Racial Wealth Gap...

A lot of whites don't either, so it must be more than that.

I don't know of anyone in my family that ever got a large inheritance. All my grandparents and parents, and my father-in-law are deceased, and I'm not wealthy from any inheritances. They all worked very hard but they had no estates to leave behind. To be honest, I don't personally know anyone out of the hundreds of people whom I know, who inherited anything substantial. I'm sure some people do but is it enough to make a statistical impact?

I know quite a few people who have received inheritances, others who have won the lottery... Three I immediately think of ... $50,000, $2 million, $6 million...

It did none of them any good in the long run because none of them had any knowledge of how to manage finances. It is not taught in schools and most parents do not know so they are unable to pass the information to their children.

People who don't know how to handle money don't stand a chance.

No matter what life gives them.
 
Hm.... I would think this cancels out within each race? This implies that black people and hispanics do not know how to invest while white people do.

Could be. However, Asians are still significantly behind Whites in net worth even though Asians earn more. Your theory doesn't explain that.

How to handle finances is learned from parents unless you go to college and get a degree in it. It is not something you are born with, it is not something you are taught at school.

In fact poor people of all classes are discouraged from learning it.
 
Not the age question. Next thing you're going to say is I'm too young, inexperienced, or haven't earned the wisdom, blah blah.


Education/knowledge allows people to recognize opportunities when they arise. Lack of education/knowledge means they would probably miss out on tons of opportunities.

yeah. And poor people in poor neighborhoods are taught in poor, under financed schools where they learn the least.

Lucky you.
 
BBC News - Downturn widens racial wealth gap
I am still trying to wrap my head around those really low numbers. At first I thought they included illegal immigrants, but its based on Census data, and it still wouldn't explain the blacks. Even Asians are being affected.

Thoughts?

The article is a bit exaggerated and based on some weird statistics.

This left whites with about 20 times the net worth of blacks and 18 times that of Hispanics.

You know that the top 0.1% of the nation is getting wealthier. The top .1% holds ~40% of the wealth (see source: http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html )

So, if you translate the article, the rich are just getting richer while the gap is growing wider between these rich folks and the rest of the country. And we already know from racial stereotyping that these are typically very rich white people
- Gates, Buffet, etc for further proof see top 25 listed last year by 2010 forbes release: http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/09/un...-bloomberg-billionaires-2010-gates_slide.html)

If you average all of these rich white people's incomes - No one except good ole' Sergey isn't white in that current list! Note that there are no asians, hispanics, and blacks.

Now THAT, is how statistics can be deceiving.

Well, duh, of course whites are getting richer than other races. :P
 
Are you saying that society is actively "devising ways to keep the minority population and the poor population from having the opportunities?"

First of all, wouldn't that be illegal?

Secondly, what would be the reasoning behind that?

Lastly, who makes up this "society" to which you refer?

If you don't want to take the word of a half breed raised on the poor side of town

Go ask Donald Trump.

He says that is EXACTLY what is happening and he explains why.
 
I suppose your way is better to tell black students that even when they get their degrees they will have no career opportunities? I guess they might as well quit now.

In my neighborhood that is how Black people, Latino people, Native Americans, and many whites felt.

Because you fight to win by the rules -- And when you win the rules change.
 
Yep? As in Undercover Brother?

All people? "People" includes all races.

If this is so obvious to everyone, then why is it allowed?

Same reason the school system hasn't worked in the last hundred years. Every body knows what the problems are, Every body knows how to fix them.

Nobody does.

Same reason the prison system hasn't worked in the last 200 years. Everybody knows what the problems are. Every body knows how to fix them.

Nobody does.

But hey, it has been making good headlines for the last 200 years.
 
Here's a little more pot stirring, food for thought.
Top 400 richest people in America according to Forbes:
The Richest People in America 2010 - Forbes.com

First asian is Patrick Soon-Shiong at #46 with 5.6bill,
first black is Oprah at #130 with 2.7bill,
first hispanic - well, can be open for debate, but I see the first Italian (not necessarily hispanic) at #66, John Paul DeJoria the former homeless guy.
 
...and if i started this thread...bloody oracle would accuse me of racism...duh

ah
the man who created Kentucky Fried Chicken , was homeless too
 
This. So much this.

Being a member of any minority group does not obligate you to be its spokesperson, and being a member of many majority groups does not give you the right to treat other people as learning opportunities.

Indeed. About the last thing I want is to be a spokesperson for all of the Deaf. I would imagine that Hispanics or blacks feel the same way about the groups they belong to.
 
Same reason the school system hasn't worked in the last hundred years. Every body knows what the problems are, Every body knows how to fix them.

Nobody does.

Same reason the prison system hasn't worked in the last 200 years. Everybody knows what the problems are. Every body knows how to fix them.

Nobody does.

But hey, it has been making good headlines for the last 200 years.

Exactly. There is something suspect in being asked to "prove" something that is obvious as a cow's asshole.
 
I invest now, even though I am relatively young. I can see how someone who is privileged would say "Now that's one smart woman who knows how to save money and plan for her future."

However, I came out of college debt free and got a good job. I was able to start saving right out of college. I consider myself fortunate because my parents were able to help me out financially. Even though I worked while I was in grad school and paid for my own tuition (for grad school) and living necessities, I did not have to worry about paying for my undergrad school (although most of it was paid by scholarship), my car, nor my car's insurance. I knew if anything went bad or I got into debt, my parents will be there for me to help me out. I'm very lucky to have them.

Can you honestly tell me that for someone who comes from a poor background but makes the same income as me can even invest? I just googled and picked a random stock, you need to have AT LEAST $2,500 to buy the stock. When you are up to here with college loans, living expenses, car expenses and so on, why are you going to buy risky stocks? Even if you paid off your loans, why would you invest in stocks rather than a house?

People who have money ALREADY do not think about those things. They assume that when people are living off by paycheck, they must not know how to save.

By the way, one of my cousins and her husband (who is an accountant) often travels, goes to VIP baseball games, bought a Hummer, bought a nice house in a good area, and so on. The pretty picture says that they are doing well and they work hard and know how to save. We found out recently that they are in hundreds of thousand dollars in debt (most of it is in interest). But guess what? The husband's well off parents are there for them to bail them out. Even the well off people who do NOT know how to invest wisely still are doing fine because of the previous generation bailing them out.
 
I invest now, even though I am relatively young. I can see how someone who is privileged would say "Now that's one smart woman who knows how to save money and plan for her future."

However, I came out of college debt free and got a good job. I was able to start saving right out of college. I consider myself fortunate because my parents were able to help me out financially. Even though I worked while I was in grad school and paid for my own tuition (for grad school) and living necessities, I did not have to worry about paying for my undergrad school (although most of it was paid by scholarship), my car, nor my car's insurance. I knew if anything went bad or I got into debt, my parents will be there for me to help me out. I'm very lucky to have them.

Can you honestly tell me that for someone who comes from a poor background but makes the same income as me can even invest? I just googled and picked a random stock, you need to have AT LEAST $2,500 to buy the stock. When you are up to here with college loans, living expenses, car expenses and so on, why are you going to buy risky stocks? Even if you paid off your loans, why would you invest in stocks rather than a house?

People who have money ALREADY do not think about those things. They assume that when people are living off by paycheck, they must not know how to save.

By the way, one of my cousins and her husband (who is an accountant) often travels, goes to VIP baseball games, bought a Hummer, bought a nice house in a good area, and so on. The pretty picture says that they are doing well and they work hard and know how to save. We found out recently that they are in hundreds of thousand dollars in debt (most of it is in interest). But guess what? The husband's well off parents are there for them to bail them out. Even the well off people who do NOT know how to invest wisely still are doing fine because of the previous generation bailing them out.

Same thing with commodities trading: you need at least $750 to do anything. It makes me shake my head to hear well-off people say, "Well, invest your money!" Most poor people cannot afford to invest, particularly with so little return from it. The rich get richer because they have money to invest, simple as that.
 
I remember reading that book The Jungle by Sinclair. I wasn't surprised by what I read but it was disturbing.

this "pull-oneself-up-by-the-bootstraps"-type stuff is related to the concept of individual as well as collective power. Problem is - power is un-evenly distributed. Tokenism doesn't equal power.
 
Naive because she's never had to experience racism. That's white privilege.
Are you saying that the black professionals and students with whom I work don't exist? Are you saying that my successful black neighbors and relatives don't exist? Are you saying that the things they tell me about their lives are lies? Are you saying that their opinions about race and success are not real?

It's true that I've not personally experienced blatant racism, only sexism. That doesn't mean I don't know what goes on in the world. I've been around a while.
 
I never considered buying my house as an investment. I wanted a nice, safe, comfortable place to live for me and my family. If I ever have to sell it I don't want to end up in a financial hole but I certainly don't depend on it to be my financial golden egg either.
 
Are you saying that the black professionals and students with whom I work don't exist? Are you saying that my successful black neighbors and relatives don't exist? Are you saying that the things they tell me about their lives are lies? Are you saying that their opinions about race and success are not real?

It's true that I've not personally experienced blatant racism, only sexism. That doesn't mean I don't know what goes on in the world. I've been around a while.

Then why all the questions if you've been around for a while?
 
I know quite a few people who have received inheritances, others who have won the lottery... Three I immediately think of ... $50,000, $2 million, $6 million...

It did none of them any good in the long run because none of them had any knowledge of how to manage finances. It is not taught in schools and most parents do not know so they are unable to pass the information to their children.

People who don't know how to handle money don't stand a chance.

No matter what life gives them.

The same thing happens to atheletes that come from an impoverished background and all of a sudden have money. They run through it like water and end up broke at the end of their careers. They are accustomed to having to spend all their money as it comes in to meet basic needs. Their income increases, but they do not grasp that it doesn't all have to be spent as it comes in.
 
knowing what goes on is not the same thing as actually being the personal target of racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and so on.
I know that people who use wheelchairs are often discounted, stared at, considered "un-able" by ignorant people - but I have not experienced how it is to be in that person's skin, day in and day out. Not the same.

Sure there are Latino professionals, First Nations professionals, African-American professionals etc. But the White professional hailing a cab, buying shoes or asking for assistance is more likely to be get her cab, get prompt courteous service for the shoes and get help from a stranger - each and every time. For life. Among many other things, he is less likely to be asked what he's doing in certain neighborhoods, suggested or told to leave, asked to be spokesperson for his race or ethnic group, more likely to be taken seriously when making a big purchase, when facing "authorities" .....each and every day. For life.
 
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