The House that Race and Wealth Built

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I have never been totally alone in this world. I am a white, single mother of two (both daughters) and I have always had the safety net of my family’s resources. My family is not rich—at least not in my mind—but they are solidly middle class. Perhaps a century or two ago, they would have been considered upper class. The bottom line today, though, is that they have been fortunate enough to accumulate a small measure of wealth and pass it from one generation to the next. I own my home because my mother gifted me $7,000 for a down-payment and closing costs; I could not have purchased it otherwise. I have never feared homelessness or hunger.

            As a result of my own wastefulness and poor decisions, I have squandered multiple opportunities. My daughters and I live paycheck-to-paycheck, while I work full-time and take college course three-quarter time. I am going to college because I do not want to live paycheck-to-paycheck for the rest of my life; I am going to college because I want to be able to do for my daughters what my family has always done for me: provide a measure of financial stability, a sense of safety. I cannot pretend to imagine what the reality of being resource-less feels like—and I am afraid of it. It is precisely this sense of financial insecurity and instability that a majority of black single mothers live with every day. What if I lose my job? Which bill can I not pay this month so that we can buy enough food to eat? What if we lose our home? Whenever I have worried, my answer to these questions has always been that—thankfully—my grandmother and my mom were/are there for me, to help, to reassure me and ultimately, to pay my way when I could not. 

21st century America: Ironies in the racial wealth gap

 

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           Today’s ever-enlarging racial wealth gap is particularly ironic for several reasons: slavery was abolished well over a century ago. In fact, the beginning of 2013 marked 150 years since Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It has been 50 years since the Civil Rights Act abolished Jim Crow laws. Barack Obama, our first black president, is partway through his second term. By all accounts, overt racism and discrimination are no longer the laws of the land. So . . . we are moving forward, right? Wrong. The irony is that even though overt discrimination is no longer rampant, we are not moving forward. Ironically, we are moving backward; in terms of wealth disparity, the gap is widening—and quickly, too.

Understanding the wealth gap: History as an essential element

            History is essential for understanding the widening wealth gap between whites and blacks, because it results from an accumulation of historical and present-day social policies. Consider for a moment, that race and value in America are connected from birth: black babies cost less to adopt, “Six Words: 'Black Babies Cost Less To Adopt' : NPR.”

With regard to the legacy of slavery, wealth accumulation was impossible for slaves—who, because they were themselves considered property—had no right to accumulate property (wealth). Wealth is an intergenerational function of white American society. Different from income, wealth are assets (savings accounts, investments, properties)—and for many white Americans, family assets and resources lay the foundation for the opportunities of future generations. Like I noted earlier, I would not have been able to purchase my home had it not been for my mother’s resources—her ability to pass a measure of her wealth along to me for my down-payment and closing costs.

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            In addition to a national legacy of slavery, American socio-economic policies in the 20^th century restricted wealth accumulation in black communities while promoting it in white communities. For example, restricted access for non-whites to loans through the Federal Housing Administration’s home appraisal system (redlining), white flight from urban areas and—as recently as the 21^st century—Adjustable Rate Mortgages and predatory lending practices in the financial industry have all contributed to the burgeoning wealth gap. Just last week, the Supreme Court paved the way for increasingly restrictive and discriminatory voting rights laws by undoing a key component of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Wealth disparity is an accumulation of historical and present-day socio-economic policies that favor whites.

Can we understand the wealth gap without understanding history?

            In a word: no. Wealth disparity between blacks and whites in America must be viewed from a systems perspective. In family counseling, we use the concept of the family as a system to contextualize the individual within their family of origin: all members of a family influence and impact one another—and, therefore, all members are influenced and impacted by others. The individual does not stand alone. To address individual issues/problems, the whole must be viewed as a dynamic, multigenerational and interrelated system. So, too, must the expanding wealth gap in America be interpreted and addressed from a systems perspective; to isolate one source as the single cause for disparity belies the complexity of our interconnectedness. Just as families pass wounds from one generation to another that require healing, so it has been with the lack of wealth accumulation for black Americans. As Melvin Oliver (in a PBS interview, “Black Wealth in America”) acknowledges, “African Americans have a history where there has been little wealth in the past, therefore making it more likely that there’s little wealth in the future.”   

                       Perhaps more significantly, we must contextualize the wealth gap within a historical framework so that we can recognize—and stop repeating—the policies and social systems that have resulted in disparity. It is imperative that we refrain from participating in our own subjugation. In an article entitled, “How America Built the Racial Wealth Gap,” Lawrence D. Bobo notes that “people must not misunderstand or become complicit in a distorted take on their own history and circumstances. America and American social policy built the black-white wealth gap.” We cannot understand today’s wealth gap without understanding our collective history.

 Why is the growth of the wealth gap particularly ironic at this moment in history?

                       The growth of the wealth gap is particularly ironic at this moment in history, because we are moving forward—collectively, as human beings—on so many other fronts. We have the first black president of the United State of America—elected by an overwhelming, multi-racial majority—yet he has initiated no policies specifically targeted at improving circumstances in impoverished, black communities; rather, his policies have been aimed at improving the circumstances overall for middle-class Americans. Unfortunately, these policies (like Obamacare, the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act and the 2012 American Taxpayer Relief Act) are not enough to lift up the most oppressed (the majority of whom are non-whites) and place them squarely in the middle class—never mind reducing the wealth gap! 

 

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           The growth of the wealth gap in America is particularly ironic at this moment in history, because our technological advances are exponential; we can see into deep space and have sent rovers to the planet Mars. We can perform laser surgery on the heart! We understand more about brain function now than ever before. Everyone is plugged in and connected: texting, tweeting, Facebook, Skype, YouTube, Pinterest; our gadgets are smarter than we are: smart phones, smart glasses, smart cars! We are smart people. Yet reducing (and eliminating) the wealth disparity in America has eluded us.  

With so much progress all around us, how dare we continue failing with regard to so basic a measure of equality?

 

The Metaphors of Barack Obama's Speeches: 'A More Perfect Union' and Morehouse College Commencement

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             In response to inflammatory comments made by his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright (see “Jeremiah Wright controversy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” for a brief overview), then-candidate Senator Barack Obama gave the following 2008 speech “Obama Speech: 'A More Perfect Union' - YouTube” on race and politics in America. Just over a month ago, second-term President Obama gave a speech to the 2013 graduating class at Morehouse College: “President Obama Delivers Morehouse College Commencement ....” These speeches, though given for very different reasons and separated by half a decade, are bound by themes and metaphors that speak—not only to the African American condition—but also to the universal human condition. Let’s begin by examining a couple of stories presented by Obama . .

Stories merge, become metaphors           

            During his 2008 speech on race and politics in America, then-candidate Senator Obama refutes Rev. Wright’s divisive comments. Interestingly, while denouncing the Reverend’s rhetoric, Obama steadfastly refuses to denounce the man. Rather, Obama describes Rev. Wright in terms of the complexity of historical race relations in America, asserting that “he [Rev. Wright] contains within him the contradictions—the good and the bad—of the community that he has served diligently for so many years. I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother . . .” Here, Obama uses Rev. Wright as a metaphor for that faction in the black community that has lost hope in change, hope in the future. Obama portrays Rev. Wright as a man who has, tragically, been hardened against hope in the future by his own history; more importantly, Obama reveals Rev. Wright to be just a man—a fallible human being like the rest of us—warts and all.



Martin Luther King, Jr., 1948
Image credit:
Morehouse: King Collection 

Similarly, Obama’s speech to the 2013 graduating class of Morehouse College contains a parallel story: one which depicts the humanness of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Describing the then-15 year-old Dr. King, Obama says, “it’s fair to say he wasn’t the coolest kid on campus—for the suits he wore, his classmates called him ‘Tweed.’”Here, Obama requires that we envision the monolithic Dr. King, arguably the greatest Civil Rights leader—as just a man—a fallible young man who was once teased for his suits! At Morehouse, this young man was taught the power of hope: hope in the possibility of change and hope for our collective future. Of Dr. King’s college experience at Morehouse, Obama says, “It was here that professors encouraged him to look past the world as it was and fight for the world as it should be.” Just as Obama’s illustration of Rev. Wright is a metaphor for cynicism, for being stuck in the past, for closing our hearts and minds to hope, his illustration of a young Dr. King at Morehouse College represents the antithesis of that tragedy; his depiction of Dr. King represents the beauty of a universal human possibility: hope and faith in change, in our collective future. Beyond color: we are all human.   

History as a metaphor to understand race in

 America: Connecting history to the present

           

            

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 In both speeches, Obama reminds us that these United States are not yet free from discrimination and racism; disparities in housing, health care, employment, education—and myriad other cultural/societal conditions—can be “traced directly to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery.” Particularly with regard to wealth accumulation, subtle forms of discrimination and racism continue to drive economic disparities between white and black communities. In fact, a 2012 study conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Urban Institute found that out of more than 8,000 tests in 28 different metropolitan regions nationwide, “blacks, Latinos and Asians looking for homes were shown fewer housing options than whites who were equally qualified. And fewer options meant higher housing costs” (see “For People Of Color, A Housing Market Partially Hidden From View ...”). Though less blatant than Jim Crow era laws, discrimination and racism continue to exist in increasingly subtle manifestations.

Obama’s personal story as metaphor



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            Obama’s personal life story is a metaphor for our collective vision of America as ‘the great melting pot’—where people of all colors, classes, socioeconomic statuses and backgrounds come together to strive toward our common value: freedom. In his 2008 speech, Obama says, “I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.” Obama is the embodiment of what he terms, “America’s improbable experiment in democracy.” Improbable? Yes. Impossible? No. Just as a young Dr. King embodied hope in our collective future and the possibility of change, Barack Obama embodies evidence that we have changed—we are changing—and we, in our interrelated, interconnected humanity—will continue to change.

History: both relevant and problematic

            As Americans, we have more choices than most human beings on this earth. In his 2008 speech, Obama says, “We can accept a politics that breeds division and conflict and cynicism . . . but if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change. That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, ‘Not this time.’” Certainly, our collective past has been imperfect—and that imperfect past can function as a distraction, a barrier to our collective progress and momentum—or, as Obama urges in his 2013 commencement speech at Morehouse College, we can unite in the commonality of our humanity. He warns that “success may not come quickly or easily” but that “together, we will continue the never-ending task of perfecting our union.”   

 

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