Racism and Its Role in Poverty: A Theoretical Analysis

the six theories of poverty, racism as a cause of poverty appears to be the most persuasive. Though racism cannot account for poverty among white people, it is able to define poverty among blacks and Hispanics - both of which are groups with higher poverty rates. Racism as a systematic issue in society can also explain certain points and imbalances that are important to other theories of poverty, including the labor market, culture, and single parents.
According to the March 2013 Current Population Survey, poverty among blacks is at 26% and poverty among Hispanics is at 24%. For white people, the percent is much lower at 13%. Based on these numbers, it is clear to see that poverty among blacks and Hispanics is significantly higher than poverty

Accordingly, this theory takes certain points made by other theories of poverty and puts them in the context of race, making it a more comprehensive explanation of poverty. In examining labor, non-work among black men aged 25-40 without high school degrees has been increasing at a more rapid rate than the rate for non-work among white men in the similar situation since the 1970s. The theory of labor markets in explaining poverty summarizes that those who do not work steady jobs or work regularly are more likely to be poor. If black men are not working as much as they used to, it should explain why poverty among black people is higher than it is for white people. The reason for their non-work can be explained by a number of reasons, including disincentives, labor markets, and culture, but it is best explained by institutional problems and structural

There exists symbolic racism and statistical discrimination, which play into society’s biases and put black people at a disadvantage. Symbolic racism suggests black people have different social values and statistical discrimination explains the hostility towards black people as a group. The relationship between symbolic racism and statistical discrimination is that the two forms of racism feed into each other. In having experiences with a few black individuals, the person judging them might subconsciously generalize all black people based on that experience, which is statistical discrimination. This leads to symbolic racism because they now perceive black people as a group to be different. This is evident in the hiring practices of some employers, both white and black, who have explained their biases against hiring black people. Employers cite issues based on their observations with black employees, claiming that when some of their black employees “talk black,” customers are driven away, or that employers have had experiences with employees who were lazy, leading to a general distrust of the commitment of black employees. It is not wrong for the employers’ experiences to shape their perceptions, but generalized perceptions have put black people as a group in an undesirable