4 ms·

Isn’t the author just talking about a “poverty tax”? (I’m not an American so I’m not well versed on the cultural aspects here).

lgleason 6y ago
They are, but in recent years the wealthy have ginned up the race wars to get everybody fighting and distract from the real issue of income disparity which continues to get wider in the US.
gjm11 6y ago
I think it's slightly different. The "tax" is associated not so much with being poor oneself, as with having all one's friends and family also poor. Whether being black is a better predictor of that than being poor, I don't know, but I can imagine how it might be. (The author may also be suggesting -- it's not 100% clear -- that part of the "tax" is a cultural difference where black people are more likely than white people to feel responsible for supporting their friends and family who are poor.)
- jacknews 6y ago
  I don't see why race would affect this. If you're poor, from a poor background, it's likely your friends are also poor, regardless of race. The only race argument IMHO is 'are poor people more likely to be black'.
  - gjm11 6y ago
    Well, poor people definitely are more likely to be black, and black people are more likely to be poor. (In the US, which is the country OP is talking about, and in the UK, where I am, and in many other places, though maybe not everywhere.) Being black tends, for obvious reasons, to run in families. So race-associated poverty will do so too. Some other factors that tend to go along with poverty run in families, some not. There is some tendency for people to associate with others of the same race, and some tendency for people to associate with others of similar social class. It's not obvious to me whether being black is a better or a worse predictor of having poor friends and families than being poor is.
  - xyzzy4 6y ago
    Poor Jews have risen to success in every country they’ve migrated to. Poor Blacks mostly have remained poor. I think it’s mainly an IQ difference.
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > I don't see why race would affect this. It does for lots of reasons. > If you're poor, from a poor background, it's likely your friends are also poor, regardless of race. If your even modestly successful and black from a poor background, it is more likely that you are the most successful person at a given network distance from people in your network than if you are equally successful and from an equally poor background but white. This is largely an effect of past racism. But it's also less likely that people in your network can work their way up without your help. And that's largely a product of current racism, both of the institutional and the more direct, active, personal kind. (Also past racism, too.)

lgleason 6y ago

They are, but in recent years the wealthy have ginned up the race wars to get everybody fighting and distract from the real issue of income disparity which continues to get wider in the US.

gjm11 6y ago

I think it's slightly different. The "tax" is associated not so much with being poor oneself, as with having all one's friends and family also poor. Whether being black is a better predictor of that than being poor, I don't know, but I can imagine how it might be. (The author may also be suggesting -- it's not 100% clear -- that part of the "tax" is a cultural difference where black people are more likely than white people to feel responsible for supporting their friends and family who are poor.)

jacknews 6y ago
I don't see why race would affect this. If you're poor, from a poor background, it's likely your friends are also poor, regardless of race. The only race argument IMHO is 'are poor people more likely to be black'.
- gjm11 6y ago
  Well, poor people definitely are more likely to be black, and black people are more likely to be poor. (In the US, which is the country OP is talking about, and in the UK, where I am, and in many other places, though maybe not everywhere.) Being black tends, for obvious reasons, to run in families. So race-associated poverty will do so too. Some other factors that tend to go along with poverty run in families, some not. There is some tendency for people to associate with others of the same race, and some tendency for people to associate with others of similar social class. It's not obvious to me whether being black is a better or a worse predictor of having poor friends and families than being poor is.
- xyzzy4 6y ago
  Poor Jews have risen to success in every country they’ve migrated to. Poor Blacks mostly have remained poor. I think it’s mainly an IQ difference.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > I don't see why race would affect this. It does for lots of reasons. > If you're poor, from a poor background, it's likely your friends are also poor, regardless of race. If your even modestly successful and black from a poor background, it is more likely that you are the most successful person at a given network distance from people in your network than if you are equally successful and from an equally poor background but white. This is largely an effect of past racism. But it's also less likely that people in your network can work their way up without your help. And that's largely a product of current racism, both of the institutional and the more direct, active, personal kind. (Also past racism, too.)