Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth, and Social Policy in America

by Dalton Conley

What is more important—race or class—in determining the socioeconomic success of the blacks and whites born since the civil rights triumphs of the 1960s? When compared to whites, African Americans complete less formal schooling, work fewer hours at a lower rate of pay and are more likely to give birth to a child out of wedlock and to rely on welfare. Are these differences attributable to race per se , or are they the result of differences in socioeconomic background between the two groups?

Being Black, Living in the Red demonstrates that many differences between blacks and whites stem not from race but from economic inequalities that have accumulated over the course of American history. Property ownership—as measured by net worth—reflects this legacy of economic oppression. The racial discrepancy in wealth holdings leads to advantages for whites in the form of better schools, more desirable residences, higher wages, and more opportunities to save, invest, and thereby further their economic advantages.

Dalton Conley shows how factoring parental wealth into a reconceptualization of class can lead to a different future for race policy in the United States. As it currently stands, affirmative action programs primarily address racial diversity in schooling and work—areas that Conley contends generate paradoxical results with respect to racial equity. Instead he suggests an affirmative action policy that fosters minority property accumulation, thereby encouraging long-term wealth equity, or one that—while continuing to address schooling and work—is based on social class as defined by family wealth levels rather than on race.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Race, African American, History, Politics

217 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting, if dry, look at the influence of wealth on educational, professional, family, and other sociological outcomes. Conflating income and wealth has long been a pet peeve of mine, so this book, which is principally focused on entangling these two things (the author focuses on racial differences, but the income/wealth distinction has other implications, too), resonated with me.

The most compelling finding is that after controlling for wealth levels, income is not significant in predicting educational outcomes, and that racial differences disappear completely. This research is the first chapter of the book, which I enjoyed immensely. The rest of the book wasn't as compelling to me--and I wondered about collinearity issues in his discussion of which types of assets influence outcomes (although possibly this is addressed in the footnotes, which I didn't go through in detail). As well, I thought the author's argument against individual retirement accounts--that they would limit workers' ability to bargain for wages--was very weak. There are reason to prefer pensions over individual accounts (not least that people tend to over-transact, and overpay for fund management), but workers' bargaining power is a function of labor market tightness/looseness, not the structure of retirement accounts.

The author introduces some interesting research on the influence of neighborhoods on family outcomes, and the urban/suburban distinction; however, these findings (of suburban neighborhoods being safer/whiter/higher-income) seem outdated now, 20 years later. This would be interesting to revisit.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a nutshell, this book is about the effect wealth (not just income) has in determining who will finish school, who will find steady work, and who will (or won't) be poor. It demonstrates how difficult it can be to determine causation, and to tease out the roles played by race or class. Sometimes the two are pretty damn near inextricably linked. Basically, the amount of wealth your parents have seems to be a pretty decent predictor of how much wealth you will have. (And black parents generally tend to have less wealth than white parents.) Hence, the cycle continues.

I wish I could do a longer review, but I have more books to read right now than I have time to read them. I'm barely keeping my head above water this semester.

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important. Formative. Any conversation that even glances at race in America without acknowledging the history and dynamics studied in this book is woefully lacking.

[Hibou le Literature Supporter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book about whether what we're talking about when we talk about race is class, or vice versa, with statistics you can delve into (or not). For me, the big draw is Conley's voice, how he's deeply sympathetic but also eager to find patterns, just or unjust that ripple through black communities in cities and suburbs. Citing studies and surveys and historical facts, he tackles the complexity of factors afflicting blacks when it comes to attaining income and wealth, the lack of intergenerational wealth, illiquid assets (equity in owning your house), and/or liquid assets (stocks and cash), the impact of being on welfare, teenage pregnancy, as well as cultural factors of peer pressure and single/two parent households. Is there hope at the end of the book? What does it mean to have a healthy strong economy (do we have to save everybody)? How can we help establish a real equality of opportunity? Maybe, we need some more Nixon, who pushed hard for affirmative action.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good primer for the position that the black-white differences in various social measures are driven by wealth differences between the two groups. The book suffers though from unconstrained theorizing.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye-opening statistics

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dalton Conley is part of the reason I'm pursuing a career in planning...his discussion of the relationship between race and class, and how people misunderstand each of them, is life-changing. He also discusses how parental education and assets so deeply affect the achievement potentials of their children. I found myself totally and utterly agreeing with everything he said.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad history of housing discrimination and social policy in the USA from Civil war to present times.