My last post started a debate among readers: is a lack of financial savvy and education or cultural factors like racism and historic lack of access to financial institutions primarily responsible for the racial wealth gap in the US?
I'll keep my own opinion out of it, but will share some of the best points I got by email from a few readers.
A 28 year-old single mother from Boston with a degree in sociology and "a sh*tload of student loan debt", blames societal factors:
"I was thinking today about some of the early welfare laws of the 20th century and the impact they have had on "the black family"...if a man was found living in the house (man-in-the-house rule) with his woman and children, welfare benefits were automatically and drastically reduced. Just thinking of the impact this must have had...being penalized for trying to maintain your family unit! Then I thought about more recent rules prohibiting and penalizing people for having savings, once on welfare. While welfare is only a small part of the history of black folks, it does illustrate how government has systematically prevented economic mobility among our poor for years.
Then we have the middle class. How many news reports have we read and seen that deal with banks unfairly charging higher interest rates for Black/Latino consumers or car insurance companies charging higher rates in zip codes where the population is predominantly Black."
Still, she admits her own family is an example of how education plays a role. Several property owners preceded her, yet none of them ever discussed how to save for or acquire a home, leaving her to do the research on her own, she said.
Another reader, a 31-year-old publicist from suburban Maryland, says simply that "at the end of the day, no matter what happened in the past, there's no excuse for not handling your money right except [lack of] education. Culture has nothing to do with you not knowing..."
I'll post more feedback as it comes.
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1 comment:
I know that my opinion may be somewhat elitist, but there is no reason for "not knowing" anymore. It is well know that dicriminatory practices still exist. But an educated consumer is hard to fool. We MUST educate ourselves on everything, we can't afford to believe that we are going to be treated fairly. No matter what income level we are in. I know for a fact that when I'm evaluated for a loan, or insurance, or credit based on my education and income, they probably love me. But I'm still Black and female so I expect the "undercover" treatment will not necessarily be so fair. so I read, study and educate myself before hand. Forearmed is forewarned. So basically I guess it all DOES come down to education, rather formal or informal.
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