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. This is is much higher than the 43 percent of Latinos thatregistered the same sentiment. Among blacks, the share of individuals reporting the same level of dissatisfaction is even lower – only 37 percent of blacks report this level of pessimism. The economic dissatisfaction survey was a joint project of the Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard University, and the Washington Post.
Analysts try to explain the large discrepancy between the amount of economic impact felt by a group and their economic outlook as one of expectations. One line of thinking argues that since white Americans have long been the beneficiary of America’s economic boom times, they have built up a high level of economic expectation. This sense of limitless expansion was shaken by the recent Great Recession. Also, the recent rise of Brazil and China in combination with the recent economic reversal has led many whites to wonder if the US has entered a stage of permanent decline.
African-Americans, on the other hand, have only begun to enjoy the full economic bounty America offers in the last few decades. Since many feel they started out way behind and only began to catch up recently, the recent decline was just a reminder that there was still a lot of ground to cover. Hence, expectations of struggle tempered by many years of denied opportunities leads to a more sanguine view of American economic prospects. Also, the election of Barack Obama gave many African-Americans cause for hope in an America that was changing for the better – and for good. Taken together, these factors, according to some analysts, give black Americans a brighter view of the future.
