Measuring the Economic Racial Divide Across the Course of American Lives

This article examines the racial divide in America with respect to three key aspects of economic well-being across the life course: (1) the likelihood of attaining affluence and avoiding poverty; (2) the probability of owning a home and acquiring significant levels of financial equity; and (3) the likelihood of possessing enough assets to protect oneself through a spell of economic turmoil. The Panel Study of Income Dynamics data set is used to construct a series of life tables that provide adulthood estimates into the occurrence of these events. The results indicate that within each area, the economic racial divide across the American life course is immense. Blacks are many times more likely than whites to experience poverty while never achieving affluence, less likely to purchase a home at an early age and build up significant levels of home equity, and more likely to experience asset poverty across the stages of the life course. The concept of cumulative advantage/disadvantage is discussed as a way of understanding the widening effect of race upon the economic trajectories of whites and blacks across the American life course.     

Wealth Inequality in Black and White: Cultural and Structural Sources of the Racial Wealth Gap

Using data from the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances, this research examines competing and complementary cultural and structural explanations of the sources of racial differences in wealth. We use OLS regression and quantile regression to identify the major individual-level sources of wealth differences between African Americans and whites. Whites have more favorable wealth characteristics than do African Americans on all of the variables in the analysis: gender of household head, bankruptcies, spending patterns, stock ownership, business ownership, home ownership, inheritance, educational attainment, income, occupation, age, and number of children. Cultural factors, having a female-headed family, spending patterns, and inheritance account for little of the racial wealth gap. Racial differences in income, stock ownership, and business ownership account for much of the explained racial wealth gap. Moreover, compared with whites, African Americans receive significantly lower wealth returns to education, age, income, stock ownership, and business ownership. We discuss the implications of our findings.     

Immigration and Economic Conditions Among Older Asian Americans

This study compares native-immigrant gaps in economic conditions among older Asian Americans to those in other racial groups. This study uses the American Community Survey data collected from 2006 to 2010. The sample consists of Asians, whites, blacks, and Hispanics, who are 65 years old or older (N = 2,205,148). The dependent variables are per capita income, poverty, asset income, homeownership, and vehicle ownership. This study employs linear and logit regressions. Analysis results show that older native Asian Americans’ economic statuses are comparable to or better than older native whites. Older immigrant Asian Americans’ economic situations are worse off than older immigrant whites but better off than their black and Hispanic counterparts. Regression analyses indicate that native-immigrant gaps among older Asian Americans are significantly larger than those among other racial groups. These findings suggest that the public perception of economically successful immigrant Asians is not consistent with the economic reality of older immigrant Asian Americans. Analysis results call for further research on native-immigrant gaps among older Asian Americans and policy interventions to enhance economic security among older minority groups, including older immigrant Asian Americans.     

Identities and inequalities: an examination of the role of racial identity in the formation of social capital inside a voluntary youth organization

This ethnographic study provides empirical illustrations of patterns of racial homophily and network ties within a voluntary youth association. The paper seeks to examine the role of racial identity and its relationship to the formation of social capital among a diverse group of youth participants. Drawing on narrative data, this article explores the kinds of organizational experiences that promote the development of interracial ties as well as how the construction of racial identity influences network formation and enhances social capital. The major findings are that racial homophily (staying within one's own group) are strongest among white participants while blacks are equally likely to form interracial ties with socially dissimilar peers as with socially similar peers. Some gendered and class differences also emerged. Institutional agents were also found to be important in helping youth participants bridge racial barriers.     

Diverging Fortunes: Racial/Ethnic Inequality in Wealth Trajectories in Middle and Late Life

The primary aim of this study is to examine whether racial/ethnic inequality in wealth dissipates or increases between middle and late life, and by how much. To address this aim, this study draws on critical race and life course perspectives as well as 10 waves of panel data from the Health and Retirement Study and growth curve models to understand racial/ethnic inequality in wealth trajectories among whites, blacks, and Mexican Americans (N = 8337). Findings show that, by midlife, significant inequalities in net worth emerge between whites and their black and Mexican American counterparts. On average, white households have amassed a net worth of $105k by midlife, compared to less than $5k and $39k among black and Mexican American families, respectively. Moreover, whites experience much more rapid rates of wealth accumulation during their 50s and 60s than their minority counterparts, resulting in increasing wealth disparities with age, consistent with a process of cumulative disadvantage. At the peak of their wealth trajectory (at age 66), whites have approximately $245k more than blacks and $219k more than Mexican Americans. A wide range of socioeconomic, behavioral, and health factors account for a portion, but not all, of racial/ethnic inequality in wealth, suggesting that unobserved factors such as parental wealth, segregation, and discrimination may play a role in the production and maintenance of wealth inequality.     

A Paradox of Bias: Racial Differences in Forensic Psychiatric Diagnosis and Determinations of Criminal Responsibility

Although there is substantial evidence that African Americans receive unequal treatment in both the healthcare and criminal justice systems, less research has investigated the role of race when these two systems converge. Here, we examine the influence of race on patterns of forensic psychiatric diagnosis and determinations of criminal responsibility in pre-trial correctional facilities (e.g., forensic psychiatric hospitals). Data are from a medical chart review of 129 randomly selected competency evaluations that occurred in a pre-trial correctional psychiatric facility. Consistent with previous research, findings indicate that African Americans are disproportionately diagnosed with highly stigmatized psychotic spectrum disorders relative to whites. In addition, they unexpectedly indicate that African Americans are significantly more likely than whites to be found not criminally responsible by the court-appointed evaluating mental health professional, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, number of violent and non-violent charges, and other potential confounding variables. Mediation analysis reveals the important and previously undocumented finding that the effect of race on criminal responsibility determinations is fully mediated by differential diagnosis. This suggests that patterns of racial inequality and potential bias in the diagnostic process may confer medical resources and other benefits for African Americans in the context of the criminal justice system.     

Gendered Black Exclusion: The Persistence of Racial Stereotypes Among Daters

Employing questionnaires of 381 college students, this study examines the reasons why Latinos, Asians, and whites choose to include or exclude blacks as potential dates. First, we find that past structural explanations for low rates of interracial intimacy explain current disparities less among young people today. Only 10 % of respondents cited a structural explanation, lack of familiarity, or contact, as the reason they excluded blacks as possible dates. Second, the reasons for black exclusion vary across racial–ethnic–gender groups. Among non-blacks, whites were the most open to dating blacks, followed by Latinos and Asians. Asians and Latinos were more likely to exclude blacks because of social disapproval, and whites were more likely to exclude blacks because of physical attraction. Black women were more highly excluded than black men and more excluded because of their perceived aggressive personalities or behavior and physical attraction. Black men were more excluded because of social disapproval. Thus, persistent racial ideology continues to drive the social distance between blacks and non-blacks, particularly toward black females.     

Racial Identity and Racial Treatment of Mexican Americans

How racial barriers play in the experiences of Mexican Americans has been hotly debated. Some consider Mexican Americans similar to European Americans of a century ago that arrived in the United States with modest backgrounds but were eventually able to participate fully in society. In contrast, others argue that Mexican Americans have been racialized throughout U.S. history, and this limits their participation in society. The evidence of persistent educational disadvantages across generations and frequent reports of discrimination and stereotyping supports the racialization argument. In this paper, we explore the ways in which race plays a role in the lives of Mexican Americans by examining how education, racial characteristics, social interactions, relate to racial outcomes. We use the Mexican American Study Project, a unique data set based on a 1965 survey of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles and San Antonio combined with surveys of the same respondents and their adult children in 2000, thereby creating a longitudinal and intergenerational data set. First, we found that darker Mexican Americans, therefore appearing more stereotypically Mexican, report more experiences of discrimination. Second, darker men report much more discrimination than lighter men and than women overall. Third, more educated Mexican Americans experience more stereotyping and discrimination than their less educated counterparts, which is partly due to their greater contact with whites. Lastly, having greater contact with whites leads to experiencing more stereotyping and discrimination. Our results are indicative of the ways in which Mexican Americans are racialized in the United States.     

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Leisure-time Physical Activity in California: Patterns and Mechanisms

Evidence has shown that racial/ethnic minorities in the United States are less likely than whites to engage in leisure-time physical activity (LTPA); yet few studies to date have included Asian subgroups in the analyses and mechanisms underlying these disparities are not well known. This study uses data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (N = 37,164) to examine racial/ethnic disparities in self-reported adherence to LTPA recommendations and to explore the mediating roles of socioeconomic status (SES), acculturation, and neighborhood perceptions. Nine racial/ethnic groups were included: non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, Mexicans, and six largest Asian subgroups. Results confirm that racial/ethnic minorities are, in general, less likely than whites to meet LTPA recommendations, whereas heterogeneity is also evident across Asian subgroups. No significant disparity is revealed for the Japanese and Filipinos but whites are advantaged compared to all other Asian groups. Educational attainment, percent of lifetime spent in the United States and access to park, playground, or open space are significantly associated with meeting LTPA recommendations. SES and acculturation play differential roles in explaining group disparities for blacks, Mexicans, and some Asian subgroups. Perceived neighborhood environment does not mediate LTPA disparities by race/ethnicity. Net of these mediators, the advantages of whites in meeting LTPA recommendations persist for blacks, Mexicans, the Chinese, and Koreans. Future research should theorize and operationalize additional multilevel pathways linking race/ethnicity and LTPA while assessing measurement errors in the existing constructs.     

‘I Really Felt White’: Turning Points in Whiteness Through Interracial Contact

Interracial contact has been much debated as a possible solution to the stereotyping and prejudice that are part of the foundation of racial inequality. The focus of most of the research on interracial contact has been on whether such contact can change whites’ attitudes. This paper, while exploring changes in whites’ attitudes based on their contact with people of colour, also shows, through analysis of autobiographical writing by young whites, how interracial contact may change white perceptions of what it means to be white.     

Young,Black, and (Still) in the Red: Parental Wealth,Race, and Student Loan Debt

Taking out student loans to assist with the costs of postsecondary schooling in the US has become the norm in recent decades. The debt burden young adults acquire during the higher education process, however, is increasingly stratified with black young adults holding greater debt burden than whites. Using data from the NLSY 1997 cohort, we examine racial differences in student loan debt acquisition and parental net wealth as a predictor contributing to this growing divide. We have four main results. First, confirming prior research, black young adults have substantially more debt than their white counterparts. Second, we find that this difference is partially explained by differences in wealth, family background, postsecondary educational differences, and family contributions to college. Third, young adults’ net worth explain a portion of the black–white disparity in debt, suggesting that both differences in accumulation of debt and ability to repay debt in young adulthood explain racial disparities in debt. Fourth, the black–white disparity in debt is greatest at the highest levels of parents’ net worth. Our findings show that while social and economic experiences can help explain racial disparities in debt, the situation is more precarious for black youth, who are not protected by their parents’ wealth. This suggests that the increasing costs of higher education and corresponding rise in student loan debt are creating a new form of stratification for recent cohorts of young adults, and that student loan debt may be a new mechanism by which racial economic disparities are inherited across generations.     

Predicting Savings for White and Black Young Adults: An Early Look at Racial Disparities in Savings and the Potential Role of Children’s Development Accounts (CDAs)

This paper explores predictors of young adults’ savings using propensity score analysis and logistic regression with separate, longitudinal samples of whites and blacks aged 17–23 from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We ask who saves among adolescents and young adults and whether the likelihood of having a savings account and the amount saved in young adulthood can be predicted by two factors: (1) having a savings account during adolescence and (2) having families who own assets. The majority of white (90%) and black (64%) young adults had savings; however, blacks saved about 3% the amount saved by whites, suggesting that young adults’ savings may be patterned after disparities in the distribution of assets and families may transfer a financial advantage to young adults. Logistic regression results find that among whites, future orientation was a significant predictor of having a savings account in young adulthood. A notable trend level finding was that white young adults were more likely to have a savings account when they had a savings account as adolescents. Among blacks, academic achievement and household size were significant predictors of having a savings account in young adulthood. If confirmed in future research, findings suggest that Children’s Development Accounts may be one way to reduce racial disparities in savings by intervening at a young age and providing universal accounts to improve savings across the life course.     

Racism Reported by Direct Care Workers in Long-Term Care Settings

This article focuses on reports of racism experienced by direct care workers (DCWs). These DCWs provide the majority of hands-on care to older residents/clients that need help with activities of daily living such as bathing and dressing in long-term care (LTC) settings. Interviews were conducted with 644 DCWs working in three types of LTC settings. Proportionate random sampling techniques were used to select 49 LTC agencies from a five-county area in northeast Ohio. The DCWs included nurse assistants in nursing homes, resident assistants in assisted living facilities, and home care aides in home health agencies. Analyses reported include frequencies, chi-square tests, and analysis of variance. Hearing racial and ethnic remarks, particularly from residents/clients, was widely reported by DCWs. Despite this, DCWs were likely to believe that remarks from residents/clients were not intended to hurt their feelings. Although DCWs heard fewer racial/ethnic remarks from family members or other staff, they were likely to believe that such remarks were intended to hurt their feelings. At the organizational level, DCW reports of hearing racial/ethnic remarks in nursing homes were more frequent than those in other LTC settings. Further, DCWs in organizations in which racial differences between them and the residents/clients that they served was very large reported hearing significantly more racial/ethnic remarks. These findings have important implications for addressing racism in LTC agencies with anti-discrimination policies and programs.     

Race-Ethnic Differences in Sexual Health Knowledge

Despite extensive research examining the correlates of unintended fertility, it remains a puzzle as to why racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to experience an unintended birth than non-Hispanic whites. This paper focuses on sexual literacy, a potential precursor of unintended fertility. Analyses use a unique dataset of unmarried young adults aged 18?C29, the 2009 Survey of Unmarried Young Adults?? Contraceptive Knowledge and Practices, to examine beliefs regarding pregnancy risks, pregnancy fatalism, and contraceptive side effects. At the bivariate level, foreign-born Hispanics hold more erroneous beliefs about the risk of pregnancy than other groups, and non-Hispanic blacks are more likely to believe in contraceptive side effects than non-Hispanic whites. Both foreign-born Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to hold a fatalistic view toward pregnancy. Race-ethnic differences are attenuated for pregnancy misperceptions and fatalism in multivariate models controlling for sources of health information, sexual and fertility experiences, and sociodemographic characteristics. However, non-Hispanic blacks remain more likely than non-Hispanic whites to believe there is a high chance of reduced sexual desire and serious health consequences when using hormonal contraceptives. These differences may contribute to race-ethnic variation in contraceptive use and, ultimately, unintended fertility.     

Discrimination and Help-Seeking: Use of Professional Services and Informal Support Among African Americans,Black Caribbeans,and Non-Hispanic Whites with a Mental Disorder

This study used data from the National Survey of American Life to investigate the use of professional services and informal support among African Americans, black Caribbeans, and non-Hispanic whites. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the association of race and perceived discrimination with the use of professional services only, informal support only, both professional services and informal support, or no help at all. Fifty-one percent of the sample used both professional services and informal support, 16% relied on professional services only, 20% used informal support only, and 13% did not seek help. Before controlling for other factors, African Americans and black Caribbeans were significantly less likely to receive either professional or informal help compared with whites. When everyday racial discrimination was included, racial differences in not seeking help were no longer significant. Household income also influenced the relationship between race and help-seeking. Other factors significantly associated with help-seeking include age, gender, education, employment status, insurance coverage, type and severity of disorder, and subjective closeness to family and friends. The association of these factors and implication of the findings for future research and mental health service delivery will be discussed.     

The Stigma of Privilege: Racial Identity and Stigma Consciousness Among Biracial Individuals

Racial identification is a complex and dynamic process for multiracial individuals, who as members of multiple racial groups have been shown to self-identify or be identified by others differently, depending on the social context. For biracial individuals who have white and minority ancestry, such identity shifting (e.g., from minority to white, or vice versa) may be a way to cope with the threats to their racial identity that can be signaled by the presence or absence of whites and/or minorities in their social environment. We examine whether stigma consciousness (Pinel in J Pers Soc Psychol 76(1):114–128, 1999; i.e., the chronic awareness of the stereotyping and prejudice that minorities face) interacts with the sociocultural context to predict social identity threat, belonging, and racial identification. Using experience sampling methodology, minority/white biracial individuals (27 Asian/white, 22 black/white, and 26 Latino/white) reported the racial composition of their environment, social identity threat for their component racial identities, overall feelings of belonging, and racial identification over a 1-week period. Results suggest that stigma consciousness predicts the extent to which biracial people identify with their white background and experience belonging in different racial contexts. We discuss racial identity shifting in response to context-based threats as a protective strategy for biracial people, and identity where participants’ sociocultural contexts and experiences with racial identity and threat differ as a result of their minority racial group or ascribed race.     

Understanding racial literacy through acts of (un)masking: Latinx teachers in a new Latinx diaspora community

As Latinx teachers are recruited to work in U.S. schools, a continued agenda to understand their experiences is warranted. This multiple case study considers the storytelling of six Latinx teachers in a new Latinx diaspora community. It documents both their racial literacy (the ability to resolve racially stressful issues) and their experiences with (un)masking (literal and figurative ways to cover or embrace racial markers). This study reveals the tensions that arise when Latinx teachers attempt to define their identity in social spaces where their languages, bodies, and names, among other markers, are racialized when read by others. Implications for teacher education include a call to include storytelling as a pedagogical tool to develop Latinx teachers’ racial literacy skills. By experiencing storytelling in their own schooling, Latinx teachers are more likely to model such racial literacy skills in their schooling communities; thereby, empowering a generation of students to enact more humanizing behaviors.     

‘Chinese-Mexicans’ and ‘Blackest Asians’: Filipino American youth resisting the racial binary

This study provides a deeper understanding of the interracial connections not just between non-whites and whites, but among non-whites. Filipino American youth attending high school in New York City contended with a dominant bipolar racial discourse that marginalizes the racialized experiences of Asians and Pacific Islanders. However, instead of feeling invisible or marginalized, data point to how they negotiated a black–white racial discourse to decide when and how they enter dialogues about race. Filipino youth reconceptualized this racial binary to position themselves on a continuum to form the racial ‘middle ground’ between blacks and whites. Importantly, rather than a racial hierarchy that places whites at the top, youth used discursive strategies to place themselves on a racial continuum that emphasizes the interconnectedness among racial minorities.     

Coloring the War on Drugs: Arrest Disparities in Black,Brown, and White

Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) data, this study examines racial disparities in arrests for drug offending. Of the total 8984 NLSY97 participants, the study sample was restricted to the 4868 respondents who had ever reported using drugs (black = 1191, Hispanic = 980, white = 2697). The study questions are as follows: (1) Are there racial disparities in arrests for drug use, after controlling for incidence of drug use as well as other socio-demographic variables? (2) Are there racial disparities in arrests for drug dealing, after controlling for incidence of drug dealing as well as other socio-demographic variables? Compared with whites, blacks were more likely to be arrested for drug offending, even after controlling for incidence and other socio-demographic variables. Several socio-demographic variables, particularly gender, were also associated with arrests for drug offending. Bans on racial profiling and other legislative and policy changes are considered as potential strategies to ameliorate drug enforcement disparities.     

Race,SES, and Obesity Among Men

Over the last decade, obesity has increased significantly among men but few national studies have empirically examined racial and socioeconomic differences in obesity among men. In this paper, we utilized logistic regression to evaluate the potential associations that race and socioeconomic status may have with obesity among men in the National Survey of American Life: an in-person household survey of non-institutionalized U.S. blacks and whites who lived in communities where at least 10% of the community residents were black Americans. A greater proportion of black men were likely to be obese than white men, but no interaction among race, SES, and obesity was detected when potential confounding variables were included. There was not a relationship between SES and obesity for white men, but there was an apparent positive relationship between SES and obesity for black men that did not remain significant in adjusted models. No relationship was found between age and obesity among black men, though white men who were 55 and older were more likely than those 18–34 to be obese in confounder adjusted models. Among white men, no relationships were found between obesity and education, household income, or marital status. Black men in the lowest income category were less likely to be obese than those in the highest income category, in bivariate but not adjusted models. These findings suggest that the way racial, economic, stress and behavioral factors combine to affect obesity in black and white men may be different.