Can the Racial Wealth Gap Be Closed Without Speaking of Race?
“Elizabeth Warren wants to offer down-payment assistance to home buyers in formerly ‘redlined’ neighborhoods where the federal government once denied access to mortgages. Cory Booker would like to create ‘baby bonds’ that would be worth more to children in poorer families, helping them one day to buy houses or other assets. Both presidential candidates say their proposals would aid in narrowing the enduring black-white wealth gap in America. But neither policy attempts to do that in the most direct way possible — by steering benefits to African-Americans.”