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Nonsense. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants have come to the US with nothing, lacking in English language skills, being looked down on by the local Americans, worked hard and ended up living the American Dream... being middle class and more.
Blacks no longer have the excuse of having slave history as an excuse for their lack of success in our country. What of those refugees and immigrants were were persecuted in their home country? Somehow, they were able to overcome all that negative toxic treatment and be productive people.
And I've know many Haitian Americans and African immigrants who also feel this same way about African Americans of slave roots. They just don't understand the permanent AA dysfunction. IMO it's related to how the Puerto Rican hurricane victims live in limbo and wait for the US to rebuild their island for them, all the while complaining about how the US mainland treats them. Decades from now, many parts of Puerto Rico will still be a mess and the residents still complaining about how the US owes them a complete rebuild at no cost to them.
Stupid entitlement mentalities on the part of both of those groups...
I just answered the OP's question - the specific oppression in the 20th century caused it. If they'd left our ancestors alone and our ancestors had legal protection from the terroristic and complacent majority population in the 20th century, you wouldn't see the disparities you see today.
However, I'm a realist and not someone who likes to live in "what ifs." It is what it is today in regards to wealth. Barriers have been broken and it is up to individual black people, families, and communities to make an effort on obtaining wealth if you so desire and achieving those goals. The best way to accumulate wealth for black people IMO is to invest money in the markets and real estate.
I'd largely agree with you...except your advise to invest is a bit limited.
It reminds me of Steve Martins comedy routine on his record - called "How to make a million dollars and NOT pay any taxes". Perhaps if you aren't white you never heard it.....
To be less flippant, even today black folks are often not hired or given the same opportunities as others. Strike One....
They may be starting out behind the eight ball with a lousy education (often not their fault) - Strike Two.
And, perhaps most importantly, they don't have access to the basic capital it takes to even get started.....
My advice for many aspiring folks who find themselves on the outside (whether by choice or birth) is to learn a trade - well. Really well. Maybe in the Military, maybe with small loans or at votech schools or programs.
Then...if possible...write their own ticket or find an employer willing to give them a shot....MUCH more likely when they can fix that A/C each and every time.
At that point - maybe 5-10 years in, then we should take investing.
I'll note like I usually do that we as black people should not focus ourselves on what white people have. I also don't think wealth accumulation in an of itself should be a primary goal. Getting profits and "stuff" and other material/money is just not something that I feel is all that important in the grand scheme of things and especially not trying to beat and/or impress white people with money.
Do you and live your life. Have goals for your net worth/finances and achieve them. That's all you can do. If you want to compare black wealth or income or anything to something/someone compare it to black people 50-100 years ago and see if things are getting better (hint - they are) and quit letting yourselves be compared to other people who do not have the historical experience of your demographic.
I don't think EITHER of those reasons listed caused it. For example I am white graduated high school am in college but I am poor. My mother graduated college with a masters degree but was never wealthy by any means. My grandfather dropped out of school in the 8th grade to care for family and when he retired owned a 35 acre farm with a home HE built himself,several buildings on it including a garage with a lift in it etc never had debt he has been gone now for 10 years and my grandmother still lives off of the stocks etc they invested in while he was alive...common sense and hard work can get you anywhere in life,race has NOTHING to do with it.
Whether you acknowledge it or not, your grandfather having that land is a form of wealth. Your mother having a masters is a sign of some wealth. I'm not saying your family are millionaires, but you're not exactly poor either.
Also, why do I compare Black and White? These two groups have been in this country for pretty much the same length of time.
Yeah, I think you'd better read a little history. First of all, the first ones here were the Native Americans or Amerindians or however you want to refer to them. After that you had a number of European explorers come, notably the Dutch and Italians. Eventually the British, French, Spanish, and Dutch established major colonies. At this time, there were no black slaves in the US, but the North Africans had a habit of piracy and taking the crew on as slaves for a time (so there was white slavery instead). Eventually, when the British expanded their dominion to most of North America, the settlers there started importing African slaves as laborers, but they came well after the Amerindian natives and the Euro-Caucasian settlers. And since the Amerindians are actually not too far descended from the native Pacific Islanders and SouthEast Asians, it could be argued (though probably not successfully) that the Asians were here first.
Ultimately, though, it doesn't matter. You can try to blame everything on the past but ultimately the blame for your action or lack of action in any area lies in one place: yourself.
Nonsense. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants have come to the US with nothing, lacking in English language skills, being looked down on by the local Americans, worked hard and ended up living the American Dream... being middle class and more.
Blacks no longer have the excuse of having slave history as an excuse for their lack of success in our country. What of those refugees and immigrants were were persecuted in their home country? Somehow, they were able to overcome all that negative toxic treatment and be productive people.
Ok fine:
1) Slavery
2) Jim Crow
3) Redlining, which kept blacks out of neighborhoods with good schools
4) The fact that education is funded at the local and state level, ensuring that poor areas stay poor.
Yeah, I think you'd better read a little history. First of all, the first ones here were the Native Americans or Amerindians or however you want to refer to them. After that you had a number of European explorers come, notably the Dutch and Italians. Eventually the British, French, Spanish, and Dutch established major colonies. At this time, there were no black slaves in the US, but the North Africans had a habit of piracy and taking the crew on as slaves for a time (so there was white slavery instead). Eventually, when the British expanded their dominion to most of North America, the settlers there started importing African slaves as laborers, but they came well after the Amerindian natives and the Euro-Caucasian settlers. And since the Amerindians are actually not too far descended from the native Pacific Islanders and SouthEast Asians, it could be argued (though probably not successfully) that the Asians were here first.
Ultimately, though, it doesn't matter. You can try to blame everything on the past but ultimately the blame for your action or lack of action in any area lies in one place: yourself.
How about when the US was established? Were there any black people here at that time? Of course I tell you the truth, the majority of black people who descended from slaves, were here well before most white people, who descend from immigrants coming after the war. Most white people came into the country around the late 1800s-early 1900s. Yet here we are, and the median net worth of white families is far higher. Why is that?
I'd largely agree with you...except your advise to invest is a bit limited.
It reminds me of Steve Martins comedy routine on his record - called "How to make a million dollars and NOT pay any taxes". Perhaps if you aren't white you never heard it.....
LOL - why would I not hear of this routine just because I'm not white
That was very strange.
I said what I said about investing because black people put less money away for retirement on average and I was purposefully "limited" being that everyone's situation is different. However, one of the easiest ways to keep your debts low (or non-existent) and invest in your company's 401k in a responsible and active way. I base this on my own experiences working in the financial industry and my own investments (both markets and real estate). I have greater than the average net worth of white families in my own black family because I've consistently invested in myself/my family and made goals for what I wanted at particular time periods in my life. I also didn't make a great deal of money during my late teens and 20s or even early 30s like most people don't but I consistently put money into retirement accounts and I purposefully never bought things on credit until I was very much able to do so.
I was guided in this way by my black great grandmother who introduced me to her broker when I was a pre-teen when (according to her I mistakenly) I asked her how she got so "rich" lol. She informed me she just invested her money wisely and kept her debts very low. I followed her advice and I usually pay for things with cash - I have very low debt - I own multiple income properties and I invest over 10% of my income a month in employer sponsored retirement accounts and and individually owned index fund (IRA). I've used loans from the IRA to buy real estate with cash and have paid it back.
Note - Steve Martin is pretty popular with black people of a certain age in America. My older cousin - who I consider an uncle as he's actually my mother's cousin - he had all of Steve Martin's records (and nearly every comedian of that generation). We listened to them a lot when during family get-togethers.
1. Too many blacks being denied FHA loans starting during the New Deal era. This reduced the number of blacks who could build wealth through home ownership.
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