Insight

The wealth gap between white and African American families is wider today than it was thirty years ago. At the current rate of progress, experts say it will take more than 80 years to close this gap. The good news is that there are policies that could more than close the gap in a single generation. In this piece I will explain what the racial wealth gap is, and talk through some of these policies in more depth.

The Racial Wealth Gap

The racial wealth gap is the difference in value between the assets (including, for example, homes, cars, etc) owned by white families and the assets owned by African American families. It’s a matter of simple math: the racial wealth gap is the sum of a bunch of differences. But why does it occur? What causes it? These two questions are actually different.

We know quite a bit about the factors that cause the racial wealth gap. For example, we know that African American families are less likely to be wealthy than white families. We know this is due to a combination of the lower savings rates of African American families, and the higher rates of debt (in particular, credit card debt) that African American families face. We also know that African American families are less likely to inherit wealth from their parents. This too is due to a combination of factors, including family wealth, but also the rate of home ownership and the rate of marriage.

That last sentence is important: the wealth gap is not just due to the racial gap in income. That’s partial, but it’s not the whole story. There is a wealth gap between white and African American families at every level of income. That is, even African Americans who earn a lot of money are less wealthy than white people with the same amount of income. But why does the wealth gap exist? What causes it? Why is it growing? These are hard questions. They are important questions. And they are difficult to answer precisely, because the wealth gap is the result of a large number of factors, interacting in complicated ways.

The reality is that today, Black Americans are represented in all kinds of jobs from fleet washing to investment banking. We can’t simply explain away the wealth gap by occupation alone. The best way to think about the wealth gap is that it is a feedback loop. Wealth begets wealth. If you are born into a wealthier family, you are more likely to attend a better school, which will give you a better education, and that will increase your earning potential. That will increase your chances of attending a good college, which will increase your chances of getting a good job, and so on. Now, this isn’t a mechanical relationship: there are a lot of other factors at play. But it is a huge factor, and it’s a feedback loop. Wealth begets wealth, and poverty begets poverty.

Solutions

So what can we do about it? Closing the racial wealth gap is going to require a combination of policy solutions. The good news is that we have a lot of good ideas, we just need to start implementing them.

One of the most important things we can do is target policies toward reducing debt. African American families carry a much larger debt burden than white families. Debt is a huge factor in the racial wealth gap, and fixing this problem will go a long way toward closing it. One of the best ways to reduce debt is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. That means stopping abusive lending practices, and increasing the regulation of the financial industry.

Another thing we can do is to provide incentives for savings. There is a large mismatch between the savings rates of African Americans and their white counterparts. This is partly due to lower incomes (since lower income people have a harder time saving), but it’s also due to lower rates of education (since people with more education tend to be better savers). One way to fix this is to provide lower-income African Americans with incentives to save. A good first step would be to expand Social Security.

A third thing we can do is to provide a universal basic income. A universal basic income would provide a guaranteed minimum income to every citizen, regardless of whether they are working or not, and would be high enough so that everyone has a certain standard of living. There are a few different versions of this idea, but the basic idea is that it would provide a floor on which people could build their savings (by saving the remainder of their income), and it would also allow people to take more risks with their careers, since they know that they are protected from a period of unemployment or underemployment.

A fourth thing we can do is to change the way we do housing policy. The current housing system is racist in more than one way. It is designed in a way that benefits the wealthy (particularly the wealthy who already own homes), and it is designed in a way that makes it harder for African Americans to own homes. We should pursue policies that provide greater access to home ownership (like subsidies for first time home owners) and greater access to wealth accumulation through home ownership (like mortgage interest tax deduction).

A fifth thing we can do is to provide greater access to education. This is a huge factor in the racial wealth gap, and it is also a huge factor in the racial gap in income. This is because education is a key to higher earnings, but is also a way for people to build their savings, and it’s a way for people to build their human capital.

Conclusion

Closing the racial wealth gap is going to require a combination of policy solutions. We have lots of good ideas. The most important thing that we need to do is to stop putting the burden on the people who are already struggling the most. We can’t ask people who don’t have any wealth to save more money. We can’t ask people who don’t have any wealth to pay for their own housing. We can’t ask people who have already been denied access to education and housing to take on more debt. The burden needs to be shared, and it needs to be shared more fairly.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to the activities that businesses do to contribute to a strong and sustainable society. This can include contributing to local communities, protecting the environment, supporting disadvantaged groups, and promoting equality. Businesses are increasingly taking CSR more seriously, because customers around the world are demanding it. During last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, for example, hundreds of companies came out in public support of the movement.

What Is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility is the idea that businesses should embrace the responsibility to contribute to society, not just with their products and services, but also through their policies and actions.

In recent years, CSR has become increasingly popular. It’s not just that businesses want to do the right thing, but that they also want to avoid bad publicity and regulation. Achieving success as a business really involves two main factors:

• Providing a great product or service
• Creating and maintaining a healthy business environment

Many businesses have found that they can do both by actively contributing to society – so it’s a win-win.

How is Corporate Social Responsibility Different from Philanthropy?

It’s important to note that the terms Corporate Social Responsibility and philanthropy are often used interchangeably. And there is a lot of overlap between the two. But there is a crucial difference. Philanthropy is largely about donating to good causes. CSR, on the other hand, is about bringing about change and creating a better world.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Practice

Here are some recent examples of CSR in practice.

1. Businesses Show Support for Black Lives Matter

Last year, hundreds of companies came out in public support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement was started in response to high-profile cases of police brutality against Black people, and many businesses saw this as an opportunity to demonstrate social responsibility by showing public support. Some companies have supported the movement financially too.

2. Companies Help Refugees

More and more companies are helping refugees, whether by providing jobs, donating money, or other resources. This is particularly common in the UK.

3. Promoting Gender Equality

Increasingly, companies are promoting gender equality more visibly. Whether this is mandating female representation on boards, or creating recruitment initiatives for female workers, companies are beginning to see the importance of fair and equal representation at all levels.

The importance of CSR

CSR is especially important because in our modern world, companies wield enormous power. In the United States, they may even wield more power than our Government (or at least they can be more capable of funding big social changes without so many bureaucratic and legal hurdles). Whether you like capitalism as a structure or not, the fact remains that corporations are powerful, and a corporation promoting a socially responsible cause can be a very powerful thing.

The fact is, as an individual, you do not have the same amount of power. Let me give you an example. Last year, I started a business with my girlfriend. Our idea was to design a new line of cosmetics specifically tailored to Black women. I managed to actually get some samples made, and they were quite good (according to her and her friends). We did all of our marketing online – we paid YouTube promoters to talk about the inequity of the market for cosmetics and the way they’re advertised, and to wear and talk about our products. We used an SEO company to make sure our website could be found easily, so people could buy from us. We even made a few memes that went viral on a small scale. But in the end, we had to close the company down. People just did not care enough about our mission to buy what we were offering. I learnt a valuable lesson here: the best way to get an industry to change is to motivate the big players to do it, because you can’t take them on yourself.

This is why CSR is so important. It’s the reason why companies will change their policies and products, and it’s why they’ll market them differently. It’s why they’ll support social movements and donate to good causes. It’s why big brands like Coca-Cola, Nike, and Apple have all made pledges to source their cotton from sustainable sources.

The power of CSR

We’re heavily influenced by what’s around us. Our friends and the media tell us what to think, and big companies are one of the biggest influencers in our culture. If a company is promoting a social cause, we’re more likely to at least consider it. This is why it’s important for you to choose companies with good CSR policies when you’re making decisions about which ones to support financially.

If you’re a consumer, you can play a large part in improving the world around you. But it’s important to do your research. There are lots of websites that list companies that have good CSR policies. Make sure you choose the ones that vibe with your conscience.

CSR or Marketing?

It’s important to remember that CSR is not just about marketing. It’s about building relationships with your customers, about creating a better world. It’s about showing people that you care. And it’s about doing the right thing, not just appearing to.

And it’s always important to remember that big companies are not always good, and likewise, not always bad. It’s important to look at what a company is selling, and how it’s selling it. Just because a company “does CSR” doesn’t mean that company is good, or has good intentions. On the other hand, there are companies that don’t actively call their work CSR that are making huge progress on social issues. When assessing companies and their motivations, use your judgement and don’t believe everything you read.

In conclusion, it’s important to remember that CSR is a complex topic. It’s about making positive change in the world. If more companies embrace CSR, then our world will undoubtedly become a better place. And that’s something I think we can all get behind.

In this article, we write about how the characters in movies and TV series affect our perceptions of others, and change how we relate to people.

Introduction
In general, through our lives, we take on attributes of those people around us, the role models we look up to, the people we spend time with every day, and we also take examples of what not to be like, from the villains in the stories of our lives. As the saying goes, “You end up being like the people you hang around with most“.

As our society consumes more and more TV, movies, Netflix, and YouTube, we are reducing the number of normal humans from our own culture and heritage that we are in contact with, and replacing them with fictional characters, represented by a very small minority of people, selected for their looks first and foremost, and secondarily their acting ability. Diversity is being squeezed out of our sight.

The issue
Diversity in casting became a hot topic some years ago. Since then, interest has died down, but the issue still exists. For example, there’s even a known problem with the prevalence of a “token black actor” in Hollywood movies. Real change wasn’t made deeply, unfortunately. We rarely see a person of disability in a leadership role. Except of course, for Professor X in the X-Men series, in his famous wheelchair (this author’s personal favorite). Many suspect that this plot detail only exists in the films because the original comics had this portrayal. Where are all the people of diverse ability, and diverse background? Will we just have another “token wheelchair user” phenomenon?

Audiences
Sometimes, media targeted at adults has a broader collection of people in the cast. Sometimes, they have complex characters who aren’t purely good or purely evil. Sometimes they acknowledge the culture and background of the fictional character. That’s good. But in the formative years, when we’re watching PG-13 movies, the protagonist is often a young white male. He’s similarly named to all the other young white male protagonists, even with the same haircut. This teaches young black boys that, in order to be the hero, they need to be like that. Even the enlightened and diversity-inclusive J.K. Rowling has Harry Potter as the central hero of her novels.

Choice
Of course, some may cry out that “Well, you don’t have to watch those shows!”. And that is true, ultimately it is up to us, when we choose what to watch. But it takes a super-human level of skill and vigilance to switch the channel of the TV when one show finishes and the next starts. But the choice is ours, even if there aren’t many diverse films like Black Panther. If you have children, you’re actively teaching them about the world, so, it’s even more important to think about what media you consume, who you watch it with, the choice of where to watch it, and other factors.

Netflix
Things have changed so much with the massive and popular rise of streaming services, like Netflix. It used to be a select elite few who decided which movies got made, which movies got funding, and which actors got picked for the films. But now, the young and “crazy” folks at Netflix are making their own films! Who knows what quirky, diverse, and strange films will be made by them next. I can’t wait. The TV shows already have a diverse cast, but they are mostly still traditional in being the stories of young white males. Admittedly, in their astoundingly successful hit Stranger Things, the writers often used the fact that the series is set in the 1980’s to shine a spotlight on anachronisms of the time, and it really helped to highlight how far we’ve come. Race and sexuality do come up, especially when the four male male protagonists are choosing which Ghostbuster to dress up as, for Halloween. The young black male, Lucas, has a tense few moments with one of the other three (white) boys, over the assumption that Lucas (being black) would dress up as Winston, the black Ghostbuster. The point was made well and didn’t feel like a heavy-handed protest, it blended into the plot quite well. If this kind of enlightened film making is a sign of things to come, as we transition from elite-controlled film and TV to democratized international streaming services, then sign me up, I can’t wait.

Film
Film has been on the front-line of the race issue. In the past couple of years, we have seen the progress from something like the 2016 film, Loving, which portrays an interracial couple in the 1960s, to the 2017 films, Mudbound and Get Out. For those who haven’t seen Get Out, which has been praised for its handling of racial issues, I’d like to say that it’s a film about a black man meeting his white girlfriend’s parents for the first time, after she hasn’t told them that he’s black. There are some very tense scenes, and the way that race and love is handled is very sensitive, showing that even in the modern day, there are still issues to overcome.

Conclusion
You have to take it upon yourself to be the change you want to see. We can only control our own actions, but if we can influence our friends, family, and children, we can help to create a better world for us all.

Submitted by Tyrone

College is all about managing relationships, and (in my experience) the hardest aspect of this is when relationships break down – specifically romantic relationships. I have dealt with my fair share of breakups, on both the giving and receiving end. Neither is easy. In this article I’m going to share some insights I’ve learned over the years. I hope you find them helpful if you’re going through a breakup yourself.

Don’t Feel Like You’re the Only One

One of the most common misconceptions about breakups is that they are a unique occurrence. It’s pretty easy to feel like you’re the only one that has ever experienced one. However, that is far from the truth. What’s more, it’s very likely that you will experience more than one breakup in your life. If you study or work at a university, you probably see them all the time. In fact, I can think of at least 4 other breakups that happened within the 2-month period I was going through mine.

This is important because it helps to realize that you’re not alone. It helps you realize that breakups are a natural part of life, and that you will get through it.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to do things you regret. I know this because I’ve made plenty of mistakes. For example, I once told my now ex-girlfriend that she was “boring” because she didn’t like a certain kind of music. That was a stupid thing to say, and needless to say, I didn’t get any brownie points for saying it.

I made other mistakes too. Some were pretty subtle, like “forgetting” to text her back because I was busy, but others were pretty blatant, like getting mad at her for things she did, when she was in the right.

It’s okay to make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. However, what’s not okay is to beat yourself up about them. If you do that, the break up will be a lot more painful. Instead, accept that you made a mistake, learn from it, and move on.

Don’t Be Afraid to Disclose Your Feelings

Breaking up is sad. It’s really hard, and it will make you feel bad. Don’t be afraid to acknowledge this.

What I’m saying is, don’t try to act all tough about it. Don’t try to pretend that you’re fine when you’re not. It’s okay to show your true emotions.

Side note: I know that some people will read this and say, “don’t be so emotional, it makes you look weak.” Just ignore those people. They’re probably a little bit sad themselves.

Don’t Be Afraid to Tell the Truth

People will often tell you, “it’s okay to still be friends even though you broke up.” I’m not going to lie, this is a hard one. It’s hard to do because it feels like a betrayal. It feels like you’re betraying your ex. It feels like you’re betraying your feelings.

Well, guess what? It’s not.

It can be really hard to remain friends after a breakup. It’s just the way it is. That said, if you and your ex want to stay friends, then that’s a good thing. If you have to stop being friends with your ex, then that’s also a good thing. It doesn’t mean that you’re betraying anything. It just means that you’re making the decision that’s right for you.

Don’t Be Afraid to Cry

It’s okay to cry. It really is.

I’m not going to say that I cried like a baby throughout the entire breakup process, but I can tell you that I cried far more than I ever imagined I would. One of my ex-girlfriends told me, “I can’t believe you’re crying, you’re such a man.” To be honest, I did feel a little silly crying as much as I did.

If you find yourself feeling like you’re crying too much, then just accept it. It’s normal.

Don’t Be Afraid to Do Whatever You Want

If you want to do something, then do it. Don’t be afraid to spend time with your friends. Don’t be afraid to do whatever you want.

For me, this meant finally going to the gym. Up until that point, I had been too depressed to go. However, when I started going to the gym, I felt a lot better.

Don’t Be Afraid to Talk

In some cases, you might have to talk to people you probably don’t want to talk to (like your ex, for example). You should still do it.

This is important because the more you talk to people, the more likely it is that you will resolve whatever problems you are having.

Don’t Be Afraid to Do Things That You Enjoy

You should do things that you enjoy. Don’t feel like you have to be miserable all the time. Don’t feel like you have to feel bad about everything that’s happened to you.

For me, this meant that I started going out more, going to more parties, and meeting new people. Sure, some of the parties were duds, but I met some really cool people as well.

Don’t Be Afraid to Try New Things

If you want to try a new hobby, then try it. If you want to start a new project, then start it. Don’t be afraid to do new things.

For me, this meant that I started writing (which led to this post)! I was a little scared that I wouldn’t have anything to say, but I was pleasantly surprised when I actually started to have fun writing.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, you‘re going to get through this. Breakups are painful, but they‘re also a natural part of life. If you keep using the tips I shared above, then I believe you will have an easier time getting through your next breakup.

A lot has happened this year – coronavirus, the contested election, and protests around the world for various causes. It is easy to paint all of this is a negative light, but I prefer to remain positive.

The coronavirus is showing signs of passing. It has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, and has been an unprecedented tragedy. But several vaccines are being rolled out as I write this, and I believe that American science has the power to return the world to normality soon.

And the election – well, it was a mess, but it was a democratic mess, mostly. We succeeded in having the election and upholding the result, even if the results were contested by some. And the world learned a lot of things: our system is robust, and that democracy is more important now than ever.

As for protests, I am glad that people are protesting, when they are peaceful. I am glad that people are standing up for their beliefs and fighting for what they think is right. It inspires me, and I think it is a good thing. In many ways, it is a sign of progress.

We have a lot of problems to deal with, but there are a lot of great people in the world that are working to make things better. I am optimistic about the future because of them.