These Myths Obscure The Truth Of The Wealth Gap

Hand holding piggy bank over a pile of money
Abeni Jones
August 25, 2020

Lie #1: We just need to manage money better

If Black people better understood finances, saved more, or got better jobs, we’d be wealthy, right? Wrong – you can’t save your way out of poverty. Also, we’re not less knowledgeable about finance – we just have less access.

Lie #2: We just need education

Getting a college degree is a good idea, especially if you can avoid debt. But on average, a white high school DROPOUT earns more than a Black person WITH a degree. Education alone won’t solve this problem.

Lie #3: We just need to start businesses

Lie #4: We just need to be like Asians or another immigrant group

The “model minority” myth compares Black people to other minorities in order to make us look bad. It obscures that the U.S. primarily lets already-wealthy immigrants into the country, and that there’s no evidence that other races invest more in education, for example, than us.

Lie #5: We just need stronger families

The truth is Black fathers are more involved in their kids’ lives than any other race! 

Marriage does help individual Black parents have higher incomes, but Black MARRIED parents still have lower incomes than white SINGLE parents.

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