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This was the financial currency 150 years ago in almost half of "America." And on several currencies appeared images of people picking cotton. Images of slaves. These slaves did not just represent "America's" wealth. They were the wealth. By the year 1863, their value exceeded 3 billion dollars. Since then, "America" as a country has transformed slowly and painfully, breaking down racial barriers... barrier after barrier. I am very optimistic about the future. I have witnessed changes that surprised me in the "United States." Based on this, we might have a Black president in less than 40 years. I predict within 25 years or less. Wealth is different. Wealth is where past injustices "(Mirsa Paradan), writer" breed present suffering. "(Cory Booker), U.S. Senator" I think the racial wealth gap proves we have a long way to go to achieve the ideals of equality in this country. The racial wealth gap is a measure "(Thomas Shapiro), sociologist" for the white family and the African American family that falls at the median line, the average. The average wealth of a white family, between their savings, assets, and minus their debts, amounts to $171,000. The average income of a Black family is $17,600. And this gap continues to grow and grow. "Average Wealth by Race" Why? "NETFLIX Original Documentary Series" We consider these facts self-evident. We have the right to go to any school in "America," but we cannot afford the tuition. I wake up every morning in a house built by slaves. There is no need to postpone the American Dream forever. All people are born equal. If they do not get their equal share in the house, they will burn it down entirely. I picked cotton and built railroads under the lash... for nothing. For nothing. "The Racial Wealth Gap" In January 1865, the Civil War was nearing its end. Union General "William Sherman" and Secretary of War "Edwin Stanton" gathered 20 Black leaders and asked them what the Black community needed to build their lives as free people. The answer from Reverend "Garrison Frazier," the group's leader, was simple. "The best way to take care of ourselves is to own land." Four days after the meeting, "Sherman" issued Special Field Order No. 15. He allocated hundreds of thousands of square miles and said, "Each family will receive a plot of not more than 40 acres of arable land." And the day before his second inauguration, "Lincoln" signed a law that formalized the plan. "America" was almost a different country. But things did not turn out that way. Weeks later, "Lincoln" died. His successor, "Andrew Johnson," quickly reversed the decision. "Proclamation of Amnesty" "Restoration of all property rights except for the slaves." As soon as equal rights were mentioned, a white backlash began demanding white rights. By the end of that year, hundreds of freed slaves who had received land were evicted. One year after slavery, President "Johnson" complained of discrimination against whites. In his words, "in favor of the Negroes." But slaves had been making fortunes for their masters for 246 years. And white people were able to keep those fortunes. And fortunes have a wonderful quality that wealth holders know well: they grow, across generations! Ask "Jay-Z." "I bought a piece of art for a million dollars, two years later it was worth two million, after years it was worth 8 million." "I'm burning to give this piece to my children." It is indeed said that wealth begets wealth. Turning a million into 8 million, raise your hands if you want to accept this deal. There is no need for a dangerous, big gamble to see your wealth grow significantly. But it takes time. If you live in a stable country and can invest for the long term, investments usually appreciate. That's why you need to know about compound interest. "Compound Interest - No Better Method Than The American Way!" Imagine you took $100 and invested it in 1863. "Invest Your Money Wisely" The average annual return, accounting for inflation in the U.S. stock market, was about 7 percent. The next year, the value increases a little, then more and more. Today, that $100 would be worth over $3.5 million. Even today, African Americans earn significantly less money than white people. And they are much more likely to be unemployed. Studies show that employers still practice racial discrimination. But even if we could eliminate the disparities now, centuries of inequality have accumulated and been reinforced through land and property. Typically, in this century, wealth can be held through property. For the American middle class, real estate accounts for two-thirds of wealth. So if you are white, your parents or grandparents likely have a similar story. My parents bought a house about 50 years ago and paid $14,000 for it then. "(Beth Jacobson), Mortgage Expert" And it is worth between $600,000 and $700,000 today. Most people don't understand the importance of housing, location, and the opportunities that exist in that community. The government played a big role in making this happen. During the Great Depression, more than half of the city's homeowners fell behind on their payments. Men sat in parks all day, unemployed, muttering to themselves. So "Franklin Delano Roosevelt" acted to address the situation with the "New Deal." ...by providing financing to alleviate debt burdens. The "New Deal" launched home loans for the people. The American Dream and homeownership became synonymous. But the new Federal Housing Administration did not insure loans in areas it deemed too risky. And this risk was calculated based on race. "For Sale" The relocation of a Black family was considered a threat to property values. Do you think the relocation of a Negro family here will affect the community as a whole? I think property values will immediately decline if they are allowed to move in here, no matter how many there are. When the Housing Administration drew maps for loan areas, neighborhoods with a high concentration of Black families were colored red. And the red coloring was not symbolic. Actual maps were created showing entire neighborhoods colored red. The effects of racial discrimination became a justification for more discrimination. If two-thirds of the wealth of the American middle class is in the form of homeownership, then the opportunity to own a home is now unavailable. Federal housing discrimination affected all aspects of life: available jobs, the schools children attended, the level of safety, and whether property values increased or not. Housing discrimination was only outlawed in 1968. Fair housing for all is now part of American life. But this did not mean that housing discrimination ended. Think about what it took for "Cory Booker's" family to get their house in 1969. My parents started looking for houses but found that strange things were happening. Real estate agents, if they saw them beforehand, would only take them to see houses within African American communities. And if it was a house in a white neighborhood, they would tell my parents, "It's sold." So "Booker's" parents organized a sting operation with a civil rights group. The next time their request was denied, two white people came forward and made an offer on their behalf. Their offer was accepted, and on the day of closing, the white couple did not show up, but my father arrived with a lawyer. The real estate agent was very angry and stood up and shoved my father's lawyer. They literally started arguing and fighting, and there was a dog in the corner, and the agent let the dog loose on my father. My father tried to push the big dog away, and the window broke in the process. But in the end, things calmed down, and the agent was desperate and started begging my father, "You don't want to live here, your people and your kind are not here." He was afraid that a Black family moving into the neighborhood would somehow lead to the demise of his business and a drop in property values. "Cory Booker" and his parents got the house, and this house helped build his future. Its value increased significantly. My father moved to another house in the same town, a bigger house, and we went from poverty to a comfortable middle-class family in the "United States of America," and we thrived. This is not a typical story. 100 years of racial discrimination since slavery has left a huge gap in homeownership. In the 1990s, banks and politicians realized what that meant. "(Alan Greenspan), Chairman of the Federal Reserve" It's an opportunity. Discrimination is immoral, "Rainbow/PUSH Coalition" but it was increasingly considered unprofitable or unbeneficial. In the 1990s, the government pushed to open up the mortgage market. To help families who had been historically excluded from homeownership. Black homeownership began to increase. And the wealth gap seemed to be starting to narrow after a long wait. We have people eager for these loans, but they want regular loans like everyone else got between 1934 and 1980. Instead, African Americans were twice as likely as white Americans to get subprime mortgages, loans that start with low rates and whose interest continues to rise for low-credit borrowers. But 1 in 5 Black borrowers with good credit ended up accepting a subprime mortgage. I was a loan officer at "Wells Fargo" in the subprime lending department. I heard "Beth's" calls at the conference "Mayor and City Council of Baltimore vs. Wells Fargo" where "Wells Fargo" intended to target Black churches. They were labeled "Wealth Building Seminars" and were about home buying. The pastors of these churches thought it was a great idea and a step to help their congregants in the community. The bank would give the church a donation for each member of the congregation who took out a mortgage. And the congregants didn't realize that the loan officer they were talking to would sell them a subprime mortgage, even if they had an 800 credit score. 4.5, 6. The stock market crash. The worst financial crisis since World War II. ...fueled by subprime mortgages that were neither sound nor responsible. ...due to high-risk subprime mortgage borrowers. The Black community lost 53 percent of its wealth. "Change in Home Value Rate" "Jail them! Don't bail them out!" It's painful to see so many of these people, who were at the top of the financial world, made irresponsible decisions, people who succeeded, institutions that succeeded, but for communities like mine, struggling all the time, and there was no vision or plan to try to help these people sort things out again. Many of the country's largest mortgage lenders have settled discrimination lawsuits. Although they denied targeting Black borrowers, "Wells Fargo" agreed to pay $175 million. Unlike the "New Deal" launched by "Franklin Delano Roosevelt," the government program to address the housing crisis, valued at $400 billion, its funds did not go to homeowners. "Distressed Asset Relief Program to Support Homeowners" This aid, and the rapid spread of this video, led to a wave of reactions. Who among you wants to pay for your neighbor's mortgage who has an extra bathroom and can't pay his bills, raise your hand. What if... - Mr. President "Obama," are you listening? - Do you want... We're thinking of having a tea party in "Chicago" in July. Capitalists who want to show up at "Lake Michigan," I'll start organizing. "The United States of America!" If we study the idea of equality where Black and white people have the same average educational attainment, that would slightly reduce the wealth gap. Or perhaps not reduce it at all. The Federal Reserve Bank of "St. Louis" conducted a study that found that white college graduates over several decades have seen their wealth grow significantly as expected. However, Black college graduates during the same period saw their wealth decline. The reason is not that graduates earn different amounts of money. The reason lies in how the money is spent. An African American college graduate is most likely the most successful person in their family and therefore relatives ask them for help, and they do help them. This does not mean that white college graduates do not do good deeds or are less generous or anything like that, but it means that they are like others within their environment and family. African Americans were the wealth for 246 years. And for another hundred years, a set of laws excluded them from accumulating their own wealth, and discrimination continues to this day. The wealth gap has grown significantly over many years and eliminating this gap will require something very exceptional. How do you eliminate this huge wealth gap between Black and white people? Don't do it! Reparations. - What amount are we talking about? - We don't really know. I'll accept a check on my behalf! Does anyone on stage support these reparations for African Americans? - Do you support them? - Yes. The Bible says we must repair the breach. And a breach has indeed occurred, and we must acknowledge it. This is a price passed down through generations. We cannot hope... to prosper as a nation while so many wounds remain unhealed. These things began with slavery and did not recede with time, and that is because government policy continues to provide conditions that perpetuate the wealth gap. Like Billie Holiday's song. "The haves do not lose." It is indeed a persistent problem. "Whenever the question of reparations or preferential treatment for Negroes is raised, some of our friends shrink back in fear. They agree that Negroes should be given equality, but that is all they will get. On the surface, this seems logical. But it is not realistic. Because it is clear that if a man enters a race 300 years after another man, he will have to perform exceptionally well to catch up to the second runner." Translation by "Mouryal Dhou"