Debunking The Trillion Dollar Myth: Black spending is not Black wealth

The assertion that if African Americans would only pool its perceived $2.1 trillion consumer spending power that as a group, they would be one of the top 10 wealthiest nations in the world is a myth that ignores the fact that wealth is measured by assets not by spending, according to a professor who has written extensively on the subject. The fallacy also ignores the fact that the U.S. government—along with Big Business, banking, and finance—shape and control the economy. Public policy, unfair taxation, discrimination and disinvestment in predominantly Black communities has exacerbated poverty and income inequality throughout Black America. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the median white household wealth is $285,000, yet the median household wealth for Black families is only $44,900. High spending with low wealth-building assets (homes, businesses, manufacturing, industry, retirement accounts, stocks) actually points to economic vulnerability. The consumption metric has been popularized by well-meaning civil rights leaders, entrepreneurs, activists, ministers, chambers of commerce, advertisers, and marketers in Black communities for decades. The origin of the myth is often traced back to corporate marketing reports released by Nielsen and others that sought to highlight Black consumers as a lucrative, untapped market,...