Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative

Overview

The Initiative is a national effort to close the racial wealth gap for the next generation.

The United States government has always played a role in subsidizing and incentivizing asset building. In 2005 alone, the U.S. invested over $367 billion in such support, in line with a rich history of wealth-building policies and programs, from the Homestead Act to the G.I. Bill to the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction. But these and many other asset-building policies have excluded people of color either explicitly or in the way they have been implemented, and over the years, have increasingly favored those who already hold assets. As a result, despite years of progress toward racial equality, today the average family of color holds only fifteen cents worth of assets to the white family’s dollar.

Wealth (what you own minus what you owe), or assets, are what allow families to weather the inevitable economic ups and downs of life. Even more significant is the transformative role that wealth plays in enabling people to move up the social and economic ladder. Without money for college tuition, home ownership, business start-up, retirement pensions, or to give one’s children a boost, many people of color are stuck at the bottom end of the economy. And in a globally competitive economy, unleashing the potential of all America’s people to generate economic growth and to fulfill the promise of the American dream is essential, and depends on our nation’s commitment to helping these families build up their assets.

Building Momentum to Close the Racial Wealth Gap

To address these issues, the Insight Center and the Ford Foundation’s Asset Building Program have led a series of yearly convenings  which brought together some of the leading minds on asset building from African American, Latino, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Native American communities. These ground-breaking meetings provided experts from across racial and ethnic groups the opportunity to share the obstacles and successes their communities face as they attempt to build assets. The insights which arose from these sessions provided the foundation on which we are now building the next phase of this work.  Materials from these convenings can be viewed by clicking on the links in the left-hand navigation bar.

On the heels of a historic Presidential election and changes in Congressional representation, the nation is at an exciting moment. Next, the Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative will work to educate the media and policy makers about the magnitude of the racial wealth gap, why it is important for the economy as a whole to close it, and provide policy recommendations on how to effectively address racial economic inequality. Our country can no longer afford to perpetuate a system of separate and unequal. With a renewed vision for a deeper democracy, we can create racial economic parity for the next generation.

RESOURCES and COMPONENTS OF THE INITIATIVE

Experts of Color on Asset Building Clearinghouse

The Insight Center’s “Experts of Color Clearinghouse” is a continually growing database currently featuring over 100 experts. The clearinghouse addresses a critical gap in the asset building field by highlighting current work by researchers and practitioners of color. These well-known as well as up-and-coming leaders can be called upon to provide unique perspectives on how wealth is defined, created, and developed in non-white communities. Lifting up these voices will ensure that new asset policies will serve all Americans.

Communications

Communications will play a critical role in bringing this issue into the national spotlight. To hold the attention of the media and policy makers, the issue must be framed effectively, and messages must be used consistently over time. Working with the Opportunity Agenda, the Insight Center brought together communications experts from fourteen national organizations to develop effective messages. The results of this effort will be made available on t this website in December '08.

Laying the Groundwork for a Policy Agenda

Together with Global Policy Solutions, a Racial Wealth Gap Policy Index is being developed. Fact sheets on various asset issue areas are being produced to inform local and national policy makers. The facts sheets will also be available on this website by the end of 2008, and will be utilized at the 2009 convening currently being planned.

Working Groups on Asset Issues

Working groups are exploring housing, land, small and micro business, financial services, savings vehicles, employment, social insurance, and tax issues to determine the barriers to asset acquisition for communities of color, and to make recommendations on closing the gap. Members of all non-white groups contribute the perspectives of their own communities to ensure inclusion, and white allies also bring their expertise to these groups.

Savings and Asset-Building Grants

With support from the Ford Foundation, the Insight Center awarded grants for research to inform the savings and asset-building field by incorporating the knowledge, perspectives, and experience of experts of color. This community included scholars, policy-makers, practitioners, and others who were selected because of their ability to carry out innovative and valuable research and practice that will positively impact the asset field. Click here for a brief overview of this exciting work.

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