The Pathological African American Community Gets Worse

The wealth disparity between black and white families in the US is only a symptom of the worsening pathology within black communities. Thomas Shapiro at Brandeis released a study that followed 2,000 black and white families between 1983 and 2007 (PDF).

White families saw “dramatic growth” in their financial assets, from a median value of $22,000 in 1983 to $100,000 in 2007; black families experienced only the slightest growth in wealth during this same period, measured in 2007 dollars. This held true even at higher income levels. Middle-income whites, for instance, accumulated $74,000 in assets by 2007, as opposed to high-income black families, whose median assets totaled just $18,000 in 2007.

...the recession fell even more heavily on blacks, as the average black family has far more of its wealth wrapped up in a home. _NYT_via_ImpactLab

The Guardian newspaper also took a look at this issue:

A typical white family is now five times richer than its African-American counterpart of the same class, according to a report released today by Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

White families typically have assets worth $100,000 (£69,000), up from $22,000 in the mid-1980s. African-American families' assets stand at just $5,000, up from around $2,000.

A quarter of black families have no assets at all. The study monitored more than 2,000 families since 1984. _Guardian_via_NextBigFuture

How can one explain this disparity? You cannot explain it without looking at the rampant social pathology in the black community. Almost 50% of African American women have genital herpes, with rates of syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV also extraordinarily high among African Americans. About 70% of African American children are born out of wedlock -- a situation which correlates closely with higher poverty, drug abuse, and crime rates. Blacks occupy an inordinate number of prison cells across the country (and the developed world). Victimology and self-pity are almost ubiquitous among American blacks -- which helps to explain the huge African American vote percentage for Obama.

Ever since the Moynihan Report was released in 1965, there has been a rising awareness of the unbelievable levels of social pathology among American blacks. Unfortunately, the situation has gotten measurably worse over that time period -- largely due to US government policies that were supposed to improve the condition of blacks.

Although blacks are actually worse off than they were 5 years ago, large numbers of blacks report that they feel better off since Obama was elected. It should not likely take very long for such optimism to reverse, as the appalling truth about Obama's effect on the economy finally hits home.

When a semi-hermetic community is riven by social pathology and venereal disease, when its economic and social status is declining decade by decade (despite massive government programs specially designed to benefit them), and when this community can only succeed by the legal theft of assets from more productive citizens outside that community -- that community is in serious trouble, and needs a reality check.

But in today's politically correct environment that panders to underperforming groups, such a reality check is most unlikely.