Searching for the middle: the disappearance of the black middle class

Earlier this month the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington, D.C. think tank, reported that the average white family today has net assets of $141,900, compared with the $11,000 for African American families. This hollowing out of the African American family asset base is a nationwide phenomenon that can be explained by the shrinking African American middle class. It’s even more a factor in “strong market” regions like the Bay Area, where housing costs are soaring.

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