READ the article, Black American Culture and the Racial Wealth Gap Download Black American Culture and the Racial Wealth Gap in which Coleman Hughes challenges recent scholarship that claims the racial wealth gap between whites and blacks in the U.S. is caused by two factors: slavery and racist New Deal policies. He also considers why, “since the end of the Civil Rights Movement, the academic Left has been asking the question—who is to blame for the state of black America?” 1) Rather than asking “who is to blame,” Coleman Hughes suggests there is a more “salient question.” What does he think we should ask instead? Do you agree or disagree? Why? 2) Coleman Hughes appeals to black Americans to play an active role in closing the racial wealth gap and insists, “there are things that blacks can do. Indeed, there are certain elements of black American culture that, if changed, would allow blacks to amass wealth to a degree that no government policy would be likely to match.” List three (3) cultural behaviors that he says blacks could change to address the racial wealth gap themselves. 3) Explain the Parable of the Pedestrian. Discuss whether you agree or disagree with Coleman Hughes that this parable applies to the racial wealth gap.
