Author taps hidden history to advise Black America on closing racial wealth gap
The American dream has been a dream deferred for many Black Americans.
More than 17 percent live below the poverty line. The median household income for Black families is almost half of that of white families. Black students are less likely to graduate from college and be hired into high earning jobs. And those who do make it to the workforce earn 15 cents less on the dollar than their white counterparts and carry a heavier burden of student loan debt.
These situations are not due to bad luck or bad choices – it’s by design, says Rodney Brooks, author of “The Rise and Fall of the Freedman’s Savings Bank and its Lasting Socio-Economic Impact on Black America.”
Rodney Brooks
An award-winning journalist, writer and author and my specialty is retirement planning and other personal finance issues. I have written for many national publications, including USA TODAY, The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, AARP and National Geographic. I am available to speak on personal finance, financial literacy and the racial wealth gap.
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The author tells the history of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, how it grew much too quickly, why it failed and the impact on Black America. The Freedman’s Bank offered a safe depository for formerly enslaved people, expanded quickly and gained millions in deposits – mostly ranging from $5 to $50. But inexperience and corruption doomed it to failure, costing may of the small depositors their savings.
