Now I am not African American, so I do not know the struggles that blacks in America face every day. I do not pretend to suffer in the same ways. I am Italian and my family lives a bit north of the poverty line. I come from a single income home. My father is a truck driver who has worked six days a week driving and unloading trucks for the past 30 years, struggling to provide for my mom and me. He has had to work every single Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, New Years, and birthday that I have ever had in my 21 years walking this earth. He has gotten mugged and robbed at gunpoint, and he has been snowed in for days in his truck, all so that he can bring home a paycheck to his family, so he can send his only daughter to college. 

I know how hard it is to break even financially and still have enough money left over to send your child to college.

Wealth provides an important cushion from the dangers of unemployment, medical emergency or many other unforeseen events that can shift an entire family’s lifestyle. Black households’ median income fell 9% between 2010 and 2013, while for whites it dropped just 1%, according to a 2014 CNN Money article. 

This means many black households have not been able to save as much money, instead dipping into savings just to cover expenses. I can’t imagine a family living on $15,000. I don’t think my family could survive. And yet many black families do just this, often on even less.

The road to wealth equality and racial blindness with regards to wealth distribution will be a long one. The wealth disparities correlated with race have been growing since at least 1983. Thus, lessening the gap is going to involve building up the resources of millions of black families. 

Even if we manage to reach across these gaps, we will still have to address the deep, structural and even moral problems in education and employment that hold down minority populations, or else the divides will again widen. Yes, progress has been made, but self-questioning and examination are needed.