Structural Racism and Community Building - The Aspen Institute

THE RACIAL DISPARITY PICTURE
The statistical portrait of the American population broken out by race reveals persistent
disparities between people of color and white Americans in almost every quality of life
arena, the most basic being income, education, and health.
The racial patterns represented in the following figures are typical. Other indicators of
social and economic status present a similar picture. In some arenas, racial disparities have
shrunk over time, but the correlation between race and well-being in America remains
powerful.
Poverty Rates
White
(Non-Hispanic)
Asian/
Pacific Islander
Poor
Low Income
Black
(Non-Hispanic)
Hispanic
Native American
All Races
Source: Urban
Institute calculations
from the 1997
National Survey of
America’s Families.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
PERCENT OF POPULATION
EITHER POOR OR LOW INCOME
Median Household Income of Racial and Ethnic Groups—1990 and 2000
White
(Non-Hispanic)
Black
(Non-Hispanic)
Hispanic
1990
2000
Source: John R. Logan, “Separate and
Unequal: The Neighborhood Gap for Blacks
and Hispanics in Metropolitan America,”
(Albany, N.Y.: Lewis Mumford Center for
Comparative Urban and Regional
Research, October 13, 2003) 3.
$0 $20,000 $40,000 $60,000
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