Politicians and government officials point to the historic low unemployment in the African-American community as a sign of a strong economy and future where whites and blacks will finally have an opportunity for an equal share of the American dream.
While it is true that long-term unemployment in the black population is in the single digits for the time being, the wealth gap between white and black families continues to widen. According to government statistics, black households' share of US wealth (accumulated assets) is just over 8% of white households' share.
According to a study by economist Edward Wolff, in 1995 the median white household's net worth, minus net equity in owner-occupied housing, was $61,000, compared with $7400 in black households (Emerge magazine, May).
Inherited wealth is not uncommon for many whites, particularly white males. Until recently, when the new black middle class arose, few blacks concerned themselves with estate taxes since our parents didn't own enough property and company shares to make it necessary.
So what are the origins of the wealth gap? Why do so few blacks have accumulated real estate and company shares? Two words: historical racism.
Historical racism is racism woven into society on every level — the bedrock of US society rooted in slavery and segregation, and thus institutionalised. Put another way, because our ancestors were slaves and often lost whatever assets they acquired because of poverty, discriminatory laws or simple cheating, most blacks couldn't accumulate very much wealth.
Inherited wealth amounted to our labour power, which we could sell to the boss for the best wage possible. Even that was not possible until the slave system was abolished with the crushing of the slave owners in the Civil War.
Unfortunately, African Americans didn't get our "40 acres and a mule" either (we never got the modest reparations German Jews are getting). Jim Cow segregation made us second-class citizens.
Own real estate and stocks? Who are you kidding! Survival was our number one concern, as it is today for most blacks.
Some real change did begin in the 1960s. It took the massive civil rights movement in the 1950s and '60s to get the right to vote in the South. Congress made it law with the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The door was opened for some modest political representation, but accumulation of wealth was still down the road.
Home ownership was still hard to gain. Up until the late 1960s, US policies helped keep African Americans from home ownership by refusing to make federal housing administration mortgage financing available to blacks. Between 1946 and 1959, less than 2% of all housing financed and federal mortgage insurance assistance was made available to blacks. It took a congressional act in 1968 to get the first national "fair housing" laws adopted.
In higher education, and manufacturing and other industries, blacks suffered tough discrimination until legal action was taken based on the new laws in the 1970s. In my industry (airlines), few qualified black pilots and mechanics were hired until the 1970s. A civil rights suit filed by black employees forced United Airlines (the country's largest) and the unions to open up hiring and promotions to more blacks and women.
The wealth gap is so large and actually widens in economic good times because blacks as a group start 50 yards behind whites; it's impossible to catch up without strong affirmative action. Indeed, without affirmative action enforced by law, previous gains will be eroded and the income and wealth gap will widen.
So, while it is true that more blacks have better-paying jobs and own their homes and some businesses today, the discrimination we suffer because of our skin colour means we will always be playing catch up. This is true for blacks in all economic classes relative to their white counterparts.
We'd all like to see a colour-blind society, but it can't happen until the wealth gap is overcome. That means that real reparations should be paid by the government to every black person and affirmative action should be not only protected but strengthened. Having you own home and a living wage should be a right, not a privilege.
BY MALIK MIAH
[Abridged from an article to appear in the July-August issue of the US socialist magazine Against the Current.]