{"product_id":"the-racial-wealth-gap-a-brief-history-hardcover","title":"The Racial Wealth Gap: A Brief History - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMehrsa Baradaran\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy has the racial wealth gap between the median white households and median Black households remained stagnant over the past century, never narrowing below six to one? Leading expert on race and financial equality Mehrsa Baradaran attempts to answer this question in this sweeping yet accessible history. She shows how decades of the laws rooted in white supremacy--from slavery and the broken Reconstruction-era promise of \"40 acres and a mule,\" to the racist policies of the Jim Crow and New Deal eras--have restricted Black access to capital, credit, homeownership, and other mechanisms of wealth creation while subsidizing the rising economic fortunes of white families.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Racial Wealth Gap\u003c\/em\u003e, Baradaran outlines two tectonic forces that have driven apart the economic fortunes of white and Black families: wealth \u003cem\u003ecreation\u003c\/em\u003e for white Americans, who have been systematically receiving financial subsidies in the century and a half since emancipation, and wealth \u003cem\u003edestruction\u003c\/em\u003e for Black Americans--either by vigilante violence or by official means, such as allowing Black banks to collapse or building highways through segregated Black communities. These forces, combined with the racist notion that Black communities fail to rise because of their own moral, intellectual, or economic shortcomings, have kept Black families behind their white counterparts, despite decades of civil rights activism and national economic growth--a deep injustice that can only be achieved through reparations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn infuriating and compelling read, \u003cem\u003eThe Racial Wealth Gap\u003c\/em\u003e offers a devastating analysis of one of America's most pressing systemic issues.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003ePraise for \u003cem\u003eThe Color of Money\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Extraordinary. . . . [Mehrsa] Baradaran focuses on a part of the American story that's often ignored: the way African Americans were locked out of the financial engines that create wealth in America, and the way the rhetoric of equal treatment under the law was weaponized, as soon as slavery ended, against efforts to achieve economic equality.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Ezra Klein, \u003cem\u003eThe Ezra Klein Show\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Read this book. It explains so much about the moment. . . . Beautiful, heartbreaking work.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Ta-Nehisi Coates, best-selling author of the National Book Award Winner \u003cem\u003eBetween the World and Me\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003ePraise for \u003cem\u003eHow the Other Half Banks\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In a society built on credit as a means to wealth, low-income families deserve a much better deal, [Mehrsa] Baradaran argues. People do not opt for expensive products because they do not know any better, or are somehow reckless or irresponsible. They do so because they have no choice. And that is a national embarrassment.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Ben McLannahan, \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Well researched and clearly written. . . . The bankers who fully understand the system are heavily invested in it. Books like this are written for the rest of us.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Nancy Folbre, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 192\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 x 8.4 x 5.6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 03, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978277519661,"sku":"9780393881820","price":24.19,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/x4jbl9i4qb9780393881820.webp?v=1775801411","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/the-racial-wealth-gap-a-brief-history-hardcover","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}