and painful comment about one’s hairdo leveled pointedly but in jest by a definite friend.
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