Still Running Up the Down Escalator: How Narratives Shape our Understanding of Racial Wealth Inequality
The Insight Center for Community Economic Development and the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University released a new report that tracks how harmful narratives have fueled public policy that leaves Black Americans out of opportunities for wealth building and limits public understanding of systemic disparities. Authors Natasha Hicks, Fenaba Addo, Anne Price, and William Darity Jr. also set forward several policies to close the wealth gap between Black and White Americans and create an economy that works for all. The research outlines how narratives steeped in anti-blackness prevent equity in five key areas: education, homeownership, entrepreneurship, income, and family structure. Specifically, Black individuals do not experience the same benefits accrued through education or homeownership as their White peers, and they face significant, systemic hurdles in establishing businesses and finding well-paying jobs. The report also highlights several shocking disparities. Black women are 256 percent more likely to receive a subprime mortgage than a White man with the same financial profile, despite Black women having higher credit scores. Additionally, Black households with a college degree hold $22,000 less wealth than White households without a high school diploma, and Black households with advanced degrees hold about half the wealth of White households with a bachelor’s degree.