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

by Thomas M. Shapiro

Over the past three decades, racial prejudice in America has declined significantly and many African American families have seen a steady rise in employment and annual income. But alongside these encouraging signs, Thomas Shapiro argues in The Hidden Cost of Being African American , fundamental levels of racial inequality persist, particularly in the area of asset accumulation--inheritance, savings accounts, stocks, bonds, home equity, and other investments. Shapiro reveals how the lack of these family assets 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.
Shapiro uses a combination of in-depth interviews with almost 200 families from Los Angeles, Boston, and St. Louis, and national survey data with 10,000 families to show how racial inequality is transmitted across generations. We see how those families with private wealth are able to move up from generation to generation, relocating to safer communities with better schools and passing along the accompanying advantages to their children. At the same time those without significant wealth remain trapped in communities that don't allow them to move up, no matter how hard they work. Shapiro challenges white middle class families to consider how the privileges that wealth brings not only improve their own chances but also hold back people who don't have them. This "wealthfare" is a legacy of inequality that, if unchanged, will project social injustice far into the future.
Showing that over half of black families fall below the asset poverty line at the beginning of the new century, The Hidden Cost of Being African American will challenge all Americans to reconsider what must be done to end racial inequality.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race, Sociology, Economics, Social Justice, African American, History

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 27, 2003

Reviews

[Savannah Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and eye opening.

[Andrea Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made many comparisons of African-American people to
Caucasian people as it related to family inheritance, demographics, jobs/careers & schools. With the couples the author interviewed, a few had the advantage of having help from family members (parents) as it relates to down payments on a house or paying private school tuition for the children where African-American people did not have that advantage in many cases. The reading did get rather repetitive for me though. I was truly expecting the author to cover how economics play a huge role as it relates to more African-Americans using check cashing business than other ethnicities (seemingly) & how ethnicity plays a role in determining higher interest rates for auto & home loans. The author did not really cover those topics.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering that this book was published in 2004 and pertains to monetary driven economics, it may be of little surprise that some of the information in this book may not have aged well. Certainly it is useful for historical research, but for anyone interested in racial disparity in the United States, specifically between white and black Americans, Ta-Nehesi Coates’s “The Case for Reparations” and Jeff Wang’s We Gon’ Be Alright provide more updated insight into contemporary forms of American segregation. Thomas Shapiro’s interviews, although sometimes redundant, do provide insight into discrepancies between inheritance and the American Dream of the self-made family, duplicitous racism, and how children play a role in shaping neighborhoods. As someone from the St. Louis area, I also resonate well with the fact that many of the interviews that appear in here, as uncomfortable as they can be, do relate to my region as this book provides additional insight into a pre-Ferguson StL. I’m also interested in how the contents of this book relate to the overall housing crash that took place about four years after publication. I don’t necessarily think this is a book that needs to be read cover to cover, but I think it is worth a skim.

[Shawn Love · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book to be a bit of a slow read due to the statistical nature of the writing. It was written about 20 years ago so one must constantly make mental notes throughout on the numbers; for example, most middle class families no longer make $30,000 a year and homes certainly don’t cost $150,000. However, all of this being said, the book helped me to see the other side of a point of view that I struggled to see before. In fact, after reading this book I would venture to say that it actually changed my mind on a number of things that I had previously thought. Overall, an eye opening read that helped me to understand why the wealth gap in America exists and steps that can be taken to address it.

[Kandace Greene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book last summer. Overall, I thought it was informative. It was interesting to read interviews from families of different backgrounds. The book does a great job outlining the different inheritance patterns for people of color versus patterns observed in white families.

One weakness, however, is that some of the information is obsolete. The economic details in the book reflect conditions prior to the 2008 recession.

[Larisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much truth here, from historical issues to present day decisions that reproduce inequality. This describes structural racism in a way that is clear and easy to understand.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decades after the civil rights movement, blacks continue to be disadvantaged with a lack of assets. This is systemic racism.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book lays out, with clear logic and compelling statistics, what everybody ought to realize if they thought about it for a moment: why racial inequality remains such a pernicious problem in American society. The title of the book says it all. White people in America pass on their wealth to their children—by bequeathing it to them, by gifting it to them, by paying for their college tuition, by helping them with down payments on houses. These are "head start assets," to use Shapiro's term; they are "transformative assets" that catapult people into higher socioeconomic levels than they would otherwise be able to attain. African Americans, shut out of the economic opportunities that produced the wealth that whites
are in the process of handing down (around $9 trillion), must make it on their income alone. There's an income gap between whites and blacks, but Shapiro argues convincingly that it's the assets gap that is even more crucial. Whites use their wealth to move to neighborhoods that are more homogeneously white (and thus more valuable than the homes that black people invest in, due to the racially slanted housing market in America) neighborhoods, which in turn are linked with schools, which in turn are linked with opportunity in society. Shapiro concludes with a chapter in which he lays out some sensible and creative ideas for reversing these trends and making the American dream more accessible to minorities. This was a great book.

[Alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shapiro's argument is convincing: while the gap between white and African American (AA) income wealth has narrowed considerably in the last 40 years, the gap in asset wealth persists, is growing, and serves to perpetuate institutional inequalities in housing and education. Honestly, I have absolutely no critique of his argument. You can see the results every day. Moreover, his use of interviews with relatively young parents serves as a great illustration of AA and white attitudes towards race, place, and educational options.

My criticism lies with how he reports his data. I may be missing something (and this is the public health person in me), but it would be nice to see a comprehensive accounting of his study sample. How were they recruited? How many were there, and what was their racial, educational, and class background? The information comes out piecemeal in each chapter, and I would really like to know how well this group corresponds to the census data he regularly cites as well. I don't distrust his data, I just wish it was a little more transparent.

[J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was assigned parts of this book to read, but I was so astounded by some of the things in it, I wound up finishing the whole thing. This sociological work presented an incredibly one sided argument with data tailored to fit the author's goals. Shapiro's main argument centers on the fact that wealth is inherited by white Americans from generation to generation. This wealth, according to Shapiro keeps many whites in the middle, and upper classes, while Blacks who do not have access to such large inherited wealth stay in the lower classes. Of course this argument has validity, but one must wonder how in the world recent immigrants for example from East Asia or Eastern Europe come to the United States virtually penniless, and are able within a number of years to live in the same "comfortable" middle and upper class areas as those who inherited wealth. Asian Americans and recent immigrants were not included in the data sample at all. They were barely mentioned. If they were, I think different conclusions might me drawn.

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I'm very sympathetic to the arguments made in the book, as a read, it misses the mark. The family interviews, while full of interesting anecdotes are not generalizable (in the social science sense), so they're not terribly useful for actual learning. More data would help, especially in regards how regressive tax structures (i.e sales tax and the Social Security tax) take disproportionate amounts of lower-income households.

There are a handful of useful statistics, especially the part about inheritance.

The last third of the book focuses on education, but that was not the book's strengths. Shapiro lost his moorings there and the conclusion needs updating in 2012. Perhaps in 2004, this book meant more, but by 2012 not so much (but this is in no way the author's fault).

[Candelaria Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made plain things I've observed and lived through in terms of economic inequality. Among the issues it covers is: the long history of racism and discrimination that prevented Blacks from having certain jobs and educational opportunities and stymied our ability to acquire wealth; the fact that the Black middle class often has tremendous financial responsibilities for family members (children and parents); the fact that once a neighborhood goes over a certain percentage of Black people the housing stock goes down; the loans/gifts that many white parents are able to give to their children to help them buy a home or a better home, etc. Recommended.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting but way too academic for me to continue to read for fun. I think the author's central point is cogent: African American families don't often have the advantage of wealth passed down through generations and is a leading cause of racial inequality. The rest of the book is example after example, statistic after statistic, proving this point. A great and important work, but sadly I can't solider on with it.

[Lorette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very compelling book that uses quantifiable data to document how wealth, and thus class mobility and access, different from income, is transferred by families. Policies and history have benefited and favored some (middle, upper class White Americans) but not others (specifically, African Americans). The qualitative, personal narratives can be a little hard to take - so much unacknowledged entitlement.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to study some at the school where Mr. Shapiro taught and while I do not agree with him on the solution to the wealth gap the social commentary along the way was well worth the read.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look at the realities of the "American Dream" in a society whose history has significantly undercut any attempts of a true meritocracy due to unfair advantages passed on from generation to generation.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

crikey.

[Joe]

If you don't read this book, you will continue to be sleep at the wheel of Life!!!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great teaching tool. It hits home with middle class white kids who'd be hard pressed to answer the question of how they have benefited from racism in a meaningful way.

[Mscharlee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, its hard being black. The author nails it in your head until it gets maddening. Didn't finish this book. Got boring after awhile.

[Pieta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readable while being academic and eye-opening. Everyone should read this book.