Recently released census data shows
that the average net worth of whites is $113,149, compared to $6,325
for Latinos and $5,677 for Blacks. This gap, 20-1 and 18-1
respectively, represents a major increase in inequality, up from a
7-1 gap in 1995.
An expansion in home ownership over the
last decade buoyed the net worth of many Blacks and Latinos, but the
foreclosure crisis rapidly erased this progress. This shows that
predatory banks disproportionately targeted people of color.
The same data also reveals a more
general trend that threatens the entire working class: The wealthiest
10 percent of households saw their share of the country’s wealth
climb from 49 to 56 percent between 2005 and 2009. To prevent the
capitalist class from consuming a greater and greater share of the
wealth we create and mount a serious challenge to their criminal
system, working people of all nationalities need to stand together.
The basis of this unity must be militant opposition to racism.
