By Frank Holland Oct. 24, 2022
A new endeavor from JP Morgan Chase is trying to help close the racial wealth gap. The bank’s Advancing Black Wealth Tour, launched this spring, aims to give attendees the tools they need to manage their finances and build sustainable wealth — even with the threat of a possible recession on the horizon. … Collectively, the racial wealth gap is estimated to be at least $14 trillion, according to William A. Darity, Jr., director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University. The gap has grown from $11 trillion in 2020 due to the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. … JPMorgan’s Advancing Black Wealth Tour is part of a $30 billion, five-year commitment the bank made in 2020 to provide economic opportunities to Black and Latino communities. Other elements of its plans include expanding mortgage and banking access for those underserved communities. From October 2020 through the end of 2021, JPMorgan has deployed or committed more than $18 billion toward that goal. … Darity, who is also the founding director of the Research Network on Racial and Ethnic Inequality at Duke, said such business efforts so help the Black community but that fully closing the racial wealth gap requires a multi-faceted approach involving direct federal action.