The vastly growing economic divide continues to plague the 21st century. It was found that the top richest 10% of the world's population owns 85% of the world's wealth in a report released in December of 2006 by the Helsinki-based World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University. In the United States alone, the top 10% owns approximately 76% of all wealth. We currently have the greatest economic inequality between the wealthiest and poorest individuals since the Great Depression of the 1930's. Race and gender compound that inequity, with people of color having 15 cents for every one dollar of white wealth (as reported by The State of the Dream Report released by United for a Fair Economy). It is time for a change.
Langston Hughes once wrote an eloquent poem titled "Let America Be America Again," and in that poem he said, "O, let my land be a land where Liberty is crowned/ with no false patriotic wreath/ but opportunity is real, and life is free/ equality is in the air we breathe." Along with that idea of a nation of equality, he spoke boldly about the dark past of this country and its treatment of the people within it; he soulfully exclaimed, "America was never America for me."
As a county, we are coming to understand that income, regardless of the gains made by people of color, is less of an indicator of economic inequity than that of wealth. Homes, stocks, bonds, retirement accounts--and in some cases intangible assets such as education--determine economic wealth in this country. This wealth, concentrated among the richest in our nation, gives individuals and families who possess it privileges and access to economic stability that others, regardless of their heroic work ethic, continue to precariously maintain. Such is the case with the housing debacle; due to the predatory practice of mortgage brokers and institutions, individuals and families have been stripped of their homes. As with Langston Hughes and his exploration of our countries past, it is in these assets, wealth, in which the past and current legacy of inequity continues to play out.
Despite this country's emphasis on meritocracy and individualism, it is through government economic policy, regardless of work ethic, that the majority should cite for their past and current wealth. While hard work continues to be a factor in the accumulation of assets and wealth, it does not determine our current economic situation. Government policies that have created access for assets and wealth have systematically excluded certain populations.
Economic policy as early as 1852 helped create paths to wealth. The Homestead Act allowed for certain individuals to claim plots of land on America's "frontiers." This privilege was denied to women, people of color, and indigenous peoples (who often already occupied the land). Another policy that continues to create benefits for millions of people in this country today is Social Security. The original Social Security Act excluded farm workers, domestic workers (who were overwhelming poor), women, and people of color. This great piece of legislation created barrier to the access for women and people of color to social security benefits for years.
For most people in the country 75% of their wealth, if they currently posses any wealth, is concentrated in their home -- an asset to which historically, and currently, the Federal government has determined access. In cases such as the GI Bill, certain individuals were given access to homes and education. This legislation helped pave the road to the largest middle class in history. It is reported that of the one billion dollars in loans given to GI's in 1945, only 1% went to people of color. Due to discriminatory language written into the legislation, women and people of color were excluded from acquiring homes and attending college.
Despite the legacy of inequity and discrimination, the United States remains incredibly artful in crafting policies that help create paths to acquire assets and develop wealth. Wealth is the strongest indicator of economic stability and mobility. With comprehensive holistic economic policy, all of our hard work can be rewarded with economic prosperity regardless of which community we come from. It is with this sentiment from Langston Hughes that we can move forward: "Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--/Let it be that great strong land of love/ Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme/ That any man be crushed by one above."
Amaad Rivera is Racial Wealth Divide Initiative Leader for United for a Fair Economy. United for a Fair Economy (UFE) spotlights the growing economic divide in the US and leads the Racial Wealth Divide initiative at UFE. Rivera is a contributing blogger at the Movement Vision Lab www.movementvisionlab.org.
