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The Next Big Idea Daily

How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap

Jan 20, 2025
Ebony Reed, Chief Strategy Officer at the Marshall Project and co-author of "15 Cents on the Dollar," tackles the shocking truth behind the Black-White wealth gap, revealing that a typical Black family possesses only 15% of the wealth of a typical White family. The discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding wealth definitions to inspire societal change and highlights personal narratives that expose the depth of this economic disparity. Reed advocates for cross-racial partnerships as essential for addressing these entrenched issues.
10:24

Episode guests

Ebony Reed

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • The alarming statistic that a typical Black family holds only 15 cents for every dollar of a typical white family highlights the persistence of the wealth gap since the 1950s.
  • Personal narratives shared in the podcast reveal the profound impacts of the Black-White wealth gap on individuals, advocating for cross-racial partnerships to promote collaborative solutions.

Deep dives

Understanding Wealth Disparity

Wealth is defined as the value of what one owns minus what one owes, yet there remains a significant lack of understanding about this concept, particularly regarding the Black-White wealth gap. The statistic that a typical Black family possesses merely 15 cents for every dollar held by a typical white family is alarming and has remained virtually unchanged since the 1950s. This wealth gap persists despite decades of civil rights activism and is often overlooked in public discourse, which hampers progress towards addressing it. Authors Louise Story and Ebony Reed emphasize that making this statistic widely recognized could catalyze important conversations across various sectors, including housing, education, and healthcare, ultimately leading to meaningful change.

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