Back then, the white-black wealth gap was 12:1. Now, it stands at 20:1 and the white-Hispanic gap is 18:1.
A booming economy is good for everyone. But in bad economies -- like this one -- those who struggle the most economically suffer disproportionately. How ironic that President Obama's policies have brought about an economic situation that most hurts those he claims to care most about.
After all, when times are hard -- or taxes are raised too high -- the rich simply stop spending as much on extra goods and services. Sure, they do without (relatively), but they're still fine and comfortable. It's the poorer people who really feel the pain. As a yacht owner remarked after a (Democratic-controlled) Congress slapped a "luxury" tax on their product in 1991 and "the rich" stopped buying, "The rich are still rich. But the people who are on the unemployment rolls are the blue-collar workers."
If President Obama is serious about stopping the growth in the wealth gap, he'll restrain his obsession with taxing "the rich." Those are the people who will buy the goods and use the services and create the jobs that will help put minorities back on the path to economic gain -- if they feel economically secure enough to do so.
There are two models for this country. Either the economy can sputter along with government collecting ever more taxes to subsidize the poor in the name of "economic justice", or the government can implement policies that result in growth and create the conditions that will result in jobs for minorities -- and all other Americans who want them.