Black Americans Have Lost $70 Trillion Because of Racism

Black Americans face a staggering wealth gap. The most recent statistics show that, in 2016, a typical middle-class white family in the US had $149,703 in accumulated wealth, while a middle-class Black family had only $13,024 — meaning Black families have 8.6% of the wealth of white families. 

According to Shawn Rochester, author of "The Black Tax: The Cost of Being Black in America," the cause of this gap can be traced back to slavery.