Black Power Scorecard: Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close It

Economist Perry (Know Your Price) reevaluates what it means for Black Americans to be empowered in this smart and revelatory treatise. Defining longevity as “the ultimate expression of power,” Perry measures how Black life expectancy fluctuates against factors like wealth, education, and pollution in neighborhoods throughout the country. This allows him to identify not only areas where Black power is at an ebb, but also areas where Black power is thriving and what factors are contributing to it. Perry concludes that it is Black property ownership, above all, that correlates with Black longevity. Not even personal ownership is the defining factor; for Black people, Perry finds, simply living in an area with a higher percentage of Black home and business ownership leads to longer life expectancy. Perry goes on to makes a strong case that other factors that contribute to Black social inequality—like a lower percentage of two-parent households, which are correlated to a number of positive social outcomes for children—are offshoots of the ownership problem (he cites studies showing that asset ownership leads to marriage, not the other way around). Perry also reflects on how this struggle for ownership resonates with Black history, suggesting that the failure of Reconstruction to adequately provide restitution for slavery is fundamentally the main issue leading to Black disempowerment today. The result is one of the most riveting and convincing studies yet to make a case for reparations. (Apr.)