The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality

by Thomas M. Shapiro

Overview

Thomas Shapiro reveals how the lack of family assets--inheritance, home equity, stocks, bonds, savings accounts, and other investments-- along with continuing racial discrimination in crucial areas like homeownership dramatically impact the everyday lives of many black families, reversing gains earned in schools and on jobs, and perpetuating the cycle of poverty in which far too many find themselves trapped.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199839650
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/05/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Thomas M. Shapiro is Pokross Chair of Law and Social Policy, Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University. Black Wealth/White Wealth, which he wrote in collaboration with Melvin Oliver, received wide spread acclaim and won several awards, including C. Wright Mills award, the American Sociological Association Distinguished Scholarly Award, and The Myers Center Award for Human Rights.

Table of Contents

Part I: Assets1. The Color of the Safety Net2. The Cost of Being Black and the Advantage of Being White3. Inheritance—"That Parent Thing"Part II: Making Racial Inequality4. Middle Class in Black and White: How Level is the Playing Field? 5. The Homeownership CrossroadPart III: Leveraging Assets6. Where People "Choose" to Live7. "Getting a Decent Middle Class American Education": Pursuing Advantage in SchoolsConclusionAppendix I: TablesAppendix II: MethodologyNotesBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"This book almost unerringly finds its mark."—Crisis

"Powerfully mixes poignant individual stories and moral outrage with clear statistical analyses and a strong exposition of a workable solution to continued, severe racial inequality."—Boston Globe

"How can disadvantage persist so long after most laws, minds and practices have changed? Shapiro argues in this sober and authoritative book that we should look to disparities of wealth for the answer.... Few of his proposals may be tried in the current political climate, where far more pressure goes toward abolishing inheritance taxes altogether. Yet by giving such a frank and probing appraisal of the long-term damage wrought by unequal wealth, Shapiro continues to press the case for resolving America's most stubborn and profound source of racial division."—Washington Post Book World

"With all the data Shapiro convincingly pulls together, this should be an essential document for policy groups and could reframe the debate around affirmative action and reparations."—Publishers Weekly

"An important book about the troubling and persistent disparities of wealth along racial lines. It deepens our critical understanding of how inherited wealth distorts real meritocracy and equal opportunity." —Bill Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins, co-authors of Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes

"Shapiro's book deserves attention for its focus on an enduring fissure in Americans' ideas about themselves. There were and are considerably fewer self-made men in the New World than the current mythology enumerates. Those who enjoyed success largely did so abetted by the sweated labor of those whom they owned or hired, not to mention their wives, who kept their homes clean and bore their children. Inequality was the favored few's leg-up on life. If that advantage persists, as Shapiro suggests it has, and if it is being replicated through generations, because of the financial advantages reaped by the founders of those generations, as he also suggests, then it is time to consider ways to redress the balance of inequality."—The New Leader

"This important book takes the critical next step in wealth research: Through intimate portraits of American families it shows how wealth matters. Shapiro convincingly demonstrates how parents use household wealth to foster advantage for their children—and how African Americans are at a distinct disadvantage in this game by virtue of a relative lack of family assets. Important reading for anyone interested in how race and class works in contemporary America." —Dalton Conley, author of Honky

"A great read and a remarkable advance in showing how assets take on profound importance in shaping racial inequality in America. With its masterful combination of indepth interviews and quantitative data, it will convince even the most skeptical reader that the playing field is far from level." —Mitchell Duneier, author of Sidewalk and Slim's Table: Race, Respectability, and Masculinity

"This insightful study adds to a growing body of research documenting that asset holding has important effects on well-being, independent of income. Shapiro explores complex relationships among race, home ownership, and educational opportunity. He assesses the cost of being black in these crucial interactions. He introduces the concept of transformative assets to describe inherited wealth that makes a difference in life chances. This book should be read by anyone concerned about race, wealth, and the future of America." —Michael Sherraden, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis

"Shapiro does an excellent job of showing the connections between racial inequality, opportunities, and family wealth."—Booklist

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