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Wealth Inequality in the United States

Wealth inequality between white and black Americans has long been an ongoing problem in America due to our nation's history of systemic racism and discrimination. White families typically hold ten times greater net worth than their counterparts when looking at net worth. Among the various contributing factors are policies and practices that deny black people opportunities for wealth accumulation or homeownership.

One way that property rights have been delimited along racial lines is through slavery. At that time, white slave owners claimed ownership over black people's bodies and labor while exploiting this system to accumulate wealth and property. Once slavery had been abolished, however, segregation and Jim Crow laws further codified racial lines in housing and property ownership; Black Americans often were denied access to certain neighborhoods, barred from buying homes or loans, or subject to discriminatory practices on the market.

American Indian displacement and genocide were essential in creating conditions conducive to American capitalism and wealth accumulation. Indigenous people were forcibly removed from their lands and subjected to policies designed to destroy traditional...