It couldn’t have come at a worse time. After months of forced lockdowns and job losses, a sagging economy, an election year and decisive politics, another man was murdered by the state for the world to see. It shouldn’t surprise anyone then that the recipe was set for a collective anger like we haven’t seen in the US in almost 30 years.

For the most part, Cash Chronicles serves as a financial resource for people as well as a forum for sharing the challenges myself and many of us face when trying to make sense of markets and current events. Due to my aversion to overt politics on this blog, I find that I do have some conservative and Trump supporting readers and followers. I appreciate their readership and their participation and I can agree with them on many topics when it comes to policy and economics. It’s important to listen to different opinions and viewpoints because it informs you as well as helping sharpen your own insights.

This blog has also tended to skirt issues of race, which people who know me may find quite odd, as issues of race have either defined or been a defining part of much of my life. The reason for this is not because I feel discussing race would turn anyone away, but rather because I am a student of history and am tired of seeing it repeat itself. While dealing with a lot of the racial tension during my youth, I spent a lot of time studying the history of the US and the history of slavery, indentured servitude, discrimination and social movements within the country. The deeper my knowledge got and the more life experience I had, the more pessimistic I became. This pessimism grew out of reading and seeing first hand the cycle of oppression, violence, counter violence, segregation and prejudice that has been a constant cycle throughout US history dating back to long before the Civil War. I credit my teachers, even going back as young as third grade, who were both black, white and Latino with taking pains to educate us on discrimination, their own struggles and how history still affects the world we live in today.

Facing History and Being a Realist

Many of the issues we deal with today, police brutality, violence, poverty, segregation, discrimination, and the antagonism between races, grew directly out of policies and people who wanted to separate and exploit other people in the past. There are still some who want to do this in the present.

The first step in righting these wrongs is to acknowledge those things. Most of the time, we can’t even get a majority of people to get to that point. I believe this is because most people avoid overt discussions on issues uncomfortable for them and don’t have much experience with other races or cultures. Rather than feel uncomfortable and grow, they avoid and sidestep. This behavior allows them to maintain their current on issues of race and politics.

If many could make it to the second step, which would be to affect political change that would reverse or undo many of these policies, we may say start to see the changes many minorities have been demanding. This would involve changing indifferent cultures within government that encourage a closed rank, secretive nature and unaccountability like we see in many police forces by truly holding them accountable to the politicians that oversee their management. However, this would take not only knowledge and acknowledgement, but political will and belief in people’s own ability to change things. This is unfortunately something I think many do not have. Just look at the percentage of the population that votes. Even in the 2016 election, which was quite contentious, 40% of voters in the US didn’t even bother to show up and are likely indifferent to or dismayed by the political process.

The above is just in presidential election years, when there is no presidential election, voter turnout is even lower across all races. Add to this that minorities are underrepresented as eligible voters in addition to lower voting turnout as a percentage of the population and you can start to see why many feel their politicians, both local and national don’t represent their views.

Despite the fact that non-Hispanic whites account for about 60% of the population (or 72% for those that call themselves white) they are either over represented or at least slightly over represented as a share of those who voted while minority voters are underrepresented by as much as 33%. Mind you this is all post the civil rights struggle where racial power dynamics were explicit and politicians like George Wallace and Strom Thurmond were overtly hostile towards blacks voting and achieving any sort of equal and fair representation in society and the government.

A Simple Policy Change

Many people may claim that they haven’t had any part in racism or a racist system but there is evidence that many whites benefit from past systematic oppression through one thing: money and inheritance.

In the past, the destruction of black wealth and really any minority wealth, was policy of local and federal government. From restricting Chinese workers to railroad work to the destruction of black middle class communities like in the Tulsa Massacre to redlining of black communities for mortgages, there has been systematic exclusion from actively building wealth for much of the black community in the US.

The way this shows through today is through net worth broken down by race. Many are aware of the income disparity. Whites tend to make about 50% more than blacks on a household income basis.

The median Asian household also makes more than whites and you could argue in each case this is due to the proportion of each race that is educated and has completed a 4 year college degree. However that difference doesn’t explain the difference by race in net worth when you break down net worth by race and education.

How is it that a high school graduate who is white has a median net worth that is 10 times as high as an equivalently educated black household? Even at the college degree level, the wealth disparity is whites having almost 6 times the wealth of an equivalently educated black household.

The answer it seems, even proposed by the conservative Brookings Institution is that much of the white wealth is inherited, and this accounts for the majority of the difference. Even at the highest levels of income, this gap persists.

This gap has been persistent throughout the past as well.

Source: St. Louis Fed

If you think this is not the case, the Asian measurement should convince you. Even though the median Asian household makes more than the median white household, they still tend to have a lower net worth than white households.

The solution apart from reparations, which is politically contentious and can’t even be implemented (how do you decide who is a black American? Should Africans get it? Caribbeans? Afro-Latinos? Those that are mixed?), the simplest solution would be to tax inheritance more heavily to equal the playing field. However, the federal government currently doesn’t even tax anything under $11.4 million and even states that do tax it themselves do so lightly. It’s a simple, popular fix that could even the playing field for everyone, yet we don’t do it.

Reasons For Optimism

I could go on with more examples like these for days but that isn’t the point, if you would like to know then there are plenty of resources for that. Rather, despite all the tumult in the streets, hospitals and in our daily lives, there are some positives I think we can take away from all that has happened lately.

I notice there is a distinct difference in the type of riots and unrest that has broken out in the past few days compared to other protests and riots we have experienced in the past in the US, especially those related to race.

• The Rioters Are All Colors – I remember the riots after the Rodney King verdict and there was targeting by some rioters of random white people to take out their anger on, the most famous being Reginald Denny. However this time around many people of all races and ethnicities have joined the marches and the protests and there seems to be more of a general acknowledgement that there are people of all backgrounds who want to participate in standing up to oppression and brutality by the government. I think this bodes well for the future of the country, that more people are willing to work together for these end goals without it degenerating into the same exclusionary effort that just reinforces the separation and lack of empathy.
• The Media – I am often critical of the mainstream media as I think they are too sensationalist, skim over and omit info and misrepresent facts. However most of the national media I have been seeing and reading during this time have made more of a concerted effort to understand the frustrations of protesters and the tactics of the police. Many news outlets are also highlighting more of the positive from both the peaceful protesters and that some police that are taking a different approach and willing to engage more with the community they police by taking a knee or marching alongside the protesters.

A Reason to Worry

There is a Stronger Class Element – What is most unique to these riots across the US is that there seems to be an anti-elitism bend in them that is much stronger than the race riots in the past. Marches have led into Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills as well as other posh shopping districts in cities across the US. It seems that the resentment of the occupy Wall St. movement and the anger at elites still persists and has crossed racial lines. This should be a warning to those with privilege and with power, that people feel the system is unjust and not giving everyone a fair hand. More equality of opportunity should be on the minds of those making and proposing new policy.

My hope from this is that people wake up to these issues and start to support changes that acknowledge the past and make a more fair and just system for everyone. The change starts with each of us and we do have the power to enact it.

The information provided by www.cashchronicles.com is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered legal or financial advice. You should consult with an attorney or other professional to determine what may be best for your individual needs. www.cashchronicles.com does not make any guarantee or other promise as to any results that may be obtained from using our content. No one should make any tax or investment decision without first consulting his or her own financial advisor or accountant and conducting his or her own research and due diligence. To the maximum extent permitted by law, www.cashchronicles.com disclaims any and all liability in the event any information, commentary, analysis, opinions, advice and/or recommendations prove to be inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable, or result in any investment or other losses. Content contained on or made available through the website is not intended to and does not constitute legal advice or investment advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed. Your use of the information on the website or materials linked from the Web is at your own risk.