Ms. Rebecca and Ms. A Name: _________________________

Economic Justice, Fall 2017 Section: ____ EJ#: ____

2.9 The Racial Wealth Gap Focus Question

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Standard Grade

I can use intellectual curiosity to ask my own questions about a variety of texts.

I can analyze a variety of texts using CHUNQs, summary, and

comprehension/extension questions.

I can make claims, support them with evidence, and demonstrate what I’ve learned

through Standard English writing.

DIRECTIONS:

I am away Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. (Friday is Advisory Day). Complete

this packet in its entirety, and on Thursday your section’s Teacher’s Assistants will collect your

finished packets to be graded.

SUGGESTED AGENDA:

Tuesday: Part 1 – Question Formation and Background Research

Wednesday: Part 2 – Race: The Power of an Illusion Video and Questions

Thursday: Part 3 – Writing about the Racial Wealth Gap

Do Now

1. Define income inequality and wealth inequality and explain the difference:

Income Inequality

Wealth Inequality

What’s the difference?

2. If you had to guess the definition of the “Racial Wealth Gap” what would it be?

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3. According to last week’s research, what are the three “basic building-blocks” of wealth?

1. _____________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________

Part 1 – Question Formation & Background Research

CHART A:

QUESTIONS ABOUT CHART A:

MAIN IDEA:

CHART B:

QUESTIONS ABOUT CHART B:

MAIN IDEA:

CHART C:

Source: Current Population Survey

QUESTIONS ABOUT CHART C:

MAIN IDEA:

The Growing Racial Wealth Gap

Minorities Fall Further Behind Whites in Wealth During Economic Recovery

By TANZINA VEGA, DECEMBER 12, 2014, THE NEW YORK TIMES

The wealth gap between minorities and whites has continued to increase in the midst

of the economic recovery from the Great Recession. While all American households

have lower assets, the decrease has been more significant among minority

households, the Pew Research Center report said.

In 2007, when the recession began in the United States, the median net worth of

white households was $192,500, or 10 times that of black households at $19,200.

According to the report, the median net worth of white households in 2013 was

$141,900, about 13 times that of black households at $11,000. For Hispanics the

numbers are similar, albeit slightly higher, than those for blacks. In 2007, the median

net worth of a Hispanic household was $23,600, and in 2013 it was $13,700.

“The gaps are big, and they are also persistent,” said Rakesh Kochhar, the associate

director for research at Pew’s Hispanic Trends Project and one of the report’s authors.

In the last 30 years, net worth for white American households has hovered around

$100,000, or six to eight times as high as net worth for blacks, Mr. Kochhar said.

According to the Federal Reserve data, the median income of minority households fell

9 percent from 2010 to 2013, compared with 1 percent for whites. Homeownership,

also a factor in the creation of wealth, fell 6.5 percent for minority households from

2010 to 2013, compared with 2 percent for whites.

A “legacy of discrimination,” including lower levels of education and depressed

property values in certain minority communities, has played a role in the widening

wealth gap, Mr. Kochhar said.

Exit Ticket

1. Knowing what you know now, revise your definition of the “Racial Wealth Gap:”

2. Go back to your questions about Charts A, B, and C. Circle your most important question

for each of the charts.

Part 2 – Race: The Power of an Illusion & Questions

Do Now

1. Get a laptop, and go to tinyurl.com/racethepower

2. The name of the documentary you are about to watch is “Race: The Power of an Illusion”

produced by California Newsreel in 2003. What do you think the title means?

Race: The Power of an Illusion

Directions: Watch the documentary clip and answer the guiding questions below.

1. Why was “living space at a premium” at the end of World War II?

2. What housing idea was tried in the Bronx? What happened?

3. Which government organization “came to the rescue?” What did they do?

4. A. Prior to the 1930s, how did you purchase a home?

B. What were the new terms for purchasing a home? How did this affect Americans?

5. ______________________ was one of the most famous new communities in Long Island.

6. What was the “new name” of the American Dream?

7. How much were apartments in the city vs. mortgage payments in Levittown?

8. What happened to the Burnetts when they asked to apply to buy a home in Levittown?

9. What did the FHA underwriters warn?

10. A. Which neighborhoods received the highest rating? What color was that?

B. Which neighborhoods received the lowest rating? What color was that?

11. Where did most of the new mortgages go at this time? What was the result?

12. According to the “racial logic,” what is likely to happen to an integrated neighborhood?

13. What happened on 8-mile road in Detroit?

14. What percent of new housing went to non-whites between 1934 and 1962?

15. How did suburbs help construct “whiteness?”

16. What housing market were most blacks exposed to? Where was it?

17. A. What was urban renewal supposed to do?

B. What happened to the houses urban renewal destroyed?

C. What populations did urban renewal displace?

18. What was removed from federal housing policy in the 1968 Fair Housing Act? What

resulted from this?

19. What happened to the Frisby’s neighborhood in Roosevelt within two years?

20. What is “blockbusting?”

21. What caused housing values to go down in Roosevelt and other neighborhoods?

22. A. Why might a non-racist White family leave a neighborhood that is integrating?

B. How do banks contribute to this problem?

23. How does geography “do the work” of Jim Crow laws?

24. As White families’ homes appreciated in value, what happened to their net worth?

25. What housing market was open to non-Whites and where was it?

26. Where do the majority of Americans hold most of their wealth?

27. What would a $20,000 house in the city be worth if it were in the suburbs? Why?

28. Beverly Tatum explains:

“So if you can get a government loan with your GI Bill, your newly earned college

degree and buy a house in an all-white area, that then appreciates in value, that then

you can pass on to your children, then you're passing on wealth. That has all been

made more available to you as consequence of racist policies and practices. To the

child of that parent, it looks like my father worked hard, bought a house, passed his

wealth on to me, made it possible for me to go to school, mortgaged that house so I

could have, you know, a relatively debt-free college experience, and has financed my

college education. How come your father didn't do that? You know, well, there are some

good reasons why maybe your father had a harder time doing it if you're African-

American, or Latino, or Native American.”

Put Tatum’s main idea into your own words:

29. What is “really slick” about whiteness?

30. Today, the average black family has only __________ the net worth of the average white

family.

31. Even with the same income, white families have on average __________ the wealth of black

families.

32. What happens when you compare white and non-white families of similar wealth?

33. What does Conley mean when he says that we’re “making the wrong comparison?”

** STOP WATCHING AT 24:43 **

Exit Ticket

1. According to this video, what is the racial wealth gap?

2. According to the video, what are some reasons why the racial wealth gap exists?

3. What was the most striking part of the video for you? Why did it stand out to you?

4. What questions did this video bring up for you? (MINIMUM 2)

Part 3 – Writing about the Racial Wealth Gap

Do Now

1. What was the most important / interesting (circle one or both) thing you learned this week?

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2. What can we do to right the wrongs that were committed against people like the Burnetts?

6 Thinking Hats

Of the six “Thinking Hats” prompts below, choose at least 2 prompts to write brief paragraphs

about. Each paragraph must be grounded in at least 1 piece of cited and analyzed evidence

from the video and the charts we analyzed this week.

1. INFORMATIONAL

Explain the racial wealth gap

and why it exists.

2. EMOTIONAL

What is your reaction to what

you learned this week about

the racial wealth gap.

3. AGREEMENT

What did you learn this week

and that you liked/agreed

with?

4. DISAGREEMENT

What did you learn this week

that you disliked/disagreed

with?

5. CREATIVE

How has learning about the

racial wealth gap affected the

way you think about your

life?

6. METACOGNITIVE

How were you successful this

week? How did you

struggle? How could you do

better next week?

Exit Ticket

Give yourself a grade from “Did Not Meet Standards” to “Honors” for how well you upheld our

Community Agreements this week, and explain: ______________________________________

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