Racial Wealth Divide

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Race to the Middle Class: Report on the Racial Wealth Divide (Room C202)

What is keeping people of color from increasing wealth as well as income? This workshop will identify and discuss the barriers that prevent people of color from achieving and holding onto a middle class standard of living and what the new Congress can do to address these barriers.

Marva Williams, Woodstock Institute
Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Drum Major Institute for Public Policy
Dalton Conley, Center for Advanced Social Science Research
Anisha Desai, United for a Fair Economy
Beatriz Ibarra, National Council of La Raza

Notes:

Anisha: racial wealth divide is more an issue of wealth than income
-The gap is closing at a rate of 3%; at this rate, it'll take 350 years to close
-Democratic Congress not really concerned about the disappearing middle class

Marva: challenge with absence of wealth-building institutions in poor communities
-how open a bank account when their are no banks in your community
-how to increase literacy and get past small loan- and pawn-shop business culture
-with some lenders ends up paying $1 million for $50k

-How can make savings easier and credit scores more accessible

Summary:
-problem isn't with homeownership, but homeownership being shown as a silver bullet

Resources:

New York Times is Running a Series on Predatory Loans and home foreclosures: