Racial dimensions and inequality. Mathematics Research Paper

Racial Dimensions and Inequality
Name
Institution
Due Date
Racial Dimensions and Inequality
Introduction
Every year, news about the economy is peddled to the public and one thing that is often said and repeated is that the economy is doing well. Well, when something is said to be doing well, it is always relative to something else. For the economy, it is always juxtaposed with the past and it is true that the economy is doing well than it was doing 10 or 20 years ago. However, the question people fail to ask is whether this change benefits everyone or whether everyone within the U.S. borders takes part in this growth. As Costa (2019) reports, “a steady economic expansion and historically low jobless rate can mask deep inequalities in income and wealth that leave American families in vastly different financial situations.” The above is true because as the economy continues to get stronger and some people are getting wealthier, the larger percentage is not. As seen in the image shown below wealth for the top 10% continues to increase as those at the bottom continue to languish in poverty. The image as Costa (2019) explains shows that “while the total net worth of U.S. households has more than quadrupled in nominal terms since 1989, this increase has clearly accrued more to the top of the distribution than the bottom.” In other words, inequality has continued to rise albeit reports that the economy is doing well. Inequality along racial lines further reveals a dark secret in the American economy that is not often showcased by media houses. Apparently, for white households, there has been a tremendous increase in wealth. However, the African American and Hispanic communities seem to have different reports as their families continue to languish in cyclical poverty. Taking from the above statement, this article seeks to delve deeper into the issue of racial dimensions and inequality. The aim is to provide a clearer view of how wealth is currently being distributed along racial lines, the cyclical impacts of the above, the reasons behind the inequality, and defining the effects of closing the wealth gap.
How bad is the Wealth Gap historically and currently?
There had been reports that the white community would soon be a minority in the U.S. The New Census population projections confirmed this and as indicated by Frey (2018), racial minorities will be the “primary demographic engine of the nation’s future growth, countering an aging, slow-growing and soon to be declining white population.” As per statistics currently being propagated, the white community will be a majority by 1945 (Frey, 2018). Even though this is happening, family wealth by race/ethnicity continues to widen as minority families still continue to languish in poverty. As indicated in the image shown below, between 1963 and 2016, the white families have increased their wealth capacities further and seem to showcase a wider disparity compared to the minority families. The Urban.org (2017) reports that “in 1963, the average wealth of white families was $121,000 higher than the average wealth of nonwhite families.” However, by 2016, this number has soared and currently, “the average wealth of white f...