The Black Agenda: Wealth-Building Must Top the List – Dr. Boyce Money

Filed under: Personal Finance, Dr. Boyce Money, News

I recently attended the “Measuring the Movement” national leadership forum, hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network. The event was extraordinary, with a multitude of strong African American figures in attendance: Marc Morial, Ben Jealous, James Clyburn, Michael Eric Dyson, Charles Ogletree, Jeff Johnson, Warren Ballentine, Chuck D, Judge Greg Mathis, and the list went on and on. I was honored to be among those invited to speak on the panel and I felt the event to be a glowing success. To be honest, we would be hard pressed to find a stronger gathering of black public figures at any point in American history. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network should be applauded for their outstanding work.

Also in attendance at the black leadership summit were many figures from the Obama Administration, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Assistant Secretary of Labor, William Spriggs, in addition to RNC Chairman Michael Steele, The Rev. Jesse Jackson and even Fox News host Bill O’Reilly (the only guest who was actually booed by the audience).

As Roland Martin and Tom Joyner pushed the leaders in attendance to be held accountable for their commitments to the community, one of the recurring themes was financial inequality in black America. African Americans have been hit the hardest during this recession, with unemployment rates that are nearly double those of white America. Our teens have unemployment rates of over 42%, and many large urban areas have black male unemployment rates of nearly 50%. Also, as respected black British commentator Lola Adesioye notes, black women have a median net worth of only $5 dollars, and black family wealth is significantly less than that of White America. What gives?

As the only Finance Professor in attendance, I felt the need to comment on the issue. Under the presumption that President Obama also watches MSNBC, I first made the clear point to him that he should immediately remove his top two economic advisers, Lawrence Summers and Timothy Geithner. I’ve held to this point for months, and I continue to believe that no matter what academic training you have, if your heart is not connected to an issue, you are not going to be equipped with the intellectual tools necessary to solve the problem. Neither Geithner nor Summers has shown an ability to empathize with the African American community and neither of them have a background that implies that they have any reason to be loyal to anything or anyone who is not located on Wall Street.

The second point I made was that President Obama must let go of the argument that “the rising tide will lift all boats