想過沒有，萬一我們對種族、行為和人類發(fā)展進程的理解都是錯誤的呢？

最近有一份題為《白人的資產價值：理解種族財富差距》的報告發(fā)布，意在推翻傳統(tǒng)上非裔美國人和拉丁裔美國家庭與白人之間財富差距缺乏改善的解釋。

報告為自由公共政策研究組織Demos和位于布蘭迪斯大學海勒社會政策和管理學院（Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management）的資產和社會研究所（Institute for Assets & Social Policy）合作出品。報告稱，“沒有比與種族財富差距更能凸顯相關持續(xù)存在的各種族人群經濟不平等現(xiàn)象。”報告引用了美聯(lián)儲（Federal Reserve）對消費者財務狀況的調查稱，2013年白人家庭擁有凈財富中位數(shù)為黑人家庭財富的13倍。當年白人家庭擁有凈財富中位數(shù)為拉丁裔家庭財富的10倍。這還只是開始。

接下來的現(xiàn)實更嚴峻。報告顯示一些推動白人家庭成功的因素，以及其他人生活改善的因素并不能確保有色人種家庭財富持續(xù)增長和保障財富安全。

具體來說有以下幾點：

? 上大學并未縮小種族財富差距。

? 雙親家庭共同撫育孩子并未縮小種族財富差距。

? 全職工作并未縮小種族財富差距。

? 減少支出并未縮小種族財富差距。

底線是，對有色人種來說，拼命努力工作，把所有事情都做好仍然無法提升財務狀況。

“我們的研究顯示，涉及財富時，種族優(yōu)勢會超越大學教育的作用，而大學教育是改變數(shù)百萬人經濟階層的根本要素。雖然對美國各種族來說，更高的教育水平通常意味著更多家庭財富，但上大學不能完全消除人種對財富水平的影響，”Demos的政策和研究副總監(jiān)艾米·特勞博向raceAhead表示。“情況迫切，急需決策者理解種族財富差距，制定政策扭轉現(xiàn)狀。”

之所以得出該結論，部分原因是歷史上有色人種的生活會直接影響現(xiàn)代人的狀態(tài)。即便堪稱典范的退伍軍人法案（GI Bill）等政府安撫行為，也曾排除黑人退伍兵購房補助資格。跟很多其他措施一樣，該政策促進了白人中產階級形成，卻從未理會其他種族。

但需要認真考慮的不僅是決策者。企業(yè)資助者每年斥資數(shù)百美元推進教育和社區(qū)發(fā)展，結果影響到的高層政策卻在縱容種族差異增大。企業(yè)在受財富差距影響的有色人種員工生活方面影響也很大，企業(yè)會重新考慮一系列細節(jié)，包括如何呈現(xiàn)和推動401(k)養(yǎng)老保險計劃，以及理解缺乏家庭財富如何影響有色人工員工的職業(yè)選擇等。

要接受發(fā)一段并不久遠之前的陰暗歷史并不容易，畢竟那是一個影響十分廣泛，導致幾百萬家庭在黑奴制廢除幾代后仍然生活貧苦的制度。不過只要對背景有所了解，就可以改變談話的深度。只有通過深刻討論，才有可能找到真正的解決之道。（財富中文網）

譯者：夏林

What if everything we thought we knew about race, behavior, and progress was wrong?

A new report out recently called The Asset Value of Whiteness: Understanding the Racial Wealth Gap purports to shatter traditional explanations for the lack of financial progress in African American and Latinx households as compared to white ones in the U.S.

The report is a collaboration between Demos, a liberal public policy research organization, and the Institute for Assets & Social Policy (IASP) at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management. “No metric more powerfully captures the persistence and growth of economic inequality along racial and ethnic lines than the racial wealth gap,” says the report. Citing data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the median white household had $13 in net wealth for every dollar held by the median black household in 2013. That same year, median white households had $10 for each dollar held by the median Latinx household. But that’s just for starters.

Here's the tough part. The report shows that typical markers of success in white households – and the chosen interventions in the lives of others – are not translating into lasting wealth and security in households of color.

Specifically:

? Attending college does not close the racial wealth gap.

? Raising children in a two-parent household does not close the racial wealth gap.

? Working full time does not close the racial wealth gap.

? Spending less does not close the racial wealth gap.

Bottom line, for people of color, working ourselves to the bone and doing all the right things is getting us nowhere.

“Our research shows that when it comes to wealth, racial privilege can outweigh a college education, a fundamental key to economic mobility for millions of people. Although higher education is associated with greater household wealth for Americans of every race and ethnicity, going to college isn’t enough to overcome deeply rooted racial disparities in wealth," Amy Traub, associate director of policy and research at Demos told raceAhead. “Now more than ever we need policymakers to understand the racial wealth gap and create policies that reverse it.”

Part of that understanding comes from the direct link that history plays in the lives of people of color today, and how even exemplary government efforts like the GI Bill largely excluded black veterans from favorable financing for home ownership. It, along with other interventions, built the white middle class while leaving others permanently behind.

But it’s not just policymakers who need to think this through. Corporate funders spend millions of direct and matching dollars for education and community development programs every year, and as a result, are in a position to influence the bigger policy forces that continue to allow barriers to advancement. They’re also in a position to make a real difference with their employees of color who are living with that wealth gap - by reconsidering a wide variety of things, like how they present and promote their 401(k)s, to understanding how a lack of family wealth impacts an employee of color's ability to make career decisions.

It's hard to accept a history that's not really in the past, and that a widespread system has left millions of families with limited options, even generations after slavery. But just understanding the context changes the conversation. And only then can real solutions be found.