Creating Generational Black Wealth
Generational Wealth refers to any kind of asset that families pass down to their children or grandchildren, whether in the form of cash, investments, funds, stocks, real estate, property or even companies. Baby Boomers hold most of the wealth in the United States. White and Asian Baby Boomers have the most wealth which they pass on to their descendants.
Historically, Black people have been excluded from wealth. We came to this hemisphere as currency for Europeans. We built this hemisphere with our blood, sweat and tears and yet we have never been able to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We are the only group of people who were not given land to settle and build communities. Even in Central America when we were given land, we were not given the resources to make communities, unlike the Spaniards, Portuguese and English who were given supplies and materials to make it happen.
The end of slavery was suppose to bring about the Independence of Black people and yet Jim Crow proved to be as cruel during reconstruction. Black people were arrested and forced to work on White plantation and farms. Instead of starting free with access to resources, the only option for Black people was debt. This debt would be generational and a debt that we could never pay, no matter how hard we worked.
The 20th Century brought World Wars and Black men and women served with other Americans. Black men and women risked their lives fighting for all Americans but were segregated and treated like second class citizens even in the military. They had access to the GI bill to get an education as well as adequate housing. However most Colleges and Universities that accepted the GI Bill didn't accept Black Veterans. Most communities where Black people were allowed to live could not be insured by the insurance companies and thus ineligible for loans from the bank excluding Black people from home ownership. Social Security was unavailable to farm and domestic workers.
Black people were the skilled labor on Plantations but when slavery ended, they were excluded from trade skills that taught special skills. They were relegated to physical labor, the lowest paying jobs. Black people had to fight to be clerks in stores. They could cook, clean and do all the jobs that White people didn't want to do. The middle of the 20th Century brought the Civil Rights Movement. Black people chose to fight for polices would bring equity. They fought for access to an equal education, proper housing, medical treatment as well as access to jobs which paid a decent living.
Dr. Martin Luther King understood the importance of economic equity and access to capital. He understood that Black people lived on an Island of Poverty in an ocean of prosperity. Whitney Young also championed Economic equality in industry and the government. Some gains were made in the later half of the 20th Century. The wealth gap has grown in the last 50 years.
Lower incomes and lack of savings have kept Black people from acquiring generational wealth. The structural barriers to Black Wealth continue to exist. Collectively we can overcome these barriers. We can educate each other to change our habits from spending to investing. We can demand that banks live up to the constitution and practice fair lending. We can educate each other on insurance, real estate, stocks, retirement plans and other financial instruments. We can move forward in a anti-black, hostile world by working together and lifting each other along the way. Welcome to Hitting the Money Spot and join us on our podcasts to create Black generational wealth which is the Civil Rights that our ancestors died for us to achieve.
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