R i g h t a r d i a: WIN: Staggering Racial Wealth gap

Monday, August 1, 2011

WIN: Staggering Racial Wealth gap

7/31/2011

The Pew Research Center released a study last week that shows a staggering racial wealth gap.

According to the study in 2009 the "median wealth of white households was 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households."

According to Pew the lopsided ratios are the largest since the government first began releasing such data. It shows that the recession and housing bubble hit minorities much harder than white households.

Hispanics saw their median wealth fall by 66 percent since 2006 and black households saw a decrease of 53 percent.

In comparison the decline of median wealth for white households was barely a blip declining 16 percent. The typical white household held $113,000 in assets in 2009 while Hispanic and black households both held less than $7,000 in assets.

The average net worth of Hispanic households was $18,000 in 2005, but in 2009 it Was less than $7,000.

It is clear that the economic down turn has had a dramatic effect on minorities. Of course, conservative rhetoric has been blacks need to get of of the plantation and Hispanics need to go back to their country of origin.

Republicans have even attacked bootstrap programs like affirmative action which should not be controversial.

Rush Limbaugh was surely elated when he read the results of the Pew study.