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August3, 2011
^ortlanb (Observer
Page 23
Attention Small Business Owners
Gap between Rich and Poor Widens
Minorities hurt most by economic downturn
(AP)— The wealth gaps between
whites and minorities have grown
to their widest levels in a quarter­
century. The recession and uneven
recovery have erased decades of
minority gains, leaving whites on
average with 20 times the net worth
of blacks and 18 times that of His­
panics, according to an analysis of
new Census data.
The analysis shows the racial
and ethnic impact of the economic
meltdown, which ravaged housing
values and sent unemployment soar­
ing. It offers the most direct govern­
ment evidence yet of the disparity
between predominantly younger
minorities whose main asset is their
home and older whites who are more
likely to have 401 (k) retirement ac­
counts or other stock holdings.
"What's pushing the wealth of
whites is the rebound in the stock
market and corporate savings, while
younger Hispanics and African-
Americans who bought homes in
the last decade — because that was
the American dream — are seeing
big d e c lin e s," said T im o th y
Smeeding, a University of Wiscon­
sin-Madison professor who spe­
cializes in income inequality.
The median wealth of white U.S.
households in 2009 was $ 113,149,
com pared with $6,325 for Hispan­
ics and $5,677 for blacks, accord­
ing to the analysis released T ues­
day by the Pew Research Center.
Those ratios, roughly 20 to 1 for
blacks and 18 to 1 for Hispanics,
far exceed the low mark of 7 to 1 for
both groups reached in 1995, when
the nation’s econom ic expansion
lifted many low-incom e groups to
the m iddle class.
Across all race and ethnic groups,
the wealth gap between rich and
poor widened. The share of wealth
held by the top 10 percent of U.S.
households increased from 49 per­
cent in 2005 to 56 percent in 2009.
A Voice for Nonviolence
Activist to talk about the
costs of war
International peace ac­
tivist Kathy Kelly will ad­
dress her eyew itness work
in A fghanistan, Pakistan
and Iraq on Friday, Aug. 5
at 7 p.m. at the M oriarty
Arts Building auditorium at
P o rtla n d
C o m m u n ity
C o lleg e’s C ascade C am ­
pus, 705 N. Killingsworth.
Kelly is the co-coordi­
nator of Voices for Creative
Nonviolence, a cam paign
to end U.S. m ilitary and
econom ic warfare.
She traveled to A fghani­
stan three times in 2010,
working closely with the
Afghan Youth Peace V ol­
unteers in search of non­
m ilitary solutions to end the war.
W ith increasing calls for the troops to come
home from A fghanistan, a loom ­
ing deadline to withdraw from Iraq
in December, and drone attacks in
Pakistan reported at a rate of about
twice weekly, Kelly's appearance
prom ises to be inform ative and
transform ative.
The talk is free and open to the
public. It is being organized by Peace
and Justice Works and the Iraq
Affinity Group and is co-sponsored
by the PCC Peace and Conflict Stud­
ies Program, Oregon Physicians for
Social Responsibility, Women's In­
ternational League for Peace and
Freedom-Portland, Voices for Cre­
ative Nonviolence Peace Action
West, and KBOO Community Ra­
dio 90.7 FM.
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