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Page 6 August 17, 2016 O PINION Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. Wealth Divide Nothing Short of Shocking Understanding history of racial discrimination d edriCk a Sante -m uhammad C huCk C ollinS Most media coverage of ra- cial injustice has understand- ably focused on our country’s unfair policing and criminal justice system. But to fully un- derstand the current reality of racial inequality in America, we also need to take an honest look at our nation’s shocking wealth disparities. Wealth — the total assets a family owns after the bills are by and paid — is the safety net we all need to help us get through the tough times and invest in our fu- tures. And its polarization along racial lines is striking. The average wealth for white households is $656,000. For Latinos it’s $98,000, and for black households it’s just $85,000. The average wealth of black and Latinos combined still doesn’t come close to half of white wealth. And while white wealth con- tinues to grow substantially, any gains in black and Latino wealth pale in comparison. Current es- timates show that if nothing changes, the racial wealth divide will grow to $1 million by 2043. In fact, it’ll take the average black family 228 years to ac- crue the same amount of wealth that white families have today. That’s just 17 years shorter than the centuries-long institution of slavery in the U.S. For Latinos, it’ll take 84 years to reach aver- age white wealth today. Generations of racial discrim- ination in programs like hous- ing and government benefits are now reflected in dismal bank statements and paltry retirement funds for blacks and Latinos. In particular, racial bias in mortgage lending — known as redlining — has consistently barred communities of color from the wealth-building train, result- ing in low homeownership rates. After World War II, for exam- ple, predominately white fam- ilies received government-sub- sidized mortgages that allowed them to purchase homes, while black families didn’t. The result has played out over generations: Today, more than 70 percent of whites own homes, compared with only 41 percent of blacks and 45 percent of Latinos. For many blacks and Latinos, a lack of assets has contribut- ed to economic insecurity and sometimes-heartbreaking rever- sals of fortune. This explains the dizzying disparities in retire- ment savings: The average white household in the U.S. today has $130,000 in retirement funds, while average black and Latino households have $19,000 and $12,300, respectively. The younger generation isn’t doing any better. College debt is rising for all races, and nearly half the workforce earns less than $15 an hour — barely enough to pay the bills. The structures in place driving these inequalities, like tax cuts for the wealthy and global trade deals that drive down wages, am- plify existing racial wealth divi- sions. They pit low-wage work- ers of all races against each other, leaving us vulnerable to the poli- tics of blame and deflection. The good news is we can re- verse these trends through public policies that both reduce overall inequality and close the racial wealth divide. First, we should fix the up- side-down system of tax incen- tives that currently flows almost exclusively to wealthy house- holds. We should redirect the $650 billion a year Congress allocates in tax subsidies to sup- port first-time homebuyers and first-generation college students. Additionally, taxing multi-million dollar inheritanc- es and investing in tuition-free higher education are approaches that can expand wealth and op- portunity for everyone. We can reverse the racial wealth divide if we understand our history of racial discrimi- nation and press lawmakers to stand on the side of opportunity, not inequality. Dedrick Asante-Muhammed directs the Racial Wealth Divide Initiative at the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at Institute for Policy Studies. Dis- tributed by OtherWords.org. Connected to Young Africans for Life Forging deep connections at Portland State The opening ceremony, some weeks ago, featured some of the world’s best drummers—Gha- naian—and the usual welcomes from university officials. Then came the opening address by one of the cohort at Portland by t om h. h aStinGS State University, a young Recently I have had man—not even 30 yet— the great privilege to from Sierra Leone, Ansu- work with some of the mana Bangura. 1,000 Mandela Wash- He was a 12-year-old ington Fellows, a select boy when the rebels came group of young sub-Sa- for his father during the haran African leaders horrific war of the 1990s. ages 25-35 placed for six weeks at about 40 universities His father was at work so they around the U.S. The young leaders hacked off the boy’s right arm. Imagine being brutalized, liv- are electrifying. The Law Offices of Patrick John Sweeney, P.C. Patrick John Sweeney Attorney at Law 1549 SE Ladd, Portland, Oregon Portland: Hillsoboro: Facsimile: Email: (503) 244-2080 (503) 244-2081 (503) 244-2084 Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com ing in wartime, driven from the country to live as an amputee ref- ugee for four years, and repatriat- ed only because the host country’s citizens were suddenly told that “all Sierra Leoneans are terror- ists,” and all the refugees had to flee again. Ansu, who works with slum children in Freetown (capital of Sierra Leone) is a brilliant pub- lic speaker, forceful, charismatic, with rhetorical power that con- nects instantly, stressing equal access and equal opportunity for every child. He is the very defi- nition of resiliency, which is the hallmark of the best of Africa right now. The Mandela Washington Fel- lowship (MWF) has forged many new deep connections at Portland State University and, I’ll wager, at all the other host universities around the U.S. Beyond that, I’ve observed the fellows developing profound relationships with my fellow Portlanders and I’ll simi- larly bet that all host communities are also now benefitting from these new relationships with young Af- rican leaders from all sectors of all sub-Sarharan African countries. I watch as a young Nigerian pursues knowledge of best prac- tices for floating homes, an inno- vation that both promises housing relief in his homeland but also a threat if poorly regulated (“That’s how it is now,” he told me). And a young environmental official from Ethiopia engages with pub- lic officials and public policy professors and practitioners to seek out the newest US methods of dialing up commuter efficien- cy while dialing down carbon footprint. She has both science and development degrees and is drawn to Portland’s model in several areas, just as other MW Fellows are learning from other communities across the US. The MWF grew out of Pres- ident Obama’s surprise visit to the late Nelson Mandela and be- gan with 500 fellows in 2014, the same in 2015, and expanded to 1000 this year. We are confident that this initiative will weave vital, enduring mutually beneficial rela- tionships, individually and organi- zationally, in direct links, Africa to America. While this is a state depart- ment-funded-and-conducted Obama initiative, there is an ex- cellent chance that it will contin- ue, depending on the 2016 elec- tion. Advertise with diversity in The In our enlightened self-interest, I hope Americans make the choice that will indeed result in this on- going exchange that ties emerg- ing African leaders from politics to architecture to agriculture to banking to education to energy development and much more to America. Our assumptions about Africa often flip when we meet young women and men who work on peace, human rights, gay and transgender rights, sustainable ag- riculture, alternative energy, and mix in traditional Africa wisdom and ancient sustainable technol- ogies hybridized with the latest high tech advances. Continuing the MWF will be good for Africans and good for Americans. Africa is an incredibly rich continent with Russia, China, and America all vying for the most favored status with many of the 54 countries on the continent—this initiative goes a long ways toward strengthening the healthy, pos- itive, peaceful connections that will advantage more Americans and more Africans. Anything else would be a pity. Tom H. Hastings is a professor at Portland State University and the founding director of PeaceV- oice. Portland Observer Call 503-288-0033 or email ads@portlandobserver.com
