ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an overview of economic inequality along racial lines: the racial income gap, the racial wealth gap, racialized unemployment, and poverty rates, and how all of this manifests as white advantage in the labor market. The role of government policies and programs in facilitating white wealth accumulation and hindering black wealth accumulation is covered, through an exploration of the emergence of the welfare state through FDR’s New Deal, the federal housing administration, and the GI Bill, as well as the racialized nature of reproductive rights and health-care. We then discuss the history and current status of affirmative action.
