New study shows HUGE disparity between white, minority women

A recent study out of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development shows tremendous wealth inequality among women of different races. Among the findings reported by Democracy Now, the report shows about half of all single black and Hispanic women have debt that exceeds their assets. Thus, they have zero or negative wealth.

Wealth, as defined by the authors of the report, refers to the value of your assets--money held in checking or savings, retirement benefits, real estate--after subtracting debts and liabilities like mortgage and loans. Separate from income, wealth can be said to indicate your long-term financial security.

The most shocking finding, however, is in the comparison of minority women to white women:

The median wealth for single white women is just over $41,000. The median wealth for single Hispanic women is $120, and the median wealth for single black women is $100.

This data is a staggering reminder of the legacy of inequality that continues to this day. The Insight Center points out that wealth can be passed down through generations, and this surely accounts for much of the wealth disparity by race. Policies intended to keep minorities below whites in terms of political, economic and social power have stifled the voices and progress of countless minorities. Residential segregation has kept minorities out of areas with good schools, good jobs and opportunities for growth, a phenomenon referred to as spatial mismatch. The racialization of welfare (think "Cadillac-driving welfare queens") has been followed by reduced support for welfare programs (think Reaganomics and trickle-down theory).

We have outlawed segregation, but many of these roadblocks still exist today. Gerrymandering, or drawing residential boundaries based on demographics of the area, is still allowed, and white flight is alive and well, with many professional jobs following suburb-bound whites. Racial stereotypes persist, both at work and in society, resulting in many minorities' internalization of inferiority.

In short, black and Hispanic women's lack of wealth is the product of history. Rather than a failure to spend responsibly or save diligently, their lack of wealth is a product of generations of hardship and racial prejudice. While white women have had a chance to build wealth and pass their assets onto their children, minority women have struggled against government and social policy to survive.

This report shows that those who extol racial equality speak too soon. Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, this report underscores the need for action. The Huffington Post lists some of the solutions offered by the Insight Center, but none of these address the legacy of inequality behind the wealth disparity.

We must examine our policies in all areas of life--housing, employment, education, health, etc--that contribute to minority women's lack of wealth. We must tailor existing policies and create new policies geared toward minority women specifically, as any policy intended to help all women will also give white women a leg up and only serve to maintain this racial disparity. We must recognize that any effort at reform that does not look back at the years of discrimination is only a band-aid. We must bear in mind that while white women pass down thousands in wealth, black and Hispanic women pass down years of racism.

Photo Credit: Bet.com

Race has no roots in nature

In a Newsweek Web Exclusive, Mary Carmichael dissects racial disparities in health care today. Briefly describing data to prove minorities receive lower-quality care, Carmichael spends the bulk of the piece explaining why solving this dilemma is no easy task.

As it turns out, her explanation is not clear either...

Health care disparity is tough to tackle, Carmichael says, because "health and race are both complicated issues to examine academically." How do we classify people into racial groups? What about multi-racial individuals? Do we allow people to self-identify, or do we enact some sort of government policy of racial assignment? Answers to any of these questions have implications for both health care and democracy itself.

Carmichael argues that in order to revamp and reform health care, we must look at both nature and nurture. We must look at genetic predisposition to certain diseases and illnesses (nature), as well as social and medical environment (nurture). Citing race as "a notoriously inaccurate proxy for genetics, since it's such an imprecise way of describing people," Carmichael touches on, but fails to attack a key flaw in health care policy.

Throughout this article, the author never mentions that race is a social construction. Not only is race an imprecise way of describing groups of people, but it has no basis in biology. Historically, racial categories in America--and the hierarchies that accompanied them--provided a way for white society to justify minority oppression and reap the benefits of their exploitation. Race is not natural; it has been nurtured within our social consciousness. Thus, race is not inherent or fixed, and it is not only imprecise but meaningless as a measure of nature.

That being said, there are differences in health outcomes across racial groups. Blacks have higher rates of hypertension and diabetes than whites, for example. I would add, however, that these differences can be at least partly explained by external factors: environment, diet, occupation, access to health care, quality of health care available, etc. While racial differences in health may be a useful frame for examining the health of our society, we should not assume these differences are due to biological or innate characteristics of groups.

The crux of Carmichael's argument--that bridging the health care gap is only possible if we take a step back and examine the larger social structures preventing equality in care--is a strong case for macro-level analysis. However, this analysis will be most successful if we look not at race as a fixed and immutable measure of one's lifelong health projections, but as a product of a history of institutional and social inequality.

Photo Credit: The Institute for Southern Studies