Minorities Hurt The Worst In This Recession

A few days ago I wrote a post about how the Republican recession has been devestating for the wealth of Americans -- at least 90% of all Americans (the rich have actually increased the amount of wealth they have). The median wealth of all Americans dropped from $126,400 in 2007 to only $77,300 in 2010 (a drop of nearly 39%). And this drop, felt only by the bottom 90%, cut across all demographic lines -- age, race, education, or family situation.

But while all of the bottom 90% were affected by this significant loss of wealth, that does not mean that everyone was equally affected. The sad fact is that some groups were more negatively affected than others. As the chart above shows, the loss in wealth has been particularly bad for African-Americans and Hispanics.

While Whites lost about 23% of their median wealth due to the recession, minorities were hit much harder -- with African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians all losing roughly 60% of their groups' median wealth. As a result, Whites now have a 15 to 1 wealth advantage over Hispanics, and a 22 to 1 wealth advantage over African-Americans.

This does not mean there aren't poor Whites. There are (and a majority of the poor receiving government aid are White). The rich, who are mostly Whites, bring up the median wealth figure for Whites. Still, it is undeniable that being white was an advantage in weathering this recession. Just at the time minorities were beginning to make some gains in wealth in our society, the Republican-induced recession comes along and wipes out those gains.

It should go without saying that something needs to be done to help restore some of the wealth destroyed among all groups, but especially among minorities. And there are some in Congress who have a proposal to do that. A group of Democrats in the House of Representatives has proposed raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour. That may sound like a lot to some people, but all that would do is restore the buying power of the minimum wage to the level it was at in 1968.

That, by itself, would not solve all the problems caused by the wealth that was lost -- but it would be a good start. It would lift millions of Americans out of poverty by giving them a decent wage, especially minorities (who have larger percentages of their groups working for minimum wage). But it would be good for everyone, since it would create an upward pressure on wages for all workers.

I know the Republicans (and their corporate masters) will whine about how this would hurt job creation and cost some workers their jobs. That is a false argument. Studies have shown that raising the minimum wage does not cost jobs or hurt job creation. Businesses will hire the number of workers they need (and not more or less than they need), because having too few workers or too many workers simply costs the business more money than paying a decent wage.

I doubt that the House will vote in favor of raising the minimum wage, because it is controlled by Republicans (since they care only for the rich). But they should. The wealth gaps between the rich and the rest of Americans (and between minorities and whites) must be remedied if this nation is too climb out of the current economic mess. Higher taxes on the rich, and serious job creation through a rebuilding of our infrastructure are needed, but so is an increase in the minimum wage.

Paying poverty wages is not good business. It is economic slavery. Economic justice is not just the right thing -- it is necessary for a healthy and growing economy.