$163,660.
That’s the racial
wealth gap between
the median white household and median Black household, per the 2019
Survey of Consumer Finances.
It’s also a potent reminder that
“the ways we’ve tried to solve the problem in the past, which is
better access and more opportunity to the current system—like building
wealth through housing or through education—just aren’t working,” as
Roosevelt President & CEO Felicia Wong told
Vox.
Racial wealth inequality has long
been a focus of policy development and scholarship. Now, as the
pandemic continues to ravage Black communities and businesses, and as
a new president and Congress more intentionally address race in
rhetorical and personnel choices, bolder policies are gaining
momentum.
H.R.
40, which would establish a Commission to
Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, has been
introduced in every session of Congress for the last three decades.
With a record
173 cosponsors,
the bill—reintroduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) last
month—is now closer than ever to formally acknowledging and
financially redressing slavery’s enduring harm to Black
people.
This month, a bill reintroduced by
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) is also
drawing new
attention and support. The American
Opportunity Accounts Act, which builds on the work of Roosevelt Fellow Darrick Hamilton and
Roosevelt Senior Fellow William “Sandy” Darity Jr., would provide
every newborn child in the US with a baby bonds savings account, the
size of which would depend on family income. Upon turning 18, the
child could then access those funds—as much as $46,000 for someone in a low-income household—for
academic, entrepreneurial, or asset-building purposes.
A baby bonds program of this type
would be a significant anti-racist complement to reparations. As
Hamilton tells
Vox: “The criteria
for inclusion, as well as the intended outcome, are associated with a
domain of economics that is so racially disparate.”
And the reduction in racial wealth
inequality among young people could be drastic, per findings from
Roosevelt Fellow Naomi Zewde. As she wrote in
2018, the median
net worth for white adults ages 18–25 in 2015 could have been $79,159
rather than $46,000 had a baby bonds policy been in effect. The median
net worth for Black adults ages 18–25, meanwhile, could have been
$57,845 rather than $2,900.
Take note: Everyone would benefit from baby bonds, and it would
reduce the racial wealth gap in life-changing and society-shifting
ways.
To honor Black History Month in
word and in deed, we can start there.
Roosevelt
Events
On Monday, March 22, 2021, at 7:00
PM ET, join Roosevelt’s virtual Distinguished
Public Service Awards, which honor individuals whose careers exemplify FDR’s
extraordinary dedication to public service. This year’s recipients:
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ)—Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee—and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Shuler.
Register
now.
And if you missed last week’s
Roosevelt webinar, you can still catch up:
What
Makes for a Strong Presidential Transition?
- Featuring Edward E. “Ted” Kaufman (Former US Senator from
Delaware & Co-Chair of the Biden-Harris Transition Team) and
Felicia Wong (Roosevelt President & CEO)
- Moderated by Christie George (Senior Advisor at New Media
Ventures)
