Pioneers of the African American Dream
Although the recent Pew report on America’s racial groups provided a stark picture of the wide chasm in the net worth deterioration among the USA’s major racial groups (see my last post here), another study indicates that African-Americans and Latinos have not become pessimistic. Despite the 53 percent drop in the median black household’s wealth and the 66 percent collapse in Latino household net worth, these two demographic groups have not shown a similar nosedive in optimism.
White Americans, on the other hand, have suffered less erosion in household wealth but report a deeper sense of economic dissatisfaction. Despite losing 16 percent in net worth, 57 percent of whites report they are “very dissatisfied” with the national economic picture. read more
After recent indications and trends regarding the “Hispanization” of the United States, much of the vaunted economic gains made byLatino Americans have been vaporized by the most severe economic downturn the US has seen since the late 1920s. According to a US Census data-based study conducted by the Pew Research Center, Latino households’ median wealth fell by 66 percent from 2005 to 2009. Household wealth is defined as assets like houses, cars, savings deposits, and equities minus debts likes credit card debt, student loans, car notes, and of course, mortgages.
