The median wealth for whites in the US is nearly $142,000. For blacks, it's $11,000. - Yahoo News

The median wealth for whites in the US is nearly $142,000. For blacks, it's $11,000. - Yahoo News: Okay, so why is this happening? 2013 research from Brandeis University (and highlighted in Dean Starkman's June New Republic article) shows that the five biggest components in the growing gap between whites and blacks are (in order, from biggest to smallest) years of homeownership, income, unemployment, college education, and inheritance. Though the report focuses only on blacks and whites without separating out Latinos, it at least provides a window into how whole races or ethnic groups can end up with such huge wealth disparities.

Residential segregation is a big reason homeownership has created a big divide between blacks and whites, the researchers write, as it "artificially lowers demand" and therefore makes building equity tougher in a nonwhite neighborhood. And because whites tend to have more family inheritance and financial help, they also tend to buy homes earlier, giving them more time to build equity. Historic discrimination in mortgage lending added to this gap, as well as the fact that blacks have more of their wealth tied up in their homes than whites do. That means that when the housing crash came, it had a bigger impact on blacks than whites.