The New York Times

By William Darity

April 30, 2021

Elimination of the wealth gap between Black and white Americans is a stated goal of President Biden and the Democratic Party. The gulf is enormous any way you look at it.

But depending on the measure you use, the chasm ranges from $54,700 a person to $280,300 a person. I believe the higher figure is the most appropriate one. That amounts to a total of $11.2 trillion — a figure that implies that incremental measures will not be sufficient to address the enormous racial wealth disparity.

Those numbers are derived from data compiled in the Federal Reserve’s 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances. The survey shows that the gap in wealth between Black and white Americans at the median — the middle household in each community — was $164,100. The median Black household was worth only $24,100; the median white household, $188,200.