RACE – THE POWER OF AN ILLUSION How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Created

BUT PERHAPS THE BEST EXAMPLE OF HOW EUROPEAN ETHNICS WOULD FINALLY GAIN THE FULL BENEFITS OF WHITENESS CAME WITH AN INNOVATION IN HOUSING AT THE END OF WORLD WAR II. IT WAS A TIME WHEN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF G. I.

s CAME HOME, READY TO START FAMILIES, BUT HAD NO PLACE TO LIVE. Man: LIVING SPACE WAS AT A PREMIUM. IN THE BRONX THEY TRIED BUILDING QUONSET HUTS, AND THEY TURNED TO SLUMS, ALL THE QUONSET HUTS JUST DISINTEGRATED.

THERE WERE TWO FAMILIES SHARING A HUT. ONE FAMILY AT ONE END, ONE FAMILY AT THE OTHER, AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THEY WERE AWFUL. Announcer: FHA CAME TO THE RESCUE BY ENSURING LONG-TERM LOW MONTHLY PAYMENT MORTGAGE LOANS.

Narrator: VETERANS NEEDED HOMES FOR FAMILIES. THEY TURNED TO A REVOLUTIONARY NEW DEAL HOUSING PROGRAM. IT WOULD RACIALIZE HOUSING WEALTH AND OPPORTUNITY FOR DECADES IN WAYS FEW COULD HAVE IMAGINED.

Oliver: IN THE 1930s, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CREATED THE FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION, WHOSE JOB IT WAS TO PROVIDE LOANS, OR THE BACKING FOR LOANS, TO AVERAGE AMERICANS, SO THEY COULD PURCHASE A HOME. Announcer: DUE TO THE STIMULATION OF THE NATIONAL HOUSING ACT, FROM EVERY SECTION OF THE COUNTRY COME REPORTS OF -- Oliver: IN ORDER TO PURCHASE A HOUSE IN AMERICA PRIOR TO THE 1930s, YOU HAD TO PAY 50% OF THE SALES PRICE UP FRONT. THE NEW TERMS OF PURCHASING A HOME WAS THAT YOU PUT 10% OR 20% DOWN AND THE BANK FINANCED 80% OF IT, NOT OVER FIVE YEARS, BUT OVER 30 YEARS, AT RELATIVELY LOW RATES.

THIS OPENED UP THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR AMERICANS TO OWN HOMES LIKE NEVER BEFORE. THE AVERAGE PERSON COULD OWN THAT HOME. Narrator: IF THESE TERMS SOUND FAMILIAR, THEY SHOULD, BECAUSE THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THE SAME FINANCING SCHEME THAT ALLOWS MOST AMERICANS TO OWN THEIR HOMES TODAY.

FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND BANKS SANK MILLIONS INTO THE HOME CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY. THEIR MESSAGE TO VETERANS -- YOU CAN AFFORD A NEW HOME, BUY A NEW HOME NOW. ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BALTIMORE, MEMPHIS, CHICAGO, LOS ANGELES, DENVER, AND OTHER CITIES, BRAND-NEW COMMUNITIES SPRANG UP.

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS WAS A LONG ISLAND POTATO FIELD, TRANSFORMED INTO 17,000 NEW HOMES. IT WAS CALLED LEVITTOWN. TAX DOLLARS HELPED MAKE THE SINGLE FAMILY HOME A MASS-PRODUCED CONSUMER ITEM.

THE AMERICAN DREAM HAD A NEW NAME -- SUBURBIA. Juliano: YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER, THE PEOPLE WHO CAME HERE IN 1947, 1948, WERE YOUNG EX-G. I.

s WHOSE UPPERMOST CONCERN WAS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE G. I. BILL AND MAKING THINGS BETTER FOR THEMSELVES.

Narrator: BEFORE MOVING TO LEVITTOWN, HERB KALISMAN AND HIS WIFE DORIS LIVED IN A CRAMPED ATTIC APARTMENT IN NEW YORK CITY. Doris: AND WHEN WE BEGAN TO LOOK FOR AN APARTMENT WE FOUND THAT THE APARTMENTS WERE 100, 125, $150 A MONTH. I KNOW THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE TODAY, BUT IT WAS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR US.

AND OUT HERE IN LEVITTOWN, THE MORTGAGE PAYMENTS WERE $65 A MONTH. [ TELEPHONE RINGING ] THEY SAY YOUR KITCHEN DAZZLES EVERY EYE. ś A BRAND-NEW SINK, A BUILT-IN OVEN ś ś A NEW REFRIGERATOR AND A PHONE ś Juliano: IF YOU WERE BUYING A LEVITT HOME IN 1947, '48, '49, '50, AND '51, YOU WOULD GET -- THIS WOULD BE YOUR KITCHEN.

YOU WOULD GET A G. E. STOVE, G.

E. REFRIGERATOR, AND A BENDIX WASH MACHINE. IT WOULD BE PART OF THE REAL ESTATE.

Man: WE CAME TO LEVITTOWN AND WE FOUND A MODEL HOUSE AND WE WALKED IN AND WE LOOKED AROUND. AND, OF COURSE, IN THE EYES OF A YOUNG MAN WHO WAS RAISED IN THE GHETTO, SO TO SPEAK, IT WAS AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE, AN INTERESTING LIFESTYLE, SEEING ALL THE NEW MODERN CONVENIENCES. VERY FASCINATING.

Narrator: EUGENE BURNETT CAME HOME WITH ALMOST A MILLION OTHER BLACK G. I. s.

THEY HAD FOUGHT FOR THE COUNTRY IN SEGREGATED RANKS. THEY RETURNED HOPING FOR EQUALITY AND THE AMERICAN DREAM. FOR MANY, THAT DREAM WAS A NEW HOME FOR LITTLE MONEY DOWN, AND SOME OF THE EASIEST CREDIT TERMS IN HISTORY.

Eugene: I WENT UP TO THE SALESMAN. WE'RE INTERESTED IN YOUR HOME, WE'RE INTERESTED IN BUYING ONE AND WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE? IS THERE AN APPLICATION TO BE FILLED OUT?

SO HE LOOKED AT ME, LOOKED AROUND, AND HE SAID TO ME, HE SAYS, LISTEN, IT'S NOT ME, BUT THE OWNERS OF THIS DEVELOPMENT HAVE NOT, AS YET, DECIDED TO SELL THESE HOMES TO NEGROES. Bernice: IT WAS AS THOUGH IT WASN'T REAL. YOU CAN'T IMAGINE, FOR SOMEONE TO COME OUT AND ACTUALLY TELL YOU THAT THEY CAN'T SELL TO YOU, YOU KNOW?

I WAS REALLY ON A -- OH, MAN, LOOK AT THIS HOUSE, CAN YOU IMAGINE HAVING THIS? AND THEN FOR THEM TO TELL ME BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF MY SKIN I CAN'T BE A PART OF IT? Narrator: THE FHA UNDERWRITERS WARNED THAT THE PRESENCE OF EVEN ONE OR TWO NON-WHITE FAMILIES COULD UNDERMINE REAL ESTATE VALUES IN THE NEW SUBURBS.

THESE GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES WERE WIDELY ADOPTED BY PRIVATE INDUSTRY. RACE HAD LONG PLAYED A ROLE IN LOCAL REAL ESTATE PRACTICES. STARTING IN THE 1930s, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS INSTITUTIONALIZED A NATIONAL APPRAISAL SYSTEM WHERE RACE WAS AS MUCH A FACTOR IN REAL ESTATE ASSESSMENT AS THE CONDITION OF THE PROPERTY.

USING THIS SCHEME, FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS EVALUATED 239 CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY FOR FINANCIAL RISK. Oliver: SO THAT THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT WERE ALL-WHITE, SUBURBAN, AND FAR AWAY FROM MINORITY AREAS, THEY RECEIVED THE HIGHEST RATING, AND THAT WAS THE COLOR GREEN. THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT WERE ALL MINORITY OR IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING, THEY GOT THE LOWEST RATING.

. . AND THE COLOR RED, THEY WERE RED-LINED.

AS A CONSEQUENCE, MOST OF THE MORTGAGES WENT TO SUBURBANIZING AMERICA, AND IT SUBURBANIZED IT RACIALLY. Goodman: THE RACIAL LOGIC ADOPTS THE PRINCIPLE THAT AN INTEGRATED NEIGHBORHOOD IS A BAD RISK, IS A FINANCIAL RISK -- THAT AN INTEGRATED NEIGHBORHOOD IS LIKELY TO BE AN UNSTABLE NEIGHBORHOOD. UNSTABLE SOCIALLY, BUT THEREFORE ALSO UNSTABLE ECONOMICALLY.

Narrator: WHEN THE WHITE RESIDENTS OF EIGHT MILE ROAD IN DETROIT WERE TOLD THEY WERE TOO CLOSE TO A BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD TO QUALIFY FOR A POSITIVE FHA RATING, THEY BUILT THIS SIX-FOOT WALL BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND THEIR BLACK NEIGHBORS. ONCE THE WALL WENT UP, MORTGAGES ON THE WHITE PROPERTIES WERE APPROVED. BETWEEN 1934 AND 1962, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT UNDERWROTE $120 BILLION IN NEW HOUSING.

LESS THAN 2% WENT TO NON-WHITES. Bernice: I CAN UNDERSTAND AN INDIVIDUAL DEPENDING ON HIS ENVIRONMENT OR HIS FAMILY OR WHATEVER BEING RACIST, BUT FOR YOUR COUNTRY TO SANCTION IT, GIVE HIM TOOLS TO DO THAT, THERE'S SOMETHING DEFINITELY WRONG THERE. Herb Kalisman: I THINK WE HAD THE GOLDEN CHANCE AFTER WORLD WAR II AND WE FLUBBED IT.

BECAUSE HERE WE HAD A G. I. BILL THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS AVAILABLE TO EVERYBODY, BUT IN A WAY THEY DIDN'T MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO EVERYBODY.

AND THAT WAS A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY IN THIS COUNTRY AND WE MISSED IT, WE REALLY MISSED IT. Man: BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL, CAN'T YOU? A TOWN WITH GOOD REAL ESTATE PEOPLE IS A MORE SUBSTANTIAL COMMUNITY, BECAUSE MORE PEOPLE OWN THEIR OWN HOMES.

THAT'S RIGHT. Man: AND NOW IT'S SORT OF HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NATIONALIZED AND INTRODUCED RED LINING. IN A FUNNY WAY, IT WASN'T JUST GIVING SOMETHING TO WHITES, IT WAS CONSTRUCTING WHITENESS.

WHITENESS MEANT, AS IN THE PAST, WHITE HAD MEANT BEING A CITIZEN AND BEING A CHRISTIAN. IT NOW MEANT LIVING IN THE SUBURBS. Narrator: ONLY 50 YEARS BEFORE, EUROPEAN ETHNICS WERE BELIEVED TO BE DISTINCT RACES.

NOW, IN THESE NEW SEGREGATED NEIGHBORHOODS, THEY BLENDED TOGETHER AS WHITE AMERICANS. Doris Kalisman: WE DID HAVE DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS GROUPS, WE WERE MIXED UP THERE, BUT WE WERE AN ALL-WHITE COMMUNITY, AND I THINK IT'S AN UNREALISTIC WORLD. I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING STERILE ABOUT EVERYONE BEING ON THE SAME ECONOMIC LEVEL AND EVERYONE BEING THE SAME COLOR.

Man: IT CERTAINLY DOESN'T PROMOTE A FEELING OF A WIDER WORLD -- WIDER, NOTWHITER -- TO LIVE IN A PLACE WHERE THERE ARE ONLY PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE YOU. Narrator: CARTOONIST BILL GRIFFITH REMEMBERS MOVING FROM BROOKLYN TO LEVITTOWN AS A KID. Griffith: IT'S AN UNTENABLE, ARTIFICIAL WORLD.

YOU'RE CREATING A WEIRD UTOPIA IN A WAY, A UTOPIA OF, YOU KNOW, MIDDLE-CLASS WHITE PEOPLE WHO WERE TRYING TO DENY THAT THEY WERE LIVING IN A MULTI-RACIAL WORLD. AND HOW LONG CAN YOU KEEP THAT UP? YOU CAN'T KEEP THAT UP FOREVER.

WHETHER THERE WERE GOING TO BE BLACK PEOPLE IN LEVITTOWN, WAS JUST -- IT WOULD BE ALMOST THE EQUIVALENT OF SAYING ARE THERE GOING TO BE MARTIANS IN LEVITTOWN? Powell: THE BASIC IDEA OF WHITENESS IS WHO'S INCLUDED, WHO'S PART OF THE FAMILY, AND IT HAS MATERIAL CONSEQUENCES. BLACKS WEREN'T COMPLETELY LEFT OUT OF THE HOUSING MARKET.

THE HOUSING MARKET THAT THEY WERE EXPOSED TO WAS LARGELY PUBLIC HOUSING. AND PUBLIC HOUSING, FIRST OF ALL, WAS BUILT ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY, WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS, IN THE CENTRAL CITY. AND AFTER WORLD WAR II WE STARTED BUILDING LARGER AND LARGER PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS, WHICH WERE CALLED VERTICAL GHETTOS.

ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU WERE CONCENTRATING LARGE NUMBERS OF POOR PEOPLE OF COLOR IN ONE PLACE. Narrator: ANOTHER FEDERAL PROGRAM, URBAN RENEWAL, WAS SUPPOSED TO MAKE CITIES MORE LIVABLE. 90% OF ALL HOUSING DESTROYED BY URBAN RENEWAL WAS NOT REPLACED.

TWO-THIRDS OF THOSE DISPLACED WERE BLACK OR LATINO. Lyndon Johnson: FAIR HOUSING FOR ALL, ALL HUMAN BEINGS WHO LIVE IN THIS COUNTRY IS NOW A PART OF THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE. Narrator: IN 1968, PRESIDENT JOHNSON SIGNED THE FAIR HOUSING ACT.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, RACIAL LANGUAGE WAS REMOVED FROM FEDERAL HOUSING POLICY. NON-WHITE FAMILIES BEGAN MOVING INTO TRADITIONALLY WHITE COMMUNITIES IN NUMBERS. Woman: WE LIVED IN AN APARTMENT, A TWO-FAMILY HOUSE IN QUEENS.

AND WHEN WE CAME HERE IT WAS THE FIRST TIME WE HAD BOUGHT A HOUSE. AND I WAS LOOKING FOR EVERYTHING IN THE STORYBOOKS. Narrator: THE FRISBYS MOVED FROM QUEENS TO SUBURBAN ROOSEVELT, ONLY A FEW MILES FROM LEVITTOWN.

LIKE THE FRISBYS, MANY NON-WHITE FAMILIES WOULD DISCOVER THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF RACE IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET. THEY WATCHED AS THEIR HOMES AND NEIGHBORHOODS IN SUBURBIA DECLINED PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY HAD MOVED INTO THEM. Frisby: WHEN I MOVED INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD, I THOUGHT IT WOULD STAY INTACT THE WAY IT WAS.

ON THE STREET THAT I MOVED ON WHEN I MOVED THERE, IT WAS PREDOMINATELY WHITE. WITHIN TWO YEARS IT WAS PREDOMINATELY BLACK. Narrator: IT WAS CALLED BLOCKBUSTING.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS PREYED ON THE RACIAL FEARS OF WHITE HOMEOWNERS, TO GET THEM TO SELL THEIR HOMES QUICKLY FOR LESS THAN MARKET VALUE. THE HOMES WERE RESOLD TO NON-WHITES AT INFLATED PRICES. Woman: WELL, THEY WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HAVING BLACK PEOPLE MOVE IN.

NOW, I WILL GIVE YOU CASH IF YOU WANT TO SELL ME YOUR HOUSE. DO YOU WANT TO STAY WITH BLACK PEOPLE NEXT DOOR TO YOU? AND THAT'S THE WAY IT WENT ON.

AND AS BUNNY SAID, A LOT OF THE PEOPLE JUST SAID YES, I'LL TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN. AND THAT'S THE START OF THE WHITE PEOPLE LEAVING. Narrator: AS MORE BLACK AND LATINO FAMILIES MOVED TO ROOSEVELT, REAL ESTATE BECAME MORE AND MORE DEPRESSED, JUST AS THE FHA HAD PREDICTED.

BUT WHY? Man: I HAVE AN IDEA MY HOUSE IS PROBABLY WORTH AROUND 120 IN THIS TOWN. BUT IT WOULD BE WORTH IN MONTOUR OR GARDEN CITY OR SOME OTHER PLACE.

. . PROBABLY AROUND 200,000 OR BETTER.

NOW YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT 80,000. YOU SAID TO ME ONE TIME ABOUT WHY DO PEOPLE DISLIKE THE BLACKS? WELL, MONEY-WISE, THERE'S A REASON.

NOT THAT YOU DISLIKE THE BLACKS SO MUCH, BUT YOU DISLIKE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A COMMUNITY TURNS FROM WHITE TO BLACK. Narrator: IT WASN'T AFRICAN-AMERICANS MOVING IN THAT CAUSED HOUSING VALUES TO GO DOWN IN ROOSEVELT AND OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS, IT WAS WHITES LEAVING. Man: WHEN A NEIGHBORHOOD, A PREVIOUSLY WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD STARTS TO INTEGRATE, EVEN IF INDIVIDUAL WHITES DON'T HAVE PERSONAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL ANIMOSITY AND RACIAL HATRED, THEY STILL HAVE AN ECONOMIC INCENTIVE TO LEAVE.

BECAUSE THEY RECOGNIZE THAT OTHERS MIGHT MAKE THE SAME CALCULATION AND LEAVE FIRST. SO YOU GET A VICIOUS CIRCLE WHERE WHITES CALCULATE THAT OTHER WHITES ARE GOING TO SELL WHEN THE NEIGHBORHOOD INTEGRATES, THEREFORE THEY WANT TO SELL FIRST TO AVOID LOSSES, AND THEY ACTUALLY MAKE IT HAPPEN, THEY MAKE WHITE FLIGHT HAPPEN. AND IF YOU THINK ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICANS, IF AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE 20% OF THAT MARKET, IT MEANS THAT 80% OF THE PEOPLE ARE NOT LOOKING IN THOSE PLACES FOR HOMES.

SO THE PRICES OF THOSE HOMES DECLINES OR STAYS STABLE. AND BANKS CONTRIBUTE TO THIS BY CONTINUALLY MAKING LOANS IN REGIONS THAT ARE ON THE RISE, WHITE COMMUNITIES, AND MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO GET LOANS IN BLACK COMMUNITIES. SO THERE'S A DIFFERENCE, THERE'S A LACK OF SYMMETRY THAT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND.

SO IT'S NOT THE SAME WHEN WHITES ARE BY THEMSELVES. BECAUSE WHEN THEY ARE BY THEMSELVES, THEY'RE TAKING ALL THE RESOURCES WITH THEM. THEY'RE TAKING ALL THE AMENITIES WITH THEM.

BUT WHEN BLACKS ARE BY THEMSELVES, THEY CAN'T GET LOANS, THEY DON'T HAVE A DECENT TAX BASE, THERE ARE NO JOBS. AND THEN THAT BECOMES ASSOCIATED WITH BLACK SPACE. Narrator: IN THE END, WHAT HAPPENED TO ROOSEVELT HAPPENS IN MANY NEIGHBORHOODS WHEN WHITE FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES FLEE.

THE TAX BASE ERODED. SCHOOLS AND SERVICES DECLINED. THE TOWN WAS SEEN BY COUNTY OFFICIALS AS A LEGITIMATE DUMPING GROUND FOR WELFARE FAMILIES.

Powell: AT ONE POINT WE HAD EXPLICIT LAWS THAT SAYS WHITES ARE ON TOP AND BLACKS ARE ON THE BOTTOM. TODAY WE HAVE MANY OF THE SAME PRACTICES WITHOUT THE EXPLICIT LANGUAGE. AND THOSE PRACTICES ARE LARGELY INSCRIBED IN GEOGRAPHY.

AND SO GEOGRAPHY DOES THE WORK OF JIM CROW LAWS. SO, MANY PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED, AS WHY AFTER 50 YEARS OF CIVIL RIGHTS ARE OUR SCHOOLS STILL SEGREGATED, WHY ARE HOUSING MARKETS STILL SEGREGATED, WHY ARE OUR JOBS STILL SEGREGATED? AND AGAIN, A LOT OF THIS IS A FUNCTION OF HOW WE'VE RE-INSCRIBED THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHIC SPACE IN THE UNITED STATES.

THAT STRUCTURE IS STILL WHAT WE'RE LIVING WITH TODAY. Narrator: AS HOMES IN WHITE COMMUNITIES APPRECIATED IN VALUE, THE NET WORTH OF THESE WHITE FAMILIES GREW. FOR MOST NON-WHITE FAMILIES WHO STAYED IN URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS, THE HOUSING MARKET OPEN TO THEM IN THE '50s AND '60s WAS LARGELY A RENTAL MARKET.

YOU DON'T GAIN EQUITY BY PAYING RENT. Conley: WHERE ONE'S FAMILY LIVES IN AMERICA IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF TASTE AND PREFERENCE. YOU HAVE THE ISSUE OF HOUSING AND WEALTH.

THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS HOLD MOST OF THEIR WEALTH IN THE FORM OF HOME EQUITY. SO, THAT'S THEIR NEST EGG, THAT'S HOW THEY CAN FINANCE THE EDUCATION OF THEIR OFFSPRING. THAT'S HOW THEY CAN SORT OF SAVE UP FOR RETIREMENT.

IT'S THEIR SAVINGS BANK, RIGHT, THEY'RE LIVING IN THEIR SAVINGS BANK. Powell: MY FAMILY, LIKE A LOT OF FAMILIES, WAS IN DETROIT, STRUGGLING TO BUY A HOUSE. YOU HAD A DUAL HOUSING MARKET, ONE WHITE, ONE BLACK.

A HOUSING MARKET WITH ONE WITH A LOT OF DEMAND, ANOTHER HOUSING MARKET WITH VERY LITTLE DEMAND. MY FATHER LIVES IN THE HOUSE THAT I GREW UP IN. THAT HOUSE TODAY, FIVE-BEDROOM HOUSE, IS WORTH ABOUT $20,000.

THAT SAME HOUSE BOUGHT IN THE SUBURBS WOULD BE WORTH TODAY ABOUT $320,000. SO WHITES MOVING TO THE SUBURB WERE BEING SUBSIDIZED IN THE ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH, WHILE BLACKS WERE BEING DIVESTED. AND THESE WERE PUBLIC POLICY DECISIONS IN WHICH ON ONE HAND PEOPLE WERE GIVEN ACCESS TO PROPERTY, GIVEN TITLE, AND SUBSEQUENTLY, WEALTH, AND ON ANOTHER HAND, WHERE PEOPLE WERE NOT GIVEN ACCESS TO PROPERTY, DID NOT GENERATE WEALTH, AND DID NOT GENERATE THE KIND OF OPPORTUNITY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.

SO IF YOU CAN GET A GOVERNMENT LOAN WITH YOUR G. I. 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 A 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.

Powell: AND THE THING THAT'S REALLY SLICK ABOUT WHITENESS, IF YOU WILL, IS THAT MOST OF THE BENEFITS CAN BE OBTAINED WITHOUT EVER DOING ANYTHING PERSONALLY. FOR WHITES, THEY'RE GETTING THE SPOILS OF A RACIST SYSTEM, EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT PERSONALLY RACIST. Narrator: TO GLIMPSE ONE OF THE FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES OF RACIAL INEQUALITY, YOU NEED ONLY CONSIDER ONE STATISTIC -- COMPARATIVE NET WORTH OR WEALTH.

IF YOU ADD UP EVERYTHING YOU OWN AND SUBTRACT ALL YOUR DEBTS, WHAT'S LEFT IS YOUR NET WORTH. TODAY, THE AVERAGE BLACK FAMILY HAS ONLY 1/8th THE NET WORTH OR ASSETS OF THE AVERAGE WHITE FAMILY. THAT DIFFERENCE HAS SEEMINGLY GROWN SINCE THE 1960s, SINCE THE CIVIL RIGHTS TRIUMPHS, AND IT'S NOT EXPLAINED BY OTHER FACTORS, LIKE EDUCATION, EARNINGS RATES, SAVINGS RATES.

IT IS REALLY THE LEGACY OF RACIAL INEQUALITY FROM GENERATIONS PAST. NO OTHER MEASURE CAPTURES THE LEGACY, THIS SORT OF CUMULATIVE DISADVANTAGE OF RACE, OR CUMULATIVE ADVANTAGE OF RACE FOR WHITES, THAN NET WORTH OR WEALTH. Narrator: EVEN WITH THE SAME INCOME, WHITE FAMILIES HAVE ON AVERAGE TWICE THE WEALTH OF BLACK FAMILIES.

MUCH OF THAT DIFFERENCE LIES IN THE VALUE OF THEIR HOMES. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE COMPARE FAMILIES ALONG THE COLOR LINE WHO HAVE SIMILAR WEALTH? Conley: WHEN YOU MAKE THE RIGHT COMPARISON, WHEN YOU COMPARE A BLACK KID FROM A FAMILY WITH THE SAME INCOME AND WEALTH LEVEL AS THE WHITE KID FROM THE SIMILAR ECONOMIC SITUATION, RATES OF COLLEGE GRADUATION ARE THE SAME.

RATES OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORK HOURS ARE THE SAME. RATES OF WELFARE USAGE ARE THE SAME. SO, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT RACE IN TERMS OF A CULTURAL ACCOUNTING OF THESE DIFFERENCES OR A GENETIC ACCOUNTING OF THESE DIFFERENCES, WE'RE REALLY MISSING THE PICTURE, BECAUSE WE'RE MAKING THE WRONG COMPARISON.

Narrator: WE WANT TO BE A COLORBLIND SOCIETY THAT VALUES THE CONTENT OF CHARACTER OVER THE COLOR OF SKIN. THE HOPE OF THOUSANDS OF NEWCOMERS WHO ARRIVE EACH YEAR IS THAT WE ALREADY ARE. Woman: TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC.

. . Narrator: "I DON'T SEE COLOR, I SEE PEOPLE," THE SAYING GOES.

Man: THERE ARE PEOPLE FROM 100 OTHER NATIONS WHO LOOK DIFFERENT FROM YOU. PEOPLE WHOSE RELIGION, HISTORY, SKIN COLOR, AND REASON FOR BEING HERE TODAY MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM YOURS. Narrator: BUT IN POST CIVIL RIGHTS AMERICA, IS COLORBLINDNESS THE SAME AS EQUALITY?

Bonilla-Silva: THE NOTION OF COLORBLINDNESS CAME TO US FROM THAT FAMOUS "I HAVE A DREAM" SPEECH OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING WHERE HE SAID THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE JUDGED BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER AND NOT BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN. AND WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE POST CIVIL RIGHTS ERA IS THAT WHITES HAVE ASSUMED THAT WE'RE ALREADY THERE, THAT WE'RE IN A SOCIETY WHERE COLOR DOES NOT MATTER.

Conley: ON THE ONE HAND, THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA OFFICIALLY ENDED INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY, OFFICIALLY ENDED DE JURE LEGAL INEQUALITY. AT THE SAME TIME, THOSE CIVIL RIGHTS TRIUMPHS DID NOTHING TO ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN IN PLACE. DOESN'T RECOGNIZE THE FACT THAT THE REWARDS, THE HOUSE, THE LEXUS, THE BIG BANK ACCOUNT, THOSE ARE NOT ONLY THE REWARDS, OR THE POT OF GOLD AT THE END OF THE GAME, THEY'RE ALSO THE STARTING POSITION FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.

Narrator: THE WEALTH GAP GROWS. THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING WHITE ACCUMULATE FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT. Tatum: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OR THE ADVANTAGES TO BEING WHITE IN A SOCIETY THAT HAS HISTORICALLY GIVEN BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES TO MEMBERS OF THE DOMINANT GROUP?

AND IF YOU ARE A PERSON WHO HAS THAT PRIVILEGE, YOU DON'T NECESSARILY NOTICE IT. Conley: SO UNTIL WE RECOGNIZE THAT THERE'S REALLY NO WAY TO TALK ABOUT EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT EQUALITY OF CONDITION, THEN WE'RE STUCK WITH THIS PARADOXICAL IDEA OF A COLORBLIND SOCIETY IN A SOCIETY THAT'S TOTALLY UNEQUAL BY COLOR. Narrator: CLAIMING WE DON'T SEE RACE WON'T END RACIAL INEQUALITY.

AS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE HARRY BLACKMUN SAID, "TO GET BEYOND RACISM "WE MUST FIRST TAKE ACCOUNT OF RACE. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. " AND JUST AS WE'RE BORN INTO THE SYSTEM, WE DON'T ASK TO BE LOADED UP WITH STEREOTYPES OR OMISSIONS OR DISTORTIONS WHEN WE COME INTO THE WORLD.

WE DON'T ASK TO BE IN A STRUCTURE WHICH IS UNFAIR, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE INHERITED. WHETHER YOU IDENTIFY AS A PERSON OF COLOR, WHETHER YOU IDENTIFY AS A WHITE PERSON, IT DOESN'T MATTER. I THINK WE HAVE TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE PRESENT RACIAL ARRANGEMENT.

IN A SENSE I THINK WE HAVE TO BE WILING TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE, WILLING TO DEMAND MORE OF OURSELVES AND MORE OF OUR COUNTRY. . .

AND WILLING TO MAKE THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE. Tatum: I THINK WE ALL HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT CAN I INFLUENCE? I DON'T INFLUENCE EVERYTHING, BUT THE THINGS I DO INFLUENCE I CAN THINK ABOUT HOW AM I MAKING THIS A MORE EQUITABLE ENVIRONMENT?

I CAN ASK MYSELF, WHO'S INCLUDED IN THIS PICTURE AND WHO ISN'T? WHO'S HAD OPPORTUNITIES IN MY ENVIRONMENT AND WHO HASN'T? WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT THAT?