New Report: Rich Black boys have no advantage in becoming wealthy Black men

Even when Black and white boys grow up in families with the same income, structures, and education, the wealth gap keeps them separated.

A new study that traced the lives of millions of American children found that Black boys from wealthy families still earn less in adulthood than white boys with similar backgrounds.

Jasmine 'Jazzi' Johnson

Mar 19, 2018

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Here’s another example of how dangerously insidious the wealth gap continues to be in this country. Fact, just because you are a wealthy Black man doesn’t mean that puts you on par with wealthy white men.

Extensive data polling millions of children shows that American born Black men raised in the wealthiest of families will still eventually earn less than white boys who have the same background, according to the NY Times.

The study finds that White boys who grow up rich are likely to remain that way while Black boys raised rich are more likely to become poor than stay wealthy in their as adults. This continues to hold true when examined up against Black and white families with similar education-levels and access to quality education, family structures, and speed of accumulated wealth.

Even if you’re rubbing elbows with the rich whites from your community who have been afforded the same opportunities— the fact is that Black men will always come out on the bottom.

Even more troubling, Black men are more likely to go poor in their pursuits to maintain wealth, just as white men are more likely to remain rich.

Black vs. White Women

The study, created by Stanford, Harvard and Census Bureau researchers, also notes that there are huge differences between Black and white women.

If raised in well-to-do families with wealth and assets, Black women and white women tend to have little-to-no wage gaps between them. In fact, Black women win the race by a fairly small margin.

What this study confirms is that the bias against Black men goes far beyond education, finances, and community— but is steeped in ideology and pure racism.

“One of the most popular liberal post-racial ideas is the idea that the fundamental problem is class and not race, and clearly this study explodes that idea,” said Ibram Kendi, professor and director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. “But for whatever reason, we’re unwilling to stare racism in the face.”

A Different Perspective

In comparison, the plight of the Black man is very different than other people of color. Asian-Americans either earn more than whites or about the same, depending on the generation of their immigrated families. The gap between white and Hispanic men is narrower than that of Black men. Native Americans are the most similar in the level of disparity with Black men, but sill not as far gone.