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Let's Talk Human Rights

Racial Wealth Gap Interactive Simulation by Hall Hunger Initiative

By Hannah Gibson '22

The racial wealth gap refers to the disparity in wealth of average households across boundaries of race and ethnicity. The top five percent of the US population owns the majority of the money, while the rest of the population falls short. Economic inequality is increasing in the US due to changes in technology, declining power of unions, tax policies that favor the wealthy, increasing college costs, and many more factors. 

As both a leader in the logistics of this event and as a participant, I was able to gain a deeper perspective on the racial wealth gap in the US. Mark Willis, the director of the community group Hall Hunger Initiative (HHI), facilitated the event with great enthusiasm. Hall Hunger is a local organization that works with community partners to craft a more sustainable food system for Miami Valley and Montgomery County. 

We began the program with a presentation on the racial wealth gap both across the country and in Dayton specifically. Although the statistics differ over time, roughly 14% of white and 30% of Black people in Ohio are suffering from food insecurity. About 50 million people across the US are food insecure. Nationally, people of color are two times as likely to experience hunger and live below the poverty line.

We also explored the difference between income and wealth and how this impacts one’s chances of experiencing hunger in the US. The term “income” describes one’s earnings, money received from a paycheck, stock return, or social security benefits. The term “wealth” encompasses one’s assets, savings accounts, housing, cars, and investment portfolios. Wealth grows over time and is therefore often intergenerational. For many reasons, some people have more access to wealth than others. Without wealth, individuals have less of a cushion to fall back on and are more likely to become poor, and accordingly, more likely to experience hunger. 

The simulation part of this event was very impactful. Much like a board game, each member of a small group was given a “race card” that labeled them as either a Black participant or a White participant. In addition, we were given policies that were relevant to the racial wealth gap to read. Each policy card consisted of the piece of history and policy, and its respective action for Black and White participants, which could be an advantage or a disadvantage. These covered housing policies, limited educational opportunities, tax policies, job differences, and more.  For example, the Federal Housing Administration, the Social Security Act, redlining, the war on drugs, and voting restrictions are all examples of what impacted the racial wealth disparity.

One policy highlighted was the Social Security Act of 1935. This established a continued income to retired workers age 65 or older as well as disability insurance for many working-class US citizens. Many of us have learned about this in history classes throughout our education but never realized this act did not apply the same benefits to all races. In fact, it left out roughly half the workers in the American economy, many agricultural and domestic workers, a large percentage of whom were African American. Although the Social Security Act did not specifically exclude Black people from its policy, its loopholes often did.

In the simulation when we came upon the Social Security Act policy card, the white participants were given a few money cards and land cards, showing that they greatly benefitted from this specific policy. The black participants, on the other hand, had to pick up an “Opportunity Lost” card, signifying that because of their race, they did not receive any benefits and were negatively impacted. This card stated, “due to this policy or practice, your family lost an opportunity to build wealth or income and pass it down to the next generation.” At the end of the simulation, each group was debriefed with small group discussion questions, such as, “Look at the difference in money and land cards for the Black participants versus those of the White participants. How did this end up this way?” The outcome of the discussion was clear, these policies had a disparate impact on people depending on their race. This simulation strived to give people a better understanding of the connections between racial discrimination and hunger, poverty, and wealth. Hearing from other students, it was a really important first step for people who know little to nothing about structural inequality and also provided a deeper look into information for those who may have studied it. As racial equity is so important in the conversation of ending hunger and poverty in Dayton and the United States; this simulation is only the beginning.

Read more about the simulation here.

 


Hannah Gibson (2022) is a current Human Rights Studies major with minors in Sustainability and Sociology. Her areas of interest include LGBTQ+ equality such as job security and adoption equity, environmental impact, food insecurity, and supporting grassroots organizations. She is currently working as a student intern assisting the Human Rights Studies program.

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