10 Shocking Graphs That Prove Black People Have Made Little Progress in America

Average family Wealth by Race

Family Wealth Gap

Median household income is one way to measure a given demographic’s economic well-being. However, the Urban Institute reports, the racial wealth gap is three times greater than the racial income gap. Wealth is a measure of all the money a family has, including assets — such as a house.

In 1983, for every dollar held by the average Black or Hispanic family, the average white family had five. Instead of shrinking, the gap has increased from the 1980s through today. Now white families lay claim to nearly six times as much as Black families.

 

incarceration rate by race

Mass Incarceration of Black Males

Although more Americans of all races are imprisoned today than 50 years ago,  the increase has been more dramatic among African-American males.

For every one white man of 100,000 imprisoned in 1960, 2.6 are imprisoned today. For every one Black man out of 100,000 imprisoned in 1960, 3.3 are imprisoned today.

Although in 1960, there were still states maintaining “separate but equal” schools, disenfranchising African-Americans and barring interracial marriage, a larger share of the Black population is behind bars today.

According to the Pew Research Center, for every white man imprisoned in 2010, 6.4 Black men were incarcerated.

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