ABSTRACT
Despite some claims that the US has entered a post-racial era there is mounting evidence that the economic divide between blacks and whites is as great today, if not greater, than decades ago (Dawson and Bobo 2009; Gines 2010). Racial disparities in the types and levels of assets owned provide some of the most clear and convincing evidence of the enduring racial divide that has characterized the nation for centuries (Martin 2013; Ozawa and Huan-yui 2000; Todd and Savitskey 2005). The impact of the Great Recession on racial and ethnic minority groups, relative to whites, is one recent example of the continuing significance of race (Allegretto and Pitts 2010; Davis et al. 2012; Katkov 2011). Studies have shown that the overall net worth for Asians, blacks and Hispanics fell more sharply than the overall net worth for whites (Kochhar et al. 2011). While we are only beginning to understand the effects of the Great Recession on the American economy, our understanding of the role that race may or may not have played may be impacted by the limited scope of existing research. For one, research about the impact of the Great Recession on blacks tends to ignore the economic and ethnic diversity that has always characterized the black population (Martin 2013). Also, current studies tend to focus almost exclusively on either overall net worth or home ownership, thus ignoring other key components of the average American’s portfolio like savings, stock ownership and real estate beyond the primary residence (Estrada 2006; Freeman 2003; Feeman 2005; Martin 2010; Oliver and Shapiro 2006; Ozawa and Huan-yui 2000). Existing studies also tend to be descriptive in nature (Kochhar et al. 2011). In this chapter, we conduct a multilevel analysis of housing values and interest, dividends and rental income to gain a better understanding of the impact of the Great Recession on blacks, particularly those with membership in the forgotten working-class. The following research questions are examined: 1) Were race and class significant determinants of home ownership, housing values and interest, dividends and rental income before and after the Great Recession? 2) Did other factors, including nativity, explain some of the variations in home ownership, housing values and interest, dividends and rental income, particularly for blacks with membership in the forgotten working–class? 3) Were the predictors of the outcomes under study significantly different for native and foreign-born blacks, and if so, in what ways? 4) What are the theoretical and methodological implications of the study findings?
