Attacking Asset Inequality Through Ownership

Either fireside chat or panel. “The equity of equity” might be a good title. Basic theme would be new strategies to build equity (wealth) in communities of color. After years of redlining that kept Blacks and other minorities out of owning homes in desirable areas; after years of banks declining to lend to minority-owned businesses in communities of color; after the enormous wage theft that was slavery; after the bombing of Tulsa, Black Wall Street; after years of organized theft of Black-owned property across the United States by unscrupulous speculators; it is time to find and fund new models that give low income people and especially people of color a chance to build wealth. We talk a lot about income inequality in this country — as we should — but much less about asset inequality. Yet it is the fact that so many families of color and low income families have no money in the bank (wealth) that is why they are just one medical bill away from losing their home or having to drop out of college. The good news? New models are coming online to promote wealth building in communities of color, mainly through building equity — equity in one’s home, or equity at one’s work. Our firm, Apis & Heritage, is leading the charge to build equity at work for workforces of color by transitioning privately held companies into 100% employee owned businesses; 60% of Black workers retire with ZERO savings and 75% of LatinX workers the same, but our workers will retire with something between $70- $120k in savings. Other cool models are helping communities of color buy homes and build wealth that way — see for example the Gary Community Investment “African American Home Ownership Facility,” inter alia. The Equity of Equity is the best way to attack intergenerational poverty and make the American Dream a real possibility for millions of currently marginalized workers and families.