Racial inequality and poverty have been the two of the most important challenges in modern times. Racial inequality can have a significant effect on the income in the US as it can be seen how various groups or individuals are stereotyped against and denied various positions that can create a large disparity in the general wealth and education of these ethnic and racial groups.
It is a well-known fact that health and prosperity is measured in terms of equality among the people and minimized level of poverty. Income inequality refers to the difference in level among individuals, class and wealth with respect to income, and poverty refers to a particular state or condition in which a person is very poor.
Income inequality deals with the difference in level among individuals. the US economy has seen increased overall income inequality over a past few decades. The difference between income inequality and wealth inequality is similar to the difference in the meaning of income and wealth that is income belongs to that money which comes in the form of wages and wealth means to whole money an individual has. The racial wealth gap between white and black American households has grown to be very wide. Racial Wealth gap means the inequality in the overall wealth of an individual because of his color. For example, not giving someone equal rights or wealth because one is black and giving an individual who is white more money and wealth is a racial wealth gap in the USA. One of the most important factors that has created wealth gap in most of the countries is the racial segregation.
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“The difference in the assets and debts of white and black families in the U.S. has been a persistent and pervasive problem. Nationally, white college graduates have more than seven times the wealth of black college graduates and four times the wealth of Latinx graduates, and white single parents have approximately twice the wealth of two-parent black and Latinx households (Anagha Komaragiri: Brookings)” Racial discrimination in America kept everyone else other than the White in slavery for few centuries thus depriving them of their fundamental rights to education, employment and other facilities. This time period is long enough to create wealth gap between the races. People of color were discriminated and limited to opportunities and facilities. Racial inequality or racial discrimination is very common in hiring and employment matters. Some employees may feel they are being discriminated because they belong to a particular race.
The causes of racial inequality may be racism, the discrimination against people who a certain group of people consider as different. It may also be as a result of favoritism. When the management or the employers may favor a certain group of people based on their race it may result in racial discrimination. By hiring a particular group of people, for instance, more favorably than others that may result in racial inequality. It may also be evident in matters of promotions. Increasing inequality shows poor human development and non-inclusive growth of economy. Hence it creates bad impact over the economy. With widening gaps of income poor get poorer and rich get richer to which share of resources are not distributed with equity. Not only it reduces development of human but also imposes several problems for government like providing more for social security programs, earning less taxes inducing less investment and lesser overall growth.
The racial wealth gap can be defined as the absolute difference in the wealth possessed by the median household among the group of the population belonging to different race and ethnicity. There are different long-term issues, the US economy can face when income inequality persists in the economy. The first issue is the growing level of poverty rates among the lower income class people, as rich people will become richer and poorer will become poorer in the US economy. It will create problems at a social level. The second issue is the creation of additional financial burden upon the resources to generate funds to run the social security programs, Medicaid, Medicare and other relief programs. It will cause economy to suffer.
If government takes more loans to finance it, then debt burden increases and makes future generations to suffer in the form of higher deductibles, higher tax and lower benefits. The third issue is the slower economic growth, because most of the funds will go for the consumption, and less of the funds will go to the capital formation. It will slow the economy and everyone in the economy will suffer. Institutional racism divides people into different groups and fills their brain with the idea of superiority or inferiority. Institutional racism is most difficult to counteract because most of the time it is disguised as positive action taken to help or uplift a particular group like a form of quota system. It is also most difficult to curb because most of the people involved in it are involved unknowingly and thus not able to think that they are doing something as bad as racism against a group and go with the flow.
School with racial discrimination do not help the student to come close and develops social skills and cultural values. Institutional racism also loses the trust of students over the educational system and increase the rate of dropout and stagnation. It also helps a particular group to develop supremacy and enjoy social privileges. Establishments were created that single out or hurt individuals of color. Jim Crow segregation laws are smart samples of institutional racism. In my opinion, every kind of social discrimination is bad for cultural and social developments. Races are a biological and sociological term and it should remain as it is, if we take it as the mean of social discrimination, it would negatively impact the social and educational structure.
Poverty distresses a society in more than one way. Poverty causes inequality and class division. Poverty is a condition in which people do not have enough income and resources to fulfill their most basic human needs. They cannot have clean water, healthy nutrition, access to basic healthcare, basic education, clothing and shelter to live. What it leads to is a lot of unrest in the society where people resort to a lot of unfair means to acquire resources to fulfill their basic human needs. We see thefts, kidnappings and murders in society. Since the people do not have access to basic healthcare, we see a lot of sick people in the society and we are a witness to a lot of unwarranted deaths in the society. People spend all their lives under deep depression.
“Black Americans are more than twice as likely as whites or Asian Americans to live in poverty. According to a report by the Brookings Institution, black Americans encounter inequalities in education, discrimination in the workplace, ineffective parenting, high incarceration rates, and more (Michael B. Sauter: USA today)” People do not have access to a good formal education as a result the literacy rate is very poor as a result people do not get jobs to have incomes which could take them out of poverty, and they could have access to their basic human needs. In a society where people are not poor there is a regular upliftment of economic system leading to better and better lives for people which unfortunately is not the case when people are poor. In a poor society people cannot help each other and they do not even trust each other. They do not have role models in the society whose footsteps they can follow.
What it all leads to is more and more determent only in the society where every day the standard of lives of people gets more and more worse. Poverty can have a very detrimental effect on societies limiting their economic and social upliftment and instead dragging them further into a state of extreme depression. Poverty is the worst form of illness & sickness which a society can have so it must do enough to make sure it is cured at the earliest. The productivity of a nation can only be effective if its entire people are living with sufficient resources for carrying out their personal basic need fulfillment. The development would never be done on the basis of few wealthy people. The economy of any country depends on the overall wealth of the people and if each person is economically in good condition the country would show growth naturally.
People are bound together ethnically by common ancestors and cultural background. Racial and ethnic groups are often minorities. The main characteristic that separates minority groups from other groups is a lack of power. There are all kinds of negative outcomes attached to inequality including poorer physical and mental health. There are many ways to improve racial inequality. Examples of improving racial inequalities would be to expand trade, replacing bonds of color, encouraging the free exchange of ideas, and giving no preferential treatment to any race and recognize no race-based group. In my opinion the best ways to reduce poverty are through education, raising the minimum wage, and social equality.
Education plays an important role as it puts people in positions to have better work opportunities. This also discourages participation in crime. As there is a clear linkage between education and poverty reduction, it often uses education for promoting economic growth. Raising the minimum wages for lower income group will help in reducing poverty and inequality in wealth distribution. When people experience equality, they can better contribute to society. Overall, societies can flourish if given the right opportunities and no preferential treatments. Love trumps hate. Being open and caring to each other’s differences will have a great impact in the generations to come. Inequality, slow by slow will become less and less with optimism and hope.
Works Cited
- Broyles, Michaela. “A Conversation about the Racial Wealth Gap-and How to Address It.” Brookings, Brookings, 18 June 2019, www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings- now/2019/06/18/a-conversation-about-the-racial-wealth-gap-and-how-to-address-it/.
- Sauter, Michael B. “Faces of Poverty: What Racial, Social Groups Are More Likely to Experience It?” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 10 Oct. 2018, www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2018/10/10/faces-poverty-social-racial- factors/37977173/.
- Fessler, Pam. “U.S. Census Bureau Reports Poverty Rate Down, But Millions Still Poor.” NPR, NPR, 10 Sept. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/09/10/759512938/u-s-census-bureau-reports- poverty-rate-down-but-millions-still-poor.
- Telford, Taylor. “Income Inequality in America Is the Highest It’s Been since Census Bureau Started Tracking It, Data Shows.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 26 Sept. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/09/26/income-inequality-america-highest-its- been-since-census-started-tracking-it-data-show/.
