Reddit reviews We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

But the history of America oppressing people of color extends far beyond the end of Slavery so that is really a terrible argument. Claiming that slavery and its effects on the lives of African Americans ended after the ratification of the 13th amendment (which only happened in December of 1865, so just over 150 years ago) is willfully ignoring history. Freed slaves were promised reparations in the form of Forty Acres and a Mule but very few actually received such compensation with many state and local governments essentially forcing people of color back into labored work. Further, the 13th amendment reads as such:

> Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

I highlighted the loophole that still exists to this day.

Policies such as this, instituted by the federal government, have continued to this day. I highly suggest watching the Documentary 13th by Ava DuVernay. The film highlights the ways in which people of color have systemically been treated as, at best, second class citizens.

Edit: This is controversial? Damn reddit...

Edit 2: Y'all should read We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Yes because the majority (~2/3) of American wealth comes from homeownership and up until 1968 black Americans were routinely kept from buying homes due to redlining and outright discrimination for FHA loans.

The analogy I like to use is that America was a big game of Monopoly. The game was played normally but for the first 30 rolls of the game, black Americans we're unable to even roll the dice and also didn't get the starting $200 that players normally get. Anybody who's ever played Monopoly knows that getting property early is essential to be successful toward the later parts of the game. So it's technically possible for some people to overcome that huge starting disadvantage and still win the game but the overwhelming majority of people will end up losing because you're just not going to be able to catch up without a lot of luck.

So people shouldn't act so dumbfounded that black wealth is 11-12x lower than white wealth in America. If anything most millennials (likely the biggest demo on this site) should be understanding since black Americans basically have to deal with the same complains that millennials often make. A common complain from millennials is that we have it so much harder than our boomer parents due to housing exploding in prices, wages not being as great, etc. Well black American baby boomers (and every other generation) didn't get to really partake in that great economic boom like their white counter parts. Black families didn't get to establish homes and wealth throughout the 40-60s and build those nest eggs. This isn't saying every white family was able to get wealthy because plenty of poor, rural white families were kept out of it as well but damn near all black families were kept in the dark without even a chance to take advantage of FHA loans or GI bill for housings.

A really good reading on exactly how impactful redlining was is We Were Eight Years in Power. It really hones in on specific cases and is a compelling read. My city of Chicago perfected redlining and the impact is still being felt today. Turns out that trapping a chunk of the population in a poor area and not doing anything about it for decades isn't a good idea.