Response to Andrea's Blog- Oliver and Shapiro

Oliver and Shapiro do raise some excellent points about systematic barriers that have led to the widening of the wealth gap between whites and blacks...

However, I completely agree with Andrea when she claims that racism is NOT a thing of the past (which is how Wilson makes it sound).  Wilson attributes the wealth gap between whites and blacks wholly to this historical, systematic oppressing of African Americans.  These systems surely contribute, but they cannot be fully blamed for black wealth disadvantage.

Andrea mentioned a few ways that blacks are disadvantaged because of pure racism and not the mere remnants of policies that were put in place in the 19th and 20th centuries.  For example, she mentioned job discrimination and black death at the hands of the state.

Really, all it takes is a simple news search on Google News to understand that anti-black racism is still prevalent in society and contributes to the widening racial wealth gap.


1. In the article attatched to the link below, the writer states:

http://www.theroot.com/views/quiet-bias-racism-2013

"Our culture is still deeply suffused with anti-black bias, despite an African-American president in office. National surveys (pdf) continue to reveal commonly held stereotypes of African Americans as less hardworking and less intelligent than whites."

This very stereotype (and racism) is what causes job discrimination.  If blacks are discriminated against in this way, they certainly have a harder time getting a job and earning an income.  I know that income is different than wealth, but income contributes to wealth.  I don't think you can acquire much wealth without any income.

The writer also states this:

To be sure, this whole issue of racism had a more straightforward quality in the past. We did not have to resort to complex surveys and experiments to reveal its depth. There used to be something loud and obvious and terrible about racism -- circumstances with some ironic virtues. A visible and openly declared enemy is so much more directly confronted than one that operates stealthily.

And that is the dilemma of racism in our times. We have hints, suggestions, indications, if you will, of racial bias all around us today.

I think that this is exactly where Wilson apparently got confused.  Sure, in the past, pure racism was much more outward that it is today.  But this is not to say that it doesn't exist and contribute to the amount of wealth that blacks are able to accumulate.  Racism is a prominent contributing factor to wealth inequality between race.

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/opinion/coates-the-good-racist-people.html?_r=0

This is another really awesome article in the New York times about how blacks are disadvantaged.  The actor, Forest Whitaker, was accused of shoplifting at a deli but he hadn't done anything wrong.  The only reason why this grabbed great attention was because Whitaker is famous.  However, these situations occur daily to African Americans-- situations that wouldn't have occurred had there been a white person in the same situation.  It might seem like a stretch to apply this to the widening wealth gap, but Oliver and Shapiro claim that, due to these historical systematic policies, blacks do not have "the skills and education necessary to fit in a changing economy."  Sure, this might be true.  But even despite these policies, how are blacks supposed to attain skills and education when they cannot be trusted in a local deli?

3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-reifowitz/this-is-how-you-educate-p_b_2790080.html

This article discusses racism AND history as causes of the wealth gap.  The point of the article is not really relevant- that in order to educate people about racism, we must first address "progress" in America and then talk about what we can further do to prevent racism.  However, the author discusses racism and history as equal contributing factors to the wealth gap.

He claims:
"Much of the actual structure of racism remains, and that's a much larger obstacle to equality of opportunity."

And directly after goes onto claim:
"Unfortunately, few Americans understand the extent to which anti-black racism was an organizing principle for public policy through much of 19th and 20th centuries."

THIS is what Oliver and Shapiro should have done to address the wealth gap.  They should have discussed both racism (that yes, still exists today) AND the layers of systematic disadvantages towards blacks.  Both of these factors have led to the growing wealth gap between whites and blacks.