Exploring Missing Links: Understanding Wealth Identity Among Black College-Educated Millennials

• In Event: Self as Instrument: Leveraging Qualitative Research to Develop Scholarly Voice in Minoritized Emerging Scholars

Abstract

As a Black man with an undergraduate degree in economics, I became interested in matters involving the economic prosperity of historically marginalized groups and, quite naturally, the increasing racial wealth gap. Unfortunately, over the past 30 years, the decline in wealth among Black groups has accelerated, leaving many Black families challenged to reach the middle class. Of Black households in the U.S., about 70% fall below middle-class status (i.e., an income threshold of $68,000) compared to about 40% for White households (Asante-Muhammad et al., 2017). By 2019, Black millennials accumulated only $5,000 in wealth, compared to $22,000 for Hispanic millennials and $88,000 for White millennials (Hernandez-Kent & Ricketts, 2021), despite millennials being the most educated and culturally diverse group among other generational age cohorts (Brown, 2017; Dimock, 2019). Reports indicated that Black families’ median wealth will fall to zero by 2053 if the current trends continue (Asante-Muhammad et al., 2017).

In my early training, I learned that the quantitative method is an approach that uses numbers to inform us of relationships and causations among variables. While valuable, sometimes we forget to ask why that statistic exists, especially living in a number-driven society. The aforementioned statistics are not painting the picture in context, but simply reporting facts. Therefore, at the onset of my qualitative research, I was curious about what was not being captured in the research. I found that the missing links were the voices, stories, and experiences of those adversely impacted most by the disparity, and ironically, my scholarly voice grew clearer with this revelation.

Qualitative research has developed my scholarly voice by allowing me to discover evidence-based solutions that help build economically viable communities for present and future generations. When I earned my master’s in community psychology, I learned about the unique experiences that influence diverse populations' behavior, individually and communally. As I earn a doctoral degree in educational psychology, I am learning how individuals acquire, process, and understand knowledge through their thoughts, experiences, and senses. I’m grateful that qualitative research has allowed me an intimate exploration of this issue as well as critiquing an ongoing phenomenon that has persisted in the United States since its founding and attributes many of the racial wealth differences to structural causes.

Authors

• Ta'lia Alexia Gordon, University of South Carolina

• Steven Williams, Florida State University