Why haven’t you taken advantage of all of the opportunities in America?
America has done a great job of selling the American dream to the world, especially Africans living in Africa. Because of the extravagant displays of wealth in movies and music videos, many Africans see America as an economic haven. Excelling Africans immigrants and those who come home flashing newly acquired wealth, some illegally attained, add fuel to the fire, raising Africans’ concerns about why African Americans continue to be the poorest racial group in America despite living in a country of tremendous wealth.
Many Africans many not realize that wealth in America is deeply generational and not necessarily a result of hard work and intelligence. Economists and historians say that most of the white institution wealth comes from profits reaped during slavery. This means that the back-breaking work of African-American slaves upholds an economic vitality of America though they have no access to it.
Moreover, while Black people never got their ‘Forty acres and a mule’ promised to them after the American Civil War, 1.6 million white people received more than 270 million acres of public land, or nearly 10% of the total area of the U.S., for free in the Homestead Acts of 1862. Homeowners is a huge asset class in the wealth of most Americans, something many African Americans were kept out of.
Land aside, institutional racism (listed in 1) continues to impede access to opportunities for many African Americans. Lack of exposure to other livelihoods and poverty mentality also means many African Americans get stuck in the cycle of poverty.
Just like Africa continues to be the poorest continent in the world though it’s the wealthiest in the world’s natural resources, so is true for African Americans in America. Hard work is important but a lot of our personal outcomes are determined by social factors we have no control over.
