Black Wealth/White Wealth demonstrates how an analysis of private wealth uncovers a revealing story about race in America. An examination of how assets are created, expanded and preserved reveals a deep economic divide between blacks and whites. Charting the changing structure of inequality over many generations, the authors examine how and why many blacks have had difficulty accumulating wealth and opportunities for a better life. In combining quantitative data from over 12,000 households and interviews with a range of black and white families, the racial face of wealth in America is measured and conceptualized.
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Editorial Reviews
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"...challenges the assertions that the failure of black entrepreneurship is rooted in a poor work ethic and an inability to defer gratification. Oliver and Shapiro are not asking for 'special privileges' for black people. They are calling for a level playing field." -- Robin D.C. Kelley, Voice Literary Supplement
"...reveals for the first time the full economic damage caused by the special difficulties that blacks face.... These facts need to be publicized so that white Americans can be made aware of the extent to which the civil rights movement of the 1960s failed to achieve its goal of fairness for blacks." -- George M. Fredrickson, The New York Review of Books
"In Black Wealth/White Wealth," sociologists Melvin Oliver and Tom Shapiro documented the huge racial disparity in accumulated resources." -- Newsweek
"...reveals for the first time the full economic damage caused by the special difficulties that blacks face.... These facts need to be publicized so that white Americans can be made aware of the extent to which the civil rights movement of the 1960s failed to achieve its goal of fairness for blacks." -- George M. Fredrickson, The New York Review of Books
"In Black Wealth/White Wealth," sociologists Melvin Oliver and Tom Shapiro documented the huge racial disparity in accumulated resources." -- Newsweek
About the Author
Melvin L. Oliver is Vice-President of the Ford Foundation's Asset Building and Community Development Program. He is on leave from UCLA where he is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy. Thomas M. Shapiro is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Northeastern University. He is the author of Population Control Politics: Women, Sterilization, and Reproductive Choice.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Sound Attack on the Middle-Class Myth,
This review is from: Black Wealth/ White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality (Paperback)
The arguement that the past thirty years have resulted in a closing of the gap between whites and blacks seems untenable after reading this book. Using wealth instead of income as a measure of success and progress, Oliver and Shapiro argue that glaring inequalities still exist and may actually be growing. Moreover, since creating wealth is far more difficult when one has none to begin, the authors argue that such inequalities are sure to continue unless significant changes are made to the social safety net. These premises certainly call into question the notion of a vibrant black middle class.Overall, I found the book to be scholarly, yet accessible to those who don't hold a Ph.D. in research methodology. The information was nicely balanced; the interviews complemented the extensive survey data and everything was clearly presented. My only complaint is that the statistical information was not presented in the appendix with the tables. This would have been useful and meaningful to academics reading the book. That being said, the thesis is a profound one, and for all those with an interest in social equity and social policy this is a must-read.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Myth Buster,
This review is from: Black Wealth/ White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality (Paperback)
This was very well written and had an abundant series of examples to support the authors' main point--with references to government documents, tables, graphs. Oliver and Shapiro can be extremely repetitive in restating their thesis, but, overall, the book was very eye-opening and perhaps a little depressing.
You'd make it a point not invest the majority of your wealth in the home and car after reading this book.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
whether it is declining or increasing. While most recent analyses have concluded that contemporary class-based factors are most important in understanding the sources of continuing racial inequality, our focus on wealth sheds light on both the historical and the contemporary impacts not only of class but of race. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
racial wealth differences, median net financial assets, economic detour, wealth accumulation process, average black household, housing appreciation, black homeowners, housing inflation, housing equity, wealth portfolios, median net worth, black disadvantage, work stability, asset formation, denial rates, wealth assets, black wealth, wealth inequality, black households, wealth gap, wealth concentration, age squared Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, African Americans, United States, Federal Reserve, Los Angeles, Mary Ellen, American Dream, Basic Books, World War, Boston Globe, Bureau of the Census, Oxford University Press, Jim Crow, Census Bureau, The Rich Get Increasingly Richer, American Economic Review, American Journal of Sociology, Chicago Tribune, Government Printing Office, Privileged Class, University of California Press, Washington Post, Crabgrass Frontier, Edward Wolff, Ellis Cose New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
whether it is declining or increasing. While most recent analyses have concluded that contemporary class-based factors are most important in understanding the sources of continuing racial inequality, our focus on wealth sheds light on both the historical and the contemporary impacts not only of class but of race. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
racial wealth differences, median net financial assets, economic detour, wealth accumulation process, average black household, housing appreciation, black homeowners, housing inflation, housing equity, wealth portfolios, median net worth, black disadvantage, work stability, asset formation, denial rates, wealth assets, black wealth, wealth inequality, black households, wealth gap, wealth concentration, age squared Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, African Americans, United States, Federal Reserve, Los Angeles, Mary Ellen, American Dream, Basic Books, World War, Boston Globe, Bureau of the Census, Oxford University Press, Jim Crow, Census Bureau, The Rich Get Increasingly Richer, American Economic Review, American Journal of Sociology, Chicago Tribune, Government Printing Office, Privileged Class, University of California Press, Washington Post, Crabgrass Frontier, Edward Wolff, Ellis Cose New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 95
books:
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29
books
cite this book:
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- Shadows Of Race And Class by Raymond Franklin on 6 pages
- The Rage of a Privileged Class: Why Are Middle-Class Blacks Angry? Why Should America Care? by Ellis Cose on 5 pages
- American Apartheid by Nancy A. Denton on 5 pages
- The New Black Middle Class by Bart Landry on 4 pages
- Living with Racism: The Black Middle-Class Experience by Joe R. Feagin on 4 pages
See all 95 books this book cites
- The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt by Teresa A. Sullivan in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Race and the Invisible Hand: How White Networks Exclude Black Men from Blue-Collar Jobs (George Gund Foundation Book in African American Studies) by Deirdre A. Royster in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Dimensions of Black Conservatism in the U.S.: Made in America by Gayle T. Tate on page 98
- Cultural Sociology in Practice (21st Century Sociology) by Laura Desfor Edles in Back Matter
- When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson in Back Matter
See all 29 books citing this book
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