U.S. RACIAL WEALTH GAP POST-GEORGE FLOYD

It's been over four years since police k*lled George Floyd, sparking an uprising that not only raised questions about racism and police brutality, but also on the stark wealth gap between Black and white people in the United States. 

According to the latest data, not much has changed since.

The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank’s Institute for Economic Equity reported Black families held just 23 cents for every $1 held by white families in the second quarter of 2023. While white households comprise 65.9 per cent of US households, they own 84.1 per cent of the total family wealth. Black families, representing 11.4 per cent of US households, own only 3.4 per cent.

Bloomberg also noted that based on the US Census Bureau's 2023 data on household income, ‘Black households were making about the same as households headed by people without college degrees, even though more than a quarter of [Black people in the US] have a bachelor’s degree or higher.’

Meanwhile, corporations’ attempts to bandage the issue in 2020 through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programmes have failed, with DEI staff cuts, layoffs and dissatisfied Black workers, indicating Black people in the US continue to be economically disenfranchised.

Sources:

https://www.stlouisfed.org/institute-for-economic-equity/the-state-of-us-wealth-inequality

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/04/wealth-by-race.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-09-26/the-us-racial-wealth-gap-is-widening

https://wordinblack.com/2023/12/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-initiatives-decline-after-george-floyd

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/news/black-workers-consider-leaving-job

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPZkhL3fr6o

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story/2024/7/7/whats-behind-the-creation-of-the-alliance-of-sahel-states