The Guardian, July 12, 2020: Opinion | The simplest way to close the racial wealth gap? Direct cash payments
In order to provide economic security for the formerly enslaved after the civil war, the Union memorably promised African Americans 40 acres and a mule. They never got it.
Today, African Americans collectively own just 4% of the nation’s total wealth. For the median Black family, that comes out to just 2% of what the median white family owns. For African Americans to own a share of the wealth proportionate to their 13% of the population, they would require another $10 trillion.
Never mind the mule.
