The dirty secret is that socioeconomic status and race are very related.
And outside of the US, it can be totally separated. In China, for example, many of the poor people are ethnic han.
ex: "Poor African Americans are four times more likely than poor whites to live in the central city, and twenty five times more likely to live in high-poverty neighborhoods." https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/67111/...
2006 George W. Bush 2,859,768
2008 John McCain 2,677,820
2012 Mitt Romney 2,661,437
2016 Donald Trump: 2,841,005
2004 John Kerry 2,741,167
2008 Barack Obama 2,940,044
2012 Barack Obama 2,827,709
2018 Hillary Clinton 2,394,164The biggest indicator of future socioeconomic status is educational attainment. The biggest indicator of educational attainment is wealth.
> Where does the biggest source of material wealth typically come from? Housing!
> Was housing policy racist? Very explicitly so, even in the progressive Bay Area. See: redlining.
> Are some of the policies that stemmed from racism still on the books in major metropolitan areas? Yes! Many of these exact policies are what's keeping from more housing from being built right now!
What policies, you ask? Here's a few.
- Excessively large minimum lot sizes
- High setback requirements
- Very low height limits
- Very high car parking requirements
While many of these requirements sound reasonable on their face, they were in fact implemented to keep out PoC [1]. Now they're used by people on the top of the socioeconomic pyramid to keep those on the bottom out.
[1] Further reading: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein