Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Wealth Accumulation & Communities of Color in the United States

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS

Contents

LIST OF FIGURES...........................................................................................................................................................vLIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................................................................viiACKNOWLEDGMENTS...........................................................................................................................................................xiINTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW JESSICA GORDON NEMBHARD & NGINA CHITEJI..........................................................................................................11. WEALTH MEASUREMENT Issues for People of Color in the United States WILHELMINA A. LEIGH...............................................................................232. ESTIMATING THE EFFECT OF RACE & ETHNICITY ON WEALTH ACCUMULATION & ASSET-OWNERSHIP PATTERNS NGINA CHITEJI & DARRICK HAMILTON..........................................673. DETERMINANTS OF INTRAGROUP WEALTH INEQUALITY AMONG WHITES, BLACKS, & LATINOS YUVAL ELMELECH...........................................................................914. WOMEN & WEALTH MARIKO LIN CHANG.......................................................................................................................................1125. NATIVE AMERICANS' WEALTH JAY L. ZAGORSKY..............................................................................................................................1336. TROUBLE IN PARADISE The Economic Marginalization of Native Hawaiians PAUL ONG........................................................................................1557. ASIAN AMERICANS & WEALTH PAUL ONG & R. VARISA PATRAPORN...............................................................................................................1738. FINANCIAL MARKETPLACE PARTICIPATION & PENSION HOLDINGS OVER THE LIFE COURSE NGINA CHITEJI, ELENA GOUSKOVA, & FRANK STAFFORD...........................................1919. BANKING & WEALTH ACCUMULATION IN THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY Questions & Evidence from Los Angeles GARY DYMSKI, LISA MOHANTY, & WEI LI..............................21910. WEALTH CREATION IN LATINO COMMUNITIES Latino Families, Community Assets, & Cultural Capital BRBARA J. ROBLES.......................................................24111. LIVING WHERE THE NEIGHBORS ARE INVESTED Wealth & Racial/Ethnic Differences in Individuals' Neighborhood Home Ownership Rates RACHAEL A. WOLDOFF.....................26712. WEALTH, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, & DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE JESSICA GORDON NEMBHARD & ANTHONY A. BLASINGAME......................................................................294AFTERWORD Trends & Trappings, Research & Policy Implications: An Unorthodox Policy Guide JESSICA GORDON NEMBHARD........................................................326ABOUT THE AUTHORS.........................................................................................................................................................343INDEX.....................................................................................................................................................................349

Chapter One

WILHELMINA A. LEIGH

Although income has long been used to compare the well-being of populations in this country, only since the mid-1960s (toward the end of the civil rights movement) has wealth been used for this purpose as well. The 1967 Survey of Economic Opportunity was the first government survey that allowed an examination of differences in wealth by race. Comparing Blacks and Whites only, the Survey of Economic Opportunity revealed marked disparities that persisted during the remainder of the twentieth century. In 1967 the ratio of mean (or average) Black household wealth, or net worth ($16,972), to mean White household wealth, or net worth ($90,507), was 0.188 (18.8 percent). Net worth for the average Black household had risen to $31,992 in 1984 with the comparable figure for White households at $123,677, for a ratio of 0.259 (25.9 percent). Nearly ten years later, in 1993, the ratio remained virtually unchanged at 0.26 (26 percent), with mean Black household wealth, or net worth, at $34,270 and mean White household wealth, or net worth, at $131,613 (Eller and Fraser 1995; Oliver and Shapiro 1989; Terrell 1971).

In 1998, the ratio of mean wealth for Black non-Latino households to mean wealth for White non-Latino households had fallen to 0.18 (18 percent) again. The comparable ratio for Latino household wealth vis--vis wealth for White non-Latino households was 0.25 (25 percent) (Choudhury 2001/2002). In that same year, however, mean wealth for Asian American households was 0.87 (87 percent) of the value held by White households (Wolff 2001).

Explanations for these persistent gaps have included, in particular for the Black-White disparity, the intergenerational consequences of the fact that in 1863 each emancipated slave did not receive the promised "forty acres and a mule." Advocacy for a massive capital transfer or reparations has developed around this historical oversight (Browne 1974; America 1990; Oliver and Shapiro 1995; Ogletree 2004). Limited inheritance of wealth by people of color also is cited to explain this gap (Blau and Graham 1990; Oliver and Shapiro 1995). Another often-suggested explanation is the failure of Blacks (or African Americans), other people of color (i.e., Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and Hispanics [or Latinos]), and immigrants to invest in the stock market, a shortcoming attributed in part to the lack of familiarity with this market and to perceptions of its risk (Brimmer 1988; Wynter 1997). Yet another suggested explanation is the use of measures of wealth that exclude employer pensions and Social Security benefits, both of which are large proportions of the wealth of people of color (Smith 1995).

This chapter provides measures of wealth and details about the distribution of wealth by race/ethnicity to shed light on these summary statistics and the postulated explanations for them. The first section includes measures of, and notes critical distinctions among, these rubrics. Surveys that collect the most commonly cited and readily accessible wealth data also are described in this section. The second section discusses wealth by race/ethnicity-both the frequency with which assets are held and the value of assets. Special emphasis is placed on housing, one of the most frequently held assets and the asset with the greatest value across racial/ethnic groups. The third major section raises issues that arise when measuring wealth and collecting data about it for people of color. The chapter concludes with a summary of its findings.

WEALTH MEASUREMENT

HOW WEALTH IS REPORTED

Gross personal wealth is reported as the gross value of all assets before reduction by the amount of debts. Net personal wealth (or net worth) is the level of wealth (or worth) after all debts have been removed from gross personal wealth (U.S. Census Bureau 1990). Wealth is commonly reported either aggregated for selected population subgroups or per household for each of these groups. Total, or...