(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A new report examines a continuing — and very wide — racial gap between the haves and the have-nots in the Chicago area, with some startling numbers.
It's no surprise that white families in Chicago have a much higher net worth, on average, than non-white families, but a report titled “The Color of Wealth in Chicago” provides a detailed look at just how large that gap is.
Darrick Hamilton, whose Institute on Race Power and Political Economy compiled the report, said Chicago's white Families have the highest median net worth at $210,000. The study found that U.S.-born Mexican families had about $40,000. Hamilton, though, said Black families reported a median net worth of zero dollars.
“Some of the figures we uncovered in Chicago is that for the Black population in Chicago, they essentially have no wealth,” Hamilton said. “Once you net out the debt that they owe, they essentially have no wealth. It’s not as if the other communities of color are doing well either.”
Andrea Saenz, president of the Chicago Community Trust, said it's important to remember we're talking about families struggling to make ends meet.
“It’s about stepping back and looking at this pattern of: ‘Who has access and who has opportunity to build wealth and to build financial stability, and who in Chicago today still does not?’” Saenz said.
She said, sadly, it's been like that for years.
WBBM digs into the wealth gap — and ways to address it — on this week’s edition of “At Issue,” which airs Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.
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