The claim that a dollar circulates within the Black community for only six hours has been widely circulated, but is it actually true? This myth has been debunked by TruthBeTold.news, an initiative out of Howard University’s Department of Media, Journalism, and Film in the School of Communications, which aims to fact-check claims about the African-American community.
The origin of this statistic seems to come from a self-help book titled “Talking Dollars and Making Sense: A Wealth Building Guide for African-Americans,” by financial planner Brooke Stephens. However, the book doesn’t seem to mention the name of the study, raising questions about the credibility of the source.
Economists contacted by TruthBeTold.news pointed out that the federal government does not produce data that would allow for such a comparison. Additionally, data about dollars circulating in the Jewish is equally suspect, as the government does not collect financial information by religion.
One economic expert interviewed was former Obama Labor Department official William Spriggs, who is now chief economist at the AFL-CIO union. Spriggs also teaches economics at Howard University.
“It’s what I consider an urban myth,” Spriggs told the blog Of Color.
Spriggs said he felt the book’s stats were questionable when he read the information about the Jewish community having dollars circulating for 19 days.
“What makes me suspicious is that it has economic data based on religion when the federal government doesn’t collect any information by religion,” Spriggs said. “Where would you get that from?”
TruthBeTold.news aims to help students fact-check, and in some cases dispel, claims about the African-American community.
The myth that a dollar only stays in the Black community for six hours cannot be substantiated, yet many media outlets have reported on this.
In December, NewsOne published a story with the headline “Buying Black: The Lifespan of a Dollar in African-American Communities Is Six Hours.” The article cited Stephens. “The lifespan of a dollar in the Asian community is 28 days; in the Jewish community, the lifespan of a dollar is 19 days,” the article said.
Howard student Brookie Madison had the task to examine the “lifespan of a dollar” statistic.
After extensive research and interviews, Madison concluded: The claim that a dollar circulates in the Black community for only six hours cannot be substantiated, NiemanLab reported.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-counting-money-6694530/
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-counting-money-6694530/