Most Americans have felt the sting of the recent economic depression, however no group has felt the massive loss of overall income more than African-Americans. Dubbed the “Great Recession,” a recent Economic Policy Institute report shows that the country’s economic woes have effected black households more than their white counterparts.
An 83 percent drop in median black household income, from $13,450 in 2004 to $2,170 in 2009, is more than triple the rate of the average white household income which showed a loss of 24 percent.
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“Even as the income gap had been closing, between African-American and white households, the wealth gap has been consistently growing,” said The Nation Columnist Melissa Harris-Perry. “So even as we were making more money on the dollar per white household, black households were still having less overall wealth.”
Perry suggests that although the recent recession has created a large economic disparity between the races, the income gap is actually attributed to policies that were put in place, during the New Deal. Policies that caused African-American assets, such as their homes, essentially to be worth less.
“African-Americans were shut out of some of the first home ownership opportunities,” she said.