Remaking the Economy: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap

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Many people speak these days of a racial reckoning. But a true reckoning requires a willingness to shake up the status quo. Both NPQ—in partnership with Prosperity Now—and Shelterforce each published multi-part article series on how to close the racial wealth gap. Here we have brought writers from both series to address the question: What must be done?

In this 90-minute in-depth webinar, jointly organized by NPQ and Shelterforce, four field leaders discuss central questions regarding economic justice, racial justice, and strategic approaches to closing the wealth gap.

Our panelists are:

Gary Cunningham, CEO of Prosperity Now, a national racial and economic justice nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C. Prosperity Now is invested in transforming our economy to work for everyone.

Jeremie Greer, co-founder and co-executive director of Liberation in a Generation, an organization incubated by PolicyLink, which is building the power of people of color to totally transform the economy.

john a. powell, director of the Othering & Belonging Institute and professor of law, African American, and ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Anne Price, president of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, which strives to shift power and agency in economic policy by centering those closest to the problems in developing solutions.

This webinar explores:

• What are the leading conventional approaches for addressing the racial wealth gap? Why do they fall short?
• What are ways in which wealth continues to be extracted from communities of color, further deepening the racial wealth divide?
• How do rising student and medical debt impact the racial wealth gap?
• How does the tax system affect the racial wealth gap?
• What is “targeted universalism”? How does it build on—and differ from—an equity approach?
• What would a “targeted universalist” approach to addressing the racial wealth gap look like?
• Does reducing the homeownership gap close the racial wealth gap? Why or why not?
• What are we learning in the field—from community development leaders and others—of how to build wealth in low-income and BIPOC communities?
• What is the role of reparations in addressing the racial wealth gap and setting the groundwork for a more just economy?

 

Articles featured in the webinar

Gary Cunningham, “Closing the Racial Wealth Divide—A Call for Strategic Thinking,” NPQ, January 12, 2022.

Jeremie Greer, “Wealth Building Won’t Work While Wealth Extraction Continues,” Shelterforce, February 14, 2022.

john a. powell, “Beyond Equity: Targeted Universalism and the Closing of the Racial Wealth Gap,” NPQ, January 19, 2022.

Anne Price, “Doing ‘The Right Thing’ Won’t Close the Racial Wealth Gap,” Shelterforce, February 8, 2022.

 

Additional Resources

Gary Cunningham, “Strengthening Our Identity: Rethinking the Path to Black Liberation,” NPQ, January 21, 2021.

Natasha Hicks, Fenaba Addo, and Anne Price, and William Darity, Jr., Still Running Up the Down Escalator: How Narratives Shape Our Understanding of Racial Wealth Inequality, Oakland, CA and Durham, NC: Insight Center for Community Economic Development and the Samuel Dubois Center on Social Equity, September 14, 2021.

Michael McAfee, “Toward Liberation: An Interview with Jeremie Greer on the Racial Equity Governing Agenda,” Oakland, CA: Policy Link, February 2, 2021.

Othering and Belonging Institute, Animated Explainer Video Series, Berkeley, CA: OBI, August 12, 2021.

john a. powell, “Bridging or Breaking? The Stories We Tell Will Create the Future We Inhabit,” Nonprofit Quarterly, winter 2019, pp. 36-39.

Anne Price, Don’t Fixate on the Racial Wealth Gap, Oakland, CA and New York, NY: Insight Center for Community Economic Development and the Roosevelt Institute, February 2020.

 

Series Links

NPQ-Prosperity Now series, The Promise of Targeted Universalism: Community Leaders Respond, January 12-March 2, 2022.

Shelterforce series, The Racial Wealth Gap—Moving to Systemic Solutions, February 7-April 4, 2022.