Economic inequality and the African diaspora

Author / Creator

Darity, William A., Jr., 1953- author

Available as

Online

Summary

Reviewing debates on the causes of black economic inequality in the African Diaspora, the author contrasts explanations rooted in cultural determinism, which assert black cultural dysfunctionality ...

Reviewing debates on the causes of black economic inequality in the African Diaspora, the author contrasts explanations rooted in cultural determinism, which assert black cultural dysfunctionality and a black embrace of self-defeating behaviors as the root of observed racial disparities, and the emerging field of stratification economics, which focuses on resource deprivation due to racial discrimination and takes a structuralist view of the processes generating racial inequality. Darity overviews theories on economic development in the black urban ghetto and the Third World, theoretical models of intergroup inequality and general inequality, the functionality hypothesis of endogenous discrimination, the relationship between ethnic diversity, ethnic conflict, and economic growth, and direct and indirect tests for labor market discrimination. Remedies for racial inequality, such as affirmative action as well as wealth redistribution in the form of reparations, are evaluated.

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