essays on racial inequality

Diverging employment pathways among young adults 

Download the Data Appendix here

In this essay, we explore how wage and benefits pathways differ between Black, white, and Latino or Hispanic adults who experienced socioeconomic disadvantage in a dolescence. We find:

• Upward career mobility leads to higher wages for white adults than for Black and Latino or Hispanic adults. On average, Black and Latino or Hispanic adults in their respective highest-earning trajectory groups earn between 68% to 75% of the average annual earnings of white adults in the highest-earning group. In the second-highest-earning groups, Black and Latino or Hispanic adults also consistently earn less than white adults.
• Higher-earning groups had relatively high rates of military service, particularly among Black and Latino or Hispanic adults.
• Among the lowest earners, Black adults had the highest incarceration rates and white adults had the highest rates of work-limiting health conditions.

In a perfectly equitable society, race or ethnicity would not be systematically associated with advantage or disadvantage . But when we examine how employment pathways vary among Black, Latino or Hispanic, and white adults who experienced socioeconomic disadvantage in their teens, that is not what we find (nor is it what other researchers have found when examining economic mobility).

In fact, in Essay 3 of this series, we found that race and ethnicity play a role in predicting the outcomes experienced by these young people even when controlling for a host of other factors. Simply being white or Latino or Hispanic increases the probability of being in an upwardly mobile trajectory group compared to being Black. And as shown in this essay, the wages of Black and Latino or Hispanic adults in higher-earning trajectories are considerably lower than the wages of white adults in higher-earning trajectories.

Who is in the study population?

To identify adults who experienced socioeconomic disadvantage in adolescence, we assess whether they met any of the following criteria in their teens:

• Lived in a low-income family
• Neither parent had a postsecondary degree
• Mother was aged 19 years old or younger when her first child was born
• Family received public assistance

Anyone who met at least one of the above criteria is included in the analysis.

Early career mobility looks different for white young adults than for Black and Latino or Hispanic young adults

After running separate analyses by race/ethnicity, we find that each population falls into four trajectory groups with similar patterns. They all have one group with very low wages, little wage growth, and few benefits, and they all have three more groups with gradations of higher wages and steeper growth. But wage levels and the rates of growth vary substantially between racial/ethnic populations.

Indeed, economic mobility looks strikingly different depending on race and ethnicity. Among white people, every trajectory group at age 30 has higher earnings than the corresponding trajectory groups among Black and Latino or Hispanic people.

In the lowest-earning group, Group 1 , average annual wages are very low for everyone ($5,000 or less) and poverty rates are extremely high at age 30: 78% of Black people in this group live below the poverty line, as do 46% of Latino or Hispanic people and 42% of white people. Very few people of any race/ethnicity receive any employer-related benefits. More than one-quarter of the Black population falls into this group, compared to 19% of the white population and 15% of the Latino or Hispanic population.

Group 2 has relatively low earnings and sluggish growth for all races and ethnicities. At age 30, average annual earnings for White Group 2 are about $20,000, compared to $17,000 for Latino or Hispanic Group 2 and $14,000 for Black Group 2. Benefit levels are fairly low for everyone, but are slightly higher among white people. Among both Black and white young adults, Group 2 is the most common trajectory group, accounting for 34% of the Black population and 38% of the white population.

In the second-highest-earning group, Group 3 , white adults also have a substantial advantage. At age 30, their average annual earnings are $46,000, compared to about $30,000 among Black Group 3 and $35,000 among Latino or Hispanic Group 3. White Group 3 has a slightly higher benefits index (2.4) than Black Group 3 (1.9) and Latino or Hispanic Group 3 (2.0). (See Essay 2 for a description of the benefits index scoring.) This is the most populous group among Latino or Hispanic people, accounting for 41% of the population.

Economic mobility is greatest among Group 4 for all races/ethnicities we analyzed. It has the steepest wage growth and the highest earnings by age 30, but average annual earnings among Black Group 4 and Latino or Hispanic Group 4 at age 30 are $65,000 and $70,000 respectively, compared to $108,500 among White Group 4. Benefit levels at age 30 are fairly high for everyone. Relatively small shares of each race/ethnicity fall into this group: 9% of white adults, 11% of Black adults, and 15% of Latino or Hispanic adults.

The trajectories of all three populations reflect common patterns, but also differ in important ways

Despite their differences, the trajectories of the different racial/ethnic groups are all shaped by the same well-established labor market and societal patterns, and thus bear certain resemblances to each other. Indeed, they align with the patterns described in the second essay in this series, which reported on the analysis of the study population as a whole, not disaggregated by race/ethnicity.

We list these similarities below and refer you to Essay 2 for more detail:

• Adults who started with the fewest economic resources in adolescence struggle the most to achieve economic mobility.
• Poverty rates are extremely high for lower-earning trajectory groups.
• Those in higher-earning trajectory groups work more consistently, are more likely to work full time/year-round, and have higher education levels than lower-earning trajectory groups.
• Incarceration, work-limiting health conditions, teen parenthood, and disconnection from school and work are most common among the groups with the flattest earnings trajectories.
• Military experience and working in a job that is covered by a union contract are most common among the groups with the highest upward mobility.

However, beyond these similarities, trajectories for racial/ethnic groups also differ in important ways.

The racial wealth gap persists, even among those from disadvantaged backgrounds

Among all races/ethnicities, those in the higher-earning trajectories come from families with greater wealth than those in lower-earning trajectories. But wealth levels are higher among the white population at every earnings level. For example, median parental wealth among White Group 4 is approximately $114,000—about four times that of Latino or Hispanic Group 4 ($28,000) and three times of Black Group 4 ($36,000). These disparities apply in the lowest-earning groups as well, with median parental wealth at about $31,000 for White Group 1, $12,000 for Latino or Hispanic Group 1, and $6,000 for Black Group 1.

White and Latino or Hispanic women are disproportionately likely to be low earners compared to white and Latino or Hispanic men

About two-thirds of the members of White Group 1 and Latino or Hispanic Group 1 are women, and females account for decreasing shares of the trajectory groups as earnings rise. Only 17% of White Group 4 and 23% of Latino or Hispanic Group 4 is female. Gender segregation is not nearly as prominent among the Black trajectory groups, as women make up between 43% to 53% of each trajectory group. In fact, women are slightly underrepresented among the lowest Black earners, making up 43% of that group, compared to 49% of the study population as a whole.

Work-limiting health conditions are most common among white low earners

Among all races/ethnicities, work-limiting health conditions are more common among the lowest earners. But rates are highest among White Group 1 members, 28% of whom have a work-limiting health condition at age 27, compared to 18% of Black Group 1 members and 20% of Latino or Hispanic Group 1 members. Since survey respondents define “work-limiting health condition” for themselves, these conditions likely refer to a wide range of situations and problems.

Incarceration rates are high among all low earners, but particularly among Black people

Across races/ethnicities, a history of incarceration is much more common among Group 1 and 2 than the higher-earning groups. But among Black people, rates are very high: More than one-third of Black Group 1 members and 17% of Black Group 2 members have been incarcerated. Rates are lower (although still high) among the other lower-earning groups: More than 20% of both white and Latino Group 1 members have been incarcerated, as have about 15% for white members and 14% for Latino or Hispanic members of Group 2.

Military experience is most common among Black and Latino or Hispanic Group 4 members

The highest-earning groups among both Black and Latino or Hispanic people are disproportionately made up of those with military experience. Twenty percent of Black Group 4 and 17% of Latino or Hispanic Group 4 served in the military, compared to 5% of the Black study population and 7% of the Latino or Hispanic study population. Among Black Group 3 and Latino or Hispanic Group 3, about 8% and 9% percent have military experience, respectively. Among white individuals, about 11% of both Group 3 and 4 served in the military, relative to 7% of the white study population as a whole.

Among the highest earners, white people are more likely than Black and Latino or Hispanic people to work in construction and production occupations

Across all races/ethnicities, members of higher-earning trajectories are more likely to work in management and professional jobs. By age 30, approximately 40% of Black Group 4, white Group 4, and Latino or Hispanic Group 4 are in these roles. White Group 4 also has high shares of workers in construction, production, and transportation at age 30 (39%)—considerably higher than Latino or Hispanic Group 4 (29%) and Black Group 4 (23%). Similarly, members of lower-earning trajectories are much more likely to work in service occupations. Notably, Black Group 1 has substantially higher shares of members in service occupations at age 30 (55%) than other trajectories and other racial/ethnic groups.

Too many young people are falling behind in the transition to adulthood. This is true for every race and ethnicity. But notable differences between groups point to stressors and barriers affecting some more than others.

The high incarceration rates among Black people in our analysis reflect the higher rates of surveillance and racial bias in law enforcement and sentencing that Black communities face. This sets off a deeply negative spiral —damaging future employment prospects for those with a criminal record, disrupting family and community bonds, and increasing the likelihood of future criminal justice involvement.

The prevalence of work-limiting health conditions among the lowest earners (particularly among white people) tracks with other research on the potential causes of declining labor force participation . Most notably, researchers Anne Case and Angus Deaton found an increase in sickness and death among white people with a high school diploma or less. Subsequently, they linked this declining health with the cumulative disadvantages experienced by white people with less than a college degree as the economy and labor market have shifted.

The military, by contrast, appears to play a disproportionately positive role in the economic prospects of Black and Latino or Hispanic individuals. This aligns with the argument that the military provides a path to socioeconomic advancement for people of color and people from low-income backgrounds. Of course, fighting racism in the ranks is an ongoing concern . And others critique the military as a route for social mobility, arguing that its recruitment efforts disproportionately target high schools with student bodies that are predominantly low-income, Black, or Latino or Hispanic —trading on these groups’ more constrained postsecondary opportunities.

Lastly, although this analysis did not address racial discrimination in the labor market, our findings are consistent with research findings on discrimination. For example, job seekers with stereotypically “Black” names on their resume are less likely than those with “white” names to get callbacks from employers, even when they have similar qualifications. Other research makes it clear that Black and Latino or Hispanic workers face undeniable discrimination in the labor market, noting that the “magnitude and consistency of discrimination” in hiring is a “sobering counterpoint” to more optimistic assessments about the declining significance of race. In addition to hiring, racial discrimination manifests itself in the assignments workers are given and the ways their performance is judged and rewarded, which in turn affects career progression . Thus, the lower payoffs people of color experience reflect racism at every stage in the pathway to higher mobility.

Essay 1: Defining socioeconomic disadvantage and identifying employment trajectories

Essay 2: Less than half of adults from disadvantaged backgrounds attain decent wages by age 30

Essay 3: Race, gender, and other factors affect earnings and benefits

Essay 4: Women are more likely than men to be in lower-earning pathways

Essay 6: Policy ideas to expand economic opportunities for young adults

About the Authors

Martha ross, senior fellow – brookings metro, gabriel piña, research scientist ii – child trends, kristin anderson moore, senior scholar and past president – child trends, jessica warren, senior research analyst – child trends, nicole bateman, former senior research analyst – brookings metro.

• Advanced Search
• by Research Center
• by Document Type
• Users by Expertise
• Users by Department
• Users by Name
• Latest Additions

Information

• -->Main Page
• Getting Started
• Submitting Your ETD
• Repository Policies

This dissertation seeks to understand the role of public policies in shaping long-run neighborhood outcomes, with a specific focus on understanding the relationship between private markets, government, and race at key points in American history. In particular, this dissertation explores controversial government programs such as the federal urban renewal and slum clearance program established by the Housing Act of 1949 and the development of residential security maps (more commonly referred to as redlining maps) by the Home Owners Loan Corporation in the 1930s. In addition, this dissertation looks at modern-day disparities in debt collection judgments across white and black neighborhoods.

Available Versions of this Item

• Essays about Race, Discrimination, and Inequality. (deposited 08 Jun 2020 16:36) [Currently Displayed]

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Plum analytics, actions (login required).

This site is hosted by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program

The ULS Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing fosters and supports new modes of publishing and information-sharing among researchers.

The University of Pittsburgh and D-Scholarship@Pitt support Open Access to research.

Connect with us

Send comments or questions.

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Racial inequality in the united states.

By: Counselor for Racial Equity Janis Bowdler and Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Benjamin Harris  

Racial inequality is the unequal distribution of resources, power, and economic opportunity across race in a society. While the discussion of racial inequality in the United States is often focused on economic inequality, racial inequality also manifests itself in a multitude of ways that alone and together impact the well-being of all Americans. This includes racial disparities in wealth, education, employment, housing, mobility, health, rates of incarceration, and more. 1

In her January 2022 remarks at the 2022 ‘Virtual Davos Agenda’ hosted by the World Economic Forum, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen stated, “A country’s long-term growth potential depends on the size of its labor force, the productivity of its workers, the renewability of its resources, and the stability of its political systems.” This concept underpins the Biden Administration’s economic growth strategy, which Secretary Yellen has coined “modern supply side economics.” According to Secretary Yellen, modern supply side economics “prioritizes labor supply, human capital, R&D, and investments in a sustainable environment. These focus areas are all aimed at increasing economic growth and addressing longer-term structural problems, particularly inequality.” 2  This reflects a recognition that despite an aim to advance economic growth, many policies in areas such as access to the labor market, housing, and infrastructure have not benefited all Americans. This has impacted the ability of communities of color, rural communities, and other historically marginalized people to fully participate in and benefit from the nation’s prosperity. Our economy as a whole cannot be as productive as possible unless all individuals are given the opportunity to be as productive as possible. As a result, the legacies of structural racism continue to hamper economic growth for everyone. Furthermore, some economic policies that would directly benefit Americans of all races and ethnicities have been undermined by zero-sum arguments that play to fears that one group will benefit at the expense of another. 

There are, of course, moral, legal, microeconomic, and other reasons to promote a more just and equitable society. In a series of blog posts over the coming months, we will focus on the economic argument for reducing racial inequality. The economic cost of racial inequality is borne not just by the individuals directly faced with limited opportunities, but also has spillovers to the entire U.S. economy. Especially as the country becomes more racially diverse (see Figure 1), inequality poses an ongoing threat to our individual and collective economic welfare.  

Figure 1: Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of the U.S. Population

Notes: Hispanic refers to anyone of Hispanic ethnicity, regardless of race. The remaining groups exclude anyone of Hispanic ethnicity. Prior to the 1980 decennial census, individuals were not directly asked about whether they were of Hispanic origins. For data before the 1980 decennial census, Hispanic is imputed by IPUMS.  Source: Treasury calculations using U.S. Census Bureau data from IPUMS. Steven Ruggles, Sarah Flood, Sophia Foster, Ronald Goeken, Jose Pacas, Megan Schouweiler and Matthew Sobek. IPUMS USA: Version 11.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2021. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V11.0  

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo emphasized this argument in his September 2021 blog post: “The exclusion of communities of color from the ladder of economic opportunity holds back economic growth for the entire country. Pursuing racial equity is a vital opportunity to drive innovation and boost growth across the U.S. economy.” 3  When people gain access to the resources they need to build their economic future and withstand financial shocks, it is not just good for individuals and their families, but it also benefits the communities where they live, work, and invest, with beneficial spillovers to the economy as a whole. Likewise, when investments are made that allow millions of people who have been held back economically to reach their full economic potential, it gives the United States an important advantage in an increasingly competitive global economy. We cannot afford to leave talent and opportunity on the table.

Below we briefly discuss the origins and persistence of inequality in the United States, highlight some of the key economic indicators of its impact, and give an overview of the issues we will explore in more depth in future posts.

Origins and Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States

Racial inequality in the United States today is rooted in longstanding behaviors, beliefs, and public and private policies that resulted in the appropriation of the physical, financial, labor, and other resources of non-white people. While a review of the origins of racial inequity is beyond the scope of this blog, it is important to note the prominent role of inequitable and harmful policies—dating back to before the country’s founding. These include attacks on Native Americans’ political status and expropriation of their land, the reliance on slavery to underpin a significant portion of the colonial and then U.S. economy, and the Jim Crow laws and other formal and informal policies that enforced segregation and severely limited opportunities for non-white Americans. The millions of African Americans who left the southern United States to escape Jim Crow laws faced formal and informal employment, housing, and educational discrimination in destination cities in the North and West. 4  Native Americans who survived the military conquests of the mid-19th century were subject to policies that disenfranchised them, forced their assimilation and relocation, and removed Native children from their households. Anti-Latino sentiment, which grew in the 19th century as emigration from Mexico to the United States increased in the years following the Mexican-American War, grew further following the Great Depression due to concerns that Mexican Americans were taking jobs from European-Americans. 5  Similarly, anti-Asian sentiment grew following the arrival of Chinese immigrants during the California Gold Rush, which was manifested in the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibiting the immigration of Chinese laborers beginning in 1882, and was ignited again after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, with the establishment of Japanese internment camps by executive order, which resulted in the forced relocation and internment of about 120,000 Japanese Americans. 6

While the most targeted racist laws and policies have been repealed or otherwise abandoned, subsequent policies, uneven enforcement of equal protections, and a failure to invest in individuals harmed by de jure and de facto discrimination has resulted in vastly limited opportunities and stark inequities between white and non-white Americans that have continued to this day. For example, maps drawn by the Home Owners Loan Corporation, a now defunct federal agency, to portray the relative riskiness of lending across neighborhoods in the 1930s were used by banks to deny access to credit to residents of the lowest-rated neighborhoods, who were often racial and ethnic minorities, though these policies also hurt poor white individuals. 7  Moreover, this conduct depressed home ownership rates, house values, and rents and increased racial segregation in low-rated neighborhoods in subsequent decades, highlighting the lasting, negative economic consequences of racism on the community and on future residents of these neighborhoods, regardless of race. 8   These and other policies and actions not only led to continued racial disparities in access to resources and opportunities, they also led to differences in the extent to which people of different races benefit from the resources and opportunities they already possess. 9

These disparities are evident in the persistent over-representation of Black and Hispanic Americans among the population in poverty in the United States and in the widening of the racial wealth gap in recent decades. 10   While the poverty rates for all racial and ethnic groups had been declining prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (see Figure 2), the gaps between the rates for Black and Hispanic Americans and non-Hispanic white Americans has remained relatively constant since the early 2000s. At the same time, the gap in average net wealth between Black and Hispanic households and non-Hispanic white households has widened significantly (see Figure 3).

Figure 2. Poverty Rate by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2019

Figure 3. Household Net Worth by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1989 to 2019

Source: Federal Reserve Board, https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/wealth-inequality-and-the-racial-wealth-gap-20211022.htm  

Racial disparities in outcomes predictive of future success appear early in life. In 2010, math skills at kindergarten entry were over half a standard deviation higher for white students than for Black or Hispanic students, with similar disparities in reading skills. 11  These disparities in educational outcomes continue into higher education. In 2019, 40 percent of white adults had earned a bachelor’s degree compared to just 26, 19, and 17 percent of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native adults, respectively. 12

Large educational disparities, coupled with racial discrimination in the labor market and other factors, lead to pronounced differences in economic security across racial groups. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent for both Black and American Indian or Alaska Native adults, compared to just 3.3 and 2.7 percent for white and Asian adults, respectively. Similarly, the rate for Hispanic adults was 4.3 percent and only 3.5 percent for non-Hispanics. 13

In addition, Black and Hispanic adults continue to have considerably lower earnings than White or Asian adults. Median household income in 2020 was roughly $46,000 and $55,500 for Black and Hispanic workers, respectively, compared to $75,000 and $95,000 for white and Asian households, as shown in Figure 4. These earnings differences have changed little since 1970 and are one of the primary contributors to the persistence of the racial wealth gap. In 2019, the median white family had $184,000 in family wealth compared to just $23,000 and $38,000 for the median Black and Hispanic families, respectively. 14

Racial disparities in educational and economic outcomes not only impact the economic well-being of racial and ethnic minorities, they have also been shown to inhibit economic growth for the U.S. economy as a whole, which affects the economic security of every American, regardless of race. For example, recent research by economists Chang-Tai Hsieh, Erik Hurst, Charles I. Jones, and Peter J. Klenow shows that up to 40 percent of growth in U.S. GDP per capita between 1960 and 2010 can be attributed to increases in the shares of women and Black men working in highly skilled occupations, likely due to changes in social norms that previously hindered talented women and Black men from pursuing their comparative advantage. 15  This research suggests that sexist and racist social norms prevented the U.S. economy from reaching its full potential and that working to ensure that every American has an equal opportunity to pursue the career he or she chooses should improve economic outcomes for all.

Figure 4. Real Median Household Income by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1967 to 2020

Racial gaps in well-being extend beyond educational attainment and economic security. Health disparities, for example, also begin early in life and persist over the lifespan. Black and Hispanic Americans face higher rates of child abuse, 16  lead exposure, 17  obesity in childhood, 18  and chronic illness in adulthood than white Americans. 19  These groups often experience restricted access to quality health care, an issue further illuminated by the recent global pandemic. Compared to white non-Hispanic Americans, Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native non-Hispanic Americans are 1.8, 1.7, and 2.1 times more likely to die from COVID-19. 20   Moreover, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, the inequitable distribution of healthcare in the United States can negatively impact the health of all Americans, including those with access to high-quality services.

In addition, people of color in the United States are over-represented in neighborhoods with high poverty rates. In 2019, nearly a quarter of American Indians or Alaska Natives, 21 percent of non-Hispanic Black people, and 17 percent of Hispanic people lived in high-poverty neighborhoods, defined as Census tracts with a poverty rate of 30 percent or higher. In contrast, only 4 percent and 6 percent of white and Asian or Pacific Islander people lived in high-poverty neighborhoods. 21  High-poverty neighborhoods often lack vital resources and amenities like good schools, large and affordable grocery stores, reliable public transportation, and safe and clean community spaces that enable residents to succeed in the classroom and on the job.

It is important to note that while we have reliable measures and data sources to define the differences in many outcomes between racial and ethnic groups over the past forty years, our ability to trace racial inequality back further and examine the country’s progress since the end of slavery is limited by the quality and quantity of data available. For example, greater disparities exist within the Asian American and Pacific Islander group than are often evident in aggregate data, and data on Native communities in the United States is usually inadequate for any in depth analyses. Moreover, for some outcomes such as wealth, our ability to measure contemporary differences is also limited by data availability.

Roadmap for this Blog Series

Upcoming posts will discuss in greater depth the extent of racial inequality in economic security and explain how differences in in educational opportunity and attainment, neighborhoods and environmental factors, health and access to healthcare, and employment and job quality, contribute to and are caused by the persistence of racial disparities in economic well-being. Each post will highlight important facts, discuss how key outcomes have evolved over time, and emphasize the connections with other components of economic inequality, with the goal of calling attention to areas where more work is needed to advance racial equity. In addition, we will discuss issues related to data quality and coverage that affect our ability to truly understand the trajectory of racial inequality in the United States.

[1] Shapiro, Thomas M. The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

[2] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0565

[3] https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/American-Rescue-Plan-Centering-Equity-in-Policymaking.pdf

[4] Derenoncourt, Ellora. 2022. “Can You Move to Opportunity? Evidence from the Great Migration.” American Economic Review 11 (2): 369-408.

[5] https://www.history.com/news/the-brutal-history-of-anti-latino-discrimination-in-america

[6] https://www.britannica.com/event/Japanese-American-internment. For additional details on the economic impacts of inequitable government policy, see:

• Aaronson, Daniel, Daniel Hartley, and Bhashkar Mazumder. 2021. “The Effects of the 1930s HOLC ‘Redlining’ Maps.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 13 (4): 355-92.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., and Marianne H. Wanamaker. 2017. “Separate and Unequal in the Labor Market: Human Capital and the Jim Crow Wage Gap.” Journal of Labor Economics 35 (3): 655-696.
• Jones, Maggie E.C. 2021. “The Intergenerational Legacy of Indian Residential Schools.” Unpublished working paper. Available at: https://maggieecjones.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/intergenerationalrs.pdf
• Rothstein, Richard. The color of law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America . Liveright Publishing, 2017.

[7] https://www.britannica.com/topic/redlining

[8] Aaronson, Daniel, Daniel Hartley, and Bhashkar Mazumder. 2021. “The Effects of the 1930s HOLC ‘Redlining’ Maps.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 13 (4): 355-92.

[9] Pfeffer, Fabian T., and Alexandra Killewald. 2018. “Generations of Advantage: Multigenerational Correlations in Family Wealth.” Social Forces 96 (4): 1411-42.

[10] Wealth is the total financial value of what an individual or household owns (assets) minus all debts (liabilities), representing the sum of financial resources available to an individual or household at a point in time. Assets include the value of a home, retirement savings, stocks, bonds, money in the bank, and other items of value, while liabilities include home mortgages, auto loans, credit card debt, and student debt. The racial wealth gap is the difference in wealth held by different racial and ethnic groups.

[11] Reardon, Sean F., and Ximena A. Portilla. 2016. “Recent Trends in Income, Racial, and Ethnic School Readiness Gaps at Kindergarten Entry.” AERA Open 2(3): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416657343.

[12] https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_104.10.asp

[13] https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/race-and-ethnicity/2019/home.htm

[14] https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2020/december/has-wealth-inequality-changed-over-time-key-statistics

[15] Hsieh, Chang-Tai, Erik Hurst, Charles I. Jones, and Peter J. Klenow. 2019. “The Allocation of Talent and U.S. Growth.” Econometrica , 87 (5): 1439-1474.

[16] Dakil, Suzanne R., Matthew Cox, Hua Lin, and Glenn Flores. “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in    Physical Abuse Reporting and Child Protective Services Interventions in the United States.” Journal of the National Medical Association 103(9-10): 926-931.

[17] Teye, Simisola O., Jeff D. Yanosky, Yendelea Cuffee, Xingran Weng, Raffy Luquis, Elana Farace, and Li Wang. 2021. “Exploring Persistent Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Lead Exposure among American Children Aged 1-5 Years: Results from NHANES 1999-2016.” International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 94: 723-730.

[18] Anderson, Sarah E., and Robert C. Whitaker. 2009. “Prevalence of Obesity Among US Preschool Children in Different Racial and Ethnic Groups.” Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 163(4):344–348. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.18

[19] Quiñones, Ana R., Anda Botoseneanu, Sheila Markwardt, Corey L. Nagel, Jason T. Newsom, David A. Dorr, Heather G. Allore. 2019. “Racial/Ethnic Differences in Multimorbidity Development and Chronic Disease Accumulation for Middle-Aged Adults.” PLoS ONE 14(6): e0218462. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218462

[20] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html

[21] https://nationalequityatlas.org/indicators/Neighborhood_poverty#/?geo=01000000000000000

Plagiarism checker

Writing help, paraphrasing tool, what is racial inequality.

• Discrimination , Economic Inequality , Inequality , Injustice , Prejudice And Discrimination , Racial Profiling , Social Inequality

How it works

Racial inequality is systematically different from racial discrimination and racism. Racial discrimination involves the treatment of racial inequality while racial inequality involves the consequences of inequality such as, income, education, health, etc. Racism often involves these two processes, but modern forms of racial inequality and discrimination are not necessarily the direct consequences of modern racism (Pager and Shepherd, 2008). Racist sociology studies that relationships between these three phenomena when, how, why and to what extent? In the post-civil rights era “open” racism is widely criticized, so one of the challenges facing social scientists is their more subtle, decentralized symptoms and persistence conceptualize and measure the social effects.

[image: ]If we take a look at the Black Wealth/ White Wealth it mostly provides a strong portrait of racial inequality based on an analysis of private wealth. For those who point out the growing black middle class as evidence of racial inequality, Black wealth/ White Fortune shows how to analyze assets and liabilities as well as the income you’ll find various stories. Authors Oliver and Shapiro conducted a comprehensive survey of the creation, expansion and preservation of physical assets revealing a sustained and serious economic gap between blacks and whites (Oliver, M.L., & Shapiro T.M., 1995)

In some ways, wealth is more important for our understanding to social inequality. Because wealth does generate income inequality in part depends on wealth inequality. Studies on racial inequalities have shown that most of the inequalities between African Americans and whites are due to discrimination against African Americans in wealth differences and access to wealth, especially housing. The gap between the rich and the poor has not yet been resolved. Raising children in a family of two parents does not make up for the gap between rich and poor people. Full time work does not eliminate the gap, or even using less money. It clearly seems as if nothing will offset the gap between the rich and the poor. (McGirt, Ellen.)

The consequences of racial disparities in 2011 were serious in the united states in 1967. Although you consider America as a racially discrimination and racially discriminatory, it has worsened in the region just three years after congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1967. However, in 2011 the income difference between back and white households increased to $8,000. This is more than 40% and the relationship between these two concepts is not wrong reducing racial discrimination. Till this day, it is unsure that the only way to get white support to promote advanced social policy is doubtful.

Another theory is that racial inequalities in the U.S criminal justice system are mainly due to racial inequalities in criminal petitions that must be passed a minimal judgment, resulting in imprisonment I think that there is a big racial difference. (Abrams, Abigail). Ending police racial profiling is essential to promote justice, equality, effective law enforcement and to execute mass sentences. Racial characterization perpetuates racial inequalities in the criminal justice by describing constitutional violations, unfairly monitoring, quoting, and arresting people of color.

Racial discrimination has been increasing in the United States, in addition to the harsh issues related to racial discrimination in law enforcement and criminal justice systems, the main issues related to inequalities and disparities are highlighted. Indicators can not determine the preservation and promotion of discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity and/or racial background. According to consumer finance survey, the average white family had a net worth of $13 per dollar held in average persons of color households in 2013.

Public debate focuses on racial inequality, but it is not a particularly useful argument. We need to give up the racial inequality vocabulary, but instead focus on ethnic refocusing. The idiom of racial reorganization not only helps to eliminate the notion of “whiteness” as a reference point for measuring formal equality, but also the stigma’s “often poor culture” prevents behavioral debates.

There are various ways to end racism one of them would be by promoting and defending human rights. Racism and discrimination in the united states will come to a potential stop, and distinguishing personal bias from institutionalized discrimination. It has been proven that the level of cultural change resulted to decrease in prejudice and discrimination since the part of the 20th century, also as the remaining importance of racial discrimination in the lives of people of color. People have suggested different ways of reducing or stopping prejudice and discrimination. For example: Increased multicultural education, reforms to the judicial system, and revolutionary cultural change. They also consider the statement that eliminating prejudice and racial inequality in the united states is impossible and unrealistic, too as the debate that eliminating racial inequalities is unnecessary.

Do you seem overwhelmed by all of this damaging and harmful prejudice, but unsure what to do about it? The good news is, while the extent of discrimination in America might be a huge problem, progress is likely, step-by-step and piece-by-piece, it has been suggested that we must profoundly study to stop this problem of racial inequities. But to begin we must really understand what racial discrimination truly is. Firstly, we must briefly examine how sociologists see discrimination so that way we’ll be able to consider ways that each of us will get to change it. Sociologists define discrimination in America as systemic it is embedded in every facet of our cultural facet of our cultural structure. This systemic discrimination is characterized by unfair enrichment of whites, unfair impoverishments of people of color, and the overall unfair system of resources across racial lines (wealth, safe space, education, political power and food, for example). Systemic racism is made up of racial ideologies and attitudes, including unconscious and implied things that might still be well-meaning. It constitutes the method that allows privileges and benefits to whites in the cost of others; the alienating racial cultural relations perpetuated by whites with racial world-views at stances of power (police and news media) are some. While people of color subordinated, oppressed, and marginalized by these forces.

[image: ]Racial inequalities or discrimination is clearly the domination of one race at another, which frequently results in favoritism and bias towards people from their race or ethnicity. Nowadays, the usage of the term “discrimination” does not well come under a single definition (Garner, Steve, 2009). As all of the above suggests, the prejudice and discrimination practices in all countries like race, sex, age, status and disability are growing. Despite these beliefs that discrimination is ending, statistics suggest that it is growing.

This change is alarming because it not in smaller amounts, rather it is quickly growing and in the near future, it has been anticipated that discrimination could continue to grow in the workplace. This is where discrimination is majorly experienced by two sorts of people females and those minorities. Women are normally treated differently than males (Hersh, 2007). Due to the fact that women are weaker that men they don’t get paid enough or as much as men would. Plus, they do easier duties. Besides these concepts they are treated different and not like equals.

Like mentioned before its all up to us to stop discrimination and restructure the system the way we would like, and to finally get the world we desire and demand, this history of this unfairness and uneven distribution of wealth in America is the history of discrimination – I would love to believe that its possible to put this to an end but unfortunately, it is impossible to separate these two. If we have the commitment to stopping discrimination and running towards racial justice and perhaps join programs that want to end racial profiling.

Nowadays it’s all about: color, race, religion or status. Many of us may not believe this is discrimination, but it is. Many people wish someone would just end all of this harsh treatment in the world, and many people in the past have attempted to put an end and, in some ways, we’ve improved, but it seems as if as time goes by racism has gotten worse. We are living in a time where forms of discrimination are seen everywhere and every second. Racial inequality, racial profiling and discrimination is like a disgusting illness, being passed down from generation to generation by evil racists. Unfortunately, most us can encounter discrimination and its effects can influence us on a daily. This racial attitude in the American system from the periods of slavery. Where Africans were supposed to be inferior to whites. Throughout history, the orientation of race and prejudice has evolved and produced some other meanings. Today we will see the destructive effects of racial inequality on people of color, also whites, “discrimination”, like other forms of oppression, is extremely harmful and violent.

Every year, Americans observe what they mostly glorify as the ending of racial inequality within “Black History Month.” students wonder and pondering how legalized discrimination would always have taken place in the land of supposed “freedom” and the “available”, some might understand that discrimination even exists – it has just changed into the label of “criminal” instead of “dark.” Mass incarceration has forced millions of black males into the job not similar to Jim Crow, where they are wrongfully excluded from incorporating into mainstream society.

The idea that race is a social construct has been widely accepted by scholars throughout history, and the belief in the domination of one race at another, which frequently results in favoritism and bias towards people from their race or ethnicity (Garner, steve, 2009). Another concept proposes that racial differences in the American criminal justice system is largely caused by racial imbalance in decisions to direct illegal suspects with offences involving the required minimum prison sentence, leading to large racial disparities in incarceration. (Rahavi and Starr) In the United States, there is a heritage of racial inequality formed by the enslavement of millions of colored people. During this period of slavery, terrorism and racial domination most dramatically manifested by lynching. This social movement of the 1950s and decades disputed the legality of some of these most prejudiced exercises and constructions that maintained racist domination. Consequently, this legacy of racial inequality has persisted, leaving us vulnerable to a range of problems that continue to reveal racial disparities along with injustice.

Stopping racial identification in policing is a major problem and can be crucial to promoting justice, equality and efficient enforcement and to once and for all end mass incarceration. Racial identification violates this law and preserves racial inequalities at the criminal justice system by unfairly subjecting nonwhites to police surveillance, references, and apprehensions.

Works Cited

• Abrams, Abigail. “Google gives $11.5 M to groups fighting racial inequality.” Fortune,Feb. 17,
• http//fortune.com/2017/02/23/google-racial-justice-groups/. Accessed 03 Apr. 2019.
• Blay, Zeba (26 August 2015). “Reverse Racism:’ 4 myths that need to stop.” Huffpost voices.
• Retrieved 28 Feb, 2016. Accessed Apr. 10 2019
• Garner, Steve (2009). Racisms: an introduction sage Accessed Apr. 10, 2019
• Jones, Joseph. “Talking the lead: Income inequality in America through Baltimore’s lens.”
• Forbes, Apr. 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/gradsoflife/2018/04.03/taking-the-lead-income-inequality-in -america-through-baltimores-lens/. Accessed 03 Apr. 2019
• Kramer, Mark. “Don’t CEOs Understand that racial inequality is bad for business?” Fortune,
• Oct. 2017 http:// fortune. Com/2017/ 10/02/corporate-diversity-fsg-policylink/. Accessed Apr. 19
• McGirt, Ellen. “The racial wealth gap is not going to improve.” Fortune, Feb. 2017,
• http://fortune.com/2017/02/06/the-racial-wealth-gap-is-not-going-to-improve/. Accessed 03 Apr. 2019
• Oliver, M.L & Shapiro, T.M (1995). Black wealth/white wealth: A new perspective on racial Inequality. Accessed 03 Apr. 2019.
• Ozimek, Adam. “No easy answer on racial inequality.” Forbes, Mar. 2018 Accessed 03/04/19
• Rehavi and Starr. “Racial disparity in federal criminal charging and its sentencing
• consequences.” Working paper series no. 12-002 (Univ. of Michigan Law & Economics, Empirical Legal studies center), 2012. Accessed 03 Apr. 19

The deadline is too short to read someone else's essay

Cite this page.

What is Racial Inequality?. (2019, Dec 26). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/what-is-racial-inequality/

"What is Racial Inequality?." PapersOwl.com , 26 Dec 2019, https://papersowl.com/examples/what-is-racial-inequality/

PapersOwl.com. (2019). What is Racial Inequality? . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/what-is-racial-inequality/ [Accessed: 22 Nov. 2023]

"What is Racial Inequality?." PapersOwl.com, Dec 26, 2019. Accessed November 22, 2023. https://papersowl.com/examples/what-is-racial-inequality/

"What is Racial Inequality?," PapersOwl.com , 26-Dec-2019. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/what-is-racial-inequality/. [Accessed: 22-Nov-2023]

PapersOwl.com. (2019). What is Racial Inequality? . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/what-is-racial-inequality/ [Accessed: 22-Nov-2023]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Make sure your essay is plagiarism-free or hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Plagiarized Text

Leave your email and we will send a sample to you., not finding what you need, search for essay samples now.

Having doubts about how to write your paper correctly?

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

Don't use plagiarized sources

Where do you want us to send this sample, attention this is just a sample..

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

An agenda for action: Reducing racial inequality in modern Britain

Phoebe Arslanagic-Wakefield, Steve Ballinger, Ryan Shorthouse, Sunder Katwala, Ioana Diac and Bartlomiej Staniszewski

August 2022

While there has been progress on racial equality in Britain in recent decades, there is still an unacceptable gap in the life chances and everyday experiences of people from different ethnic minority backgrounds.

Political debate on race in the UK today, however, is stuck and increasingly polarised – when it should be building support for ambitious, actionable policies that could meaningfully tackle racism and racial inequality.

This essay collection brings together a wide range of leading decision makers and opinion formers to share their constructive approaches to address racial disparities in modern Britain. The essays focus on three key areas: opportunities, justice, and belonging. We see it as a first step to developing a broad cross-ethnic and cross-party agenda for change to address racial inequality in our society.

Sign up here to receive news and bulletins

Please tick the box below if you consent to receiving our emails. We will never pass on your data to third parties.

We will never pass on your data to third parties.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Emily Taylor Communications Officer

[email protected] (+44) 7841419316

Bright Blue Ludgate House 107 – 111 Fleet Street London EC4A 2AB

Copyright © 2023. Bright Blue Campaign. Company Number: 7940506. Registered in England. View our Privacy Policy

• Who are Bright Blue
• Advisory Council
• Parliamentary supporters
• Themes & projects
• Bountiful economy
• Clean environment
• Rewarding work
• Empowering government
• Just institutions
• Connected communities
• Upcoming events
• 2023 Events
• 2022 Events
• 2021 Events
• 2020 Events
• 2019 Events
• 2018 Events
• 2017 Events
• 2016 Events
• 2015 Events
• 2014 Events
• Pre-2014 Events
• Party Conferences 2023
• Party Conferences 2022
• Party Conferences 2021
• Party Conferences 2020
• Party Conferences 2019
• Party Conferences 2018
• Party Conferences 2017
• Party Conferences 2016
• Party Conferences 2015
• Party Conferences 2014
• Centre Write blog
• Tamworth Prize
• In the news
• Press releases
• Intelligence