Generational wealth. Ask yourself why there are so few entrepreneurs—of any race—who can take big risks without a family safety net to fall back on.
Now realize that slavery was only two generations ago, Jim Crow / legal segregation ended with this generation, and mass incarceration and systemic racism are ongoing.
And not just generational material wealth, but generational intellectual wealth as well. What % of black people have parents they can go to ask complex financial questions about investing, mortgages, loans, retirement, etc. vs white people? Or even just basic cooking/diet/physical health questions? People vastly underestimate the value of intellectual wealth passed from successful, educated parents to their offspring.
agreed, cultural and intellectual wealth is far more valuable than material wealth. Take the Jewish people for example, the reason they can go from one place to the other with no material wealth and still come out on top is probably due to their inherited cultural/intellectual wealth.
It seems to me that (non-black) Americans commonly overestimate the amount of time that’s passed since the end of slavery - there are still living children of slaves! [1]
Now realize that slavery was only two generations ago, Jim Crow / legal segregation ended with this generation, and mass incarceration and systemic racism are ongoing.