Dalton Conley Being Black Living In The Red Summary

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In “Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth, and Social Policy in America” Dalton Conley argues when addressing the vast economic difference between blacks and whites, it is essential to consider wealth ownership of each group in addition to their socioeconomic status indicators such as income. The author suggests that accumulated wealth and class position matter more than race, and without radical policies on wealth reform the wealth gap between whites and blacks will continue to grow (Conley, 2009).
In order to examine the effect of race on socioeconomic performance, Conley compares blacks and whites after taking their wealth difference into consideration; his findings illustrate no significant difference between blacks and whites on education or occupation (Conley, 2009). Unlike conventional …show more content…

Even though race and class impact each other, the main significant basis of racial inequality is the difference in net wealth of blacks and whites who share similar income, occupation, and educational levels. While standard SES indicators can be used to attain valuable information, without looking at assets owned by individuals and households they are merely limited in explanation of class and class dynamics as the main components of the capitals mode production (Conley, 2009). By claiming the inequality is no longer embedded in labor market and unfair opportunity, he suggest the race-based policies are outdated and should be changed to address the issues of social distribution and class-property relations; without a radical and progressive wealth reform, the black-white wealth gap will keep on increasing "merely eliminating remaining discrimination – be it

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