 One of the more surprising things about the racial wealth gap in the U.S. is just how little it's changed over the decades. The average White household has about seven times more wealth than the average Black household, according to the most recent Federal Reserve data. That disparity hasn't budged much since the civil rights movement, despite a wave of laws protecting against racial discrimination at work, in housing, and other economic realms. In our third season of the Pay Check podcast, which debuts today, we dig into this yawning divide. For eight episodes over eight weeks, my co-host Jackie Simmons and I will be interrogating the persistence of Black-White inequality in America.
In our first installment, Jackie looks into her own family's history of wealth, or lack thereof. The extended Simmons clan inherited a patch of farmland in East Texas in the 1900s, but owning land in Texas wasn't as lucrative as it seemed. Then Jordyn Holman takes us on on a tour of her new hometown, Atlanta, a place that's become a mecca of Black wealth and upward mobility—sort of. Working on this show, we've reckoned with just how deeply the racial wealth gap is embedded in U.S. history and our economic system. Wealth is something that builds and grows over time. Decisions big and small from decades ago, like the tiniest change to the tax code, can have lasting consequences. Taxes come up a lot when you start to scratch beneath the surface of this particular inequality—this new Businessweek story shows how cities are levying unfair taxes on many Black homeowners, for example. While legacy attitudes and public policies can't be undone overnight, we also found communities and lawmakers around the U.S. who are pushing for changes of all kinds. It sure seems like we need it.—Rebecca Greenfield | 
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