Photo by Eilon Paz/Bloomberg via Getty Images
America’s unfinished promise is economic freedom.
Written by Sophia Nelson
At our nation’s founding, Black Americans were not merely excluded from America’s wealth. They were, by law, part of the wealth that helped create it.
Enslaved men, women, and children did far more than harvest tobacco and cotton. Their labor helped build many of the physical and economic foundations of the United States, including George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and portions of the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Yet while they helped create immense prosperity, they were denied every benefit of it. They could not own the land they worked, accumulate wealth, legally protect their families, or pass opportunity to their children. They themselves were treated as property.
Several years ago, while reporting for NBC News at James Madison’s Montpelier, I toured the exhibition The Mere Distinction of Colour. What struck me most was not simply its portrayal of slavery’s cruelty, but its examination of slavery as an economic system that transformed human beings into financial assets. That truth is uncomfortable.
That history is reflected in today’s balance sheets.
Homeownership remains the principal engine of wealth creation for most American families. Yet only about 43% of Black families own their homes, compared with roughly 73% of White families. Even then, Black homeowners too often see their properties undervalued, limiting the equity that fuels generational wealth. White families also hold a much larger share of appreciating financial assets, while many Black families remain disproportionately dependent on home equity alone.
Fifteen years ago, in Black Woman Redefined, I argued that Black women were doing everything America had asked of them—earning degrees, building careers, and leading across virtually every profession. Preparation was never the problem.
Today, that observation feels painfully current. Recent research found that Black women, particularly college graduates and public-sector professionals, experienced some of the steepest employment losses in a generation. Black unemployment continues to outpace the national average. At a time when Black women have become one of America’s most educated and accomplished workforces, too many have found themselves disproportionately displaced from stable careers. That should concern every American.
Because the issue is no longer whether Black Americans possess talent, the issue is whether America is prepared to invest fully in that talent.
America’s future competitiveness depends on fully utilizing the talents of all its people. Every entrepreneur denied capital, every qualified professional overlooked, and every family unable to build wealth represents not only an individual loss, but a loss to our nation’s economic strength.
Twenty-five years ago, I argued in the pages of The Washington Post that America needed to put slavery in its proper place in our national consciousness—not to induce guilt, but to tell the truth. I believe that even more strongly today.
We do not strengthen patriotism by editing history. We strengthen patriotism by trusting Americans with the truth.
The history of slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, and Black achievement is not separate from the American story. It is the American story.
The unfinished business of freedom is no longer emancipation.
It is economic participation.
It is ownership.
It is wealth creation.
It is ensuring every American has a genuine opportunity to buy a home, build a business, save for retirement, leave an inheritance, and pass forward something greater than what they inherited.
History has already answered that.
The question is whether America will finally ensure that the prosperity Black Americans helped create is matched by the opportunity to fully own it, build it, and pass it on.
That is not simply the unfinished business of Black America.
It is the unfinished business of America.
Source: Black Enterprise
