Many reparations advocates say reparations would help close the growing wealth gap between Black and white Americans.
In 2016, the median white household had $171,000 in wealth — almost 10 times more than the median Black household’s wealth of $17,600. The median racial wealth gap of more than $150,000 may understate the extent of the disparity between Black and white households, the Center For American Progress reported.
Reparation advocates tie this gap to the lingering effects of slavery, despite what others claim.
“The assumption that those debts are owed by and to people now deceased ignores all the money, property and other wealth white Americans alive today inherited from their forebears, including slave owners and many others responsible for depriving Blacks of economic and educational opportunities through discrimination,” according to the Chicago Reporter.
Reparations advocates say the benefits white people have are traceable, from the continuing discrimination suffered by African Americans whose labor was underpaid or stolen for most of U.S. history.
The wealth gap has developed for a number of reasons, and the roots go back to slavery.
“Today’s wealth gap between white and Black Americans is substantially the result of government-supported housing and employment discrimination. The median net worth of Black families is less than 15 percent of that of white families, according to the Federal Reserve,” The Chicago Reporter reported.
