wealth gap

Massachusetts’ Black and Hispanic residents have saved far less money for retirement than their white counterparts, according to a new report released Wednesday by Boston Indicators.

When the NAACP National Convention came to Boston last summer, it coincided with a time of controversy for the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, as there were concerns around a lack of diversity and unequal treatment of Black staff and vendors.

The vision of a Black Wall Street in Boston embodies more than just a shopping district. It embodies a movement toward economic empowerment, community unity, and a reduction of the race wealth gap.

Most white Americans have limited knowledge of the country’s wealth gap along racial lines or underestimate its size, a recent national survey has found.

It is said education is the great equalizer, pitted against class divisions and economic and racial divides. That has been a truism for many decades in this country: If you straighten up, work hard, tune out the noise and distractions, focus on your studies and education, you can be anything you believe in and put your mind to. The reality has always been different.

Discussions about closing the Black wealth gap often focus on aspects of personal wealth building, such as financial literacy or savings and investment. The implication is that the gap is due to a lack of effort and financial education.

On Jan. 26, President Joe Biden took steps to bring the nation towards the long-promised but never realized pledge of racial justice. Four executive orders signed that day make clear that the new administration will take meaningful and corrective actions.

The wealth gap between Boston’s high earners and low-income communities of color continues to widen, but there’s hope, according to the Boston Foundation’s latest report.

It is an open secret that multi-millionaires and billionaires, many of them foreign buyers, are purchasing luxury condos across Boston. Some are inhabiting these properties, but the majority are being deployed as global “wealth storage units,” a place to park assets that will hopefully hold their value in volatile economic times.