>> THANK YOU. >>> TODAY IS JUNETEENTH WHICH COMMEMORATES THE END OF SLAVERY IN TEXAS AND OTHER STATES WHICH SECEDED FROM THE UNION. AS YOU MAY ALREADY KNOW, IT WAS ON THIS DAY IN 1865 THAT UNION GENERAL GORDON GRANGER BROKE THE NEWS TO ENSLAVED PEOPLE --ENSLAVED PEOPLE IN GALVESTON, TEXAS MORE THAN TWO YEARS AFTER THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. LATER THAT SAME YEAR, SLAVERY WAS FORMALLY ABOLISHED WITH THE RATIFICATION OF THE 13th AMENDMENT. HARDSHIPS CONTINUE TO HURT BLACK AMERICANS ALL THESE YEARS LATER INCLUDING WHAT IS A PERSISTENT WEALTH GAP. ACCORDING TO A FEDERAL RESERVE BANK SURVEY, THE AVERAGE LEVEL OF WEALTH IN A BLACK HOUSEHOLD WAS JUST OVER $200,000 WHILE A WHITE HOUSEHOLD AVERAGED OVER $1.3 MILLION. A FRESH NEW BOOK, FIFTEEN CENTS ON THE DOLLAR: HOW AMERICANS MADE THE BLACK-WHITE WEALTH GAP , EXAMINES THE MASSIVE WEALTH DISPARITIES THAT HAVE BEEN VIRTUALLY STUCK FOR GENERATIONS AND DETAILS THE STRUCTURAL ECONOMIC BARRIERS THAT BLACK AMERICANS ARE STILL FACING TODAY. THE CO-AUTHORS OF THIS BOOK, LOUISE STORY AND EBONY REED JOIN ME NOW IN STUDIO 57 TO DIVE INTO WHAT YOU HAVE BOTH BEEN TELLING ME IS A TOPIC THAT NO BOOK EXISTS ON AS FAR AS THE HISTORY AND WHERE IT IS -- WHERE THINGS STAND TO THE PRESENT DAY. THAT, TO ME, IS REMARKABLE. FIRST, TALK ABOUT YOU BOTH MEETING AT THE WALL STREET JOURNAL DURING THE PANDEMIC AND GOING THROUGH EXPERIENCES THAT MAKE YOU REALIZE A BOOK LIKE THIS IS EVEN NECESSARY. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING US. IN THE SUMMER OF 2020, LIKE MANY PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY, LOUISE AND I WERE TRAPPED IN OUR HOMES. WE COULD NOT GO ANYWHERE SO WE STARTED HAVING CONVERSATIONS AND THAT PANDEMIC SUMMER ABOUT INJUSTICES AND EQUITIES WE HAD SEEN IN OUR LIFETIME, WORKPLACES. WE WERE READING BOOKS TOGETHER AND WE FOUND THAT THERE WAS NO BOOK THAT HAD REPORTED ON THE BLACK AND WHITE WEALTH GAP FROM HISTORY TO CURRENT TIME WITH REAL CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE THAT ARE LIVING TODAY. >> WHY WAS THAT? >> WEALTH IS NOT ACTUALLY GOING TO BE FOCUSED ON DISCUSSIONS AND IT IS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD IN OUR COUNTRY. WHEN YOU TALK A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY, EVEN ECONOMIC EQUALITY, PEOPLE FOCUS MORE ON INCOME. I AM SURE YOU HAVE HEARD A LOT ABOUT THE PAY GAP. THAT IS PARTLY BECAUSE COMPANIES CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, INCOME GAPS. IT IS SOMETHING THAT STARTED WITH THE MALE AND FEMALE PAY GAPS. THE PAY GAP AND INCOME GAP HAS DOMINATES A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS BUT INCOME IS DIFFERENT THAN WEALTH. WEALTH IS WHAT YOU OWN. MOST PEOPLE WORKING TODAY WHO ARE BLACK AND WHITE MAKING THE SAME INCOME WHAT IS STATISTICALLY SPEAKING HAVE VERY DIFFERENT LEVELS OF WEALTH. WE THOUGHT IT WAS ESSENTIAL THAT WE PUT SOME FOCUS ON THAT. >> FOR MANY OF US, WEALTH IS INHERITED BUT INCOME YOU MAKE NOW. SOME OF THIS YOU CAN'T REALLY CONTROL. YOU HAVE TRACKED THE LIVES OF SEVEN BLACK AMERICANS THROUGHOUT THE BOOK TO HELP PERSONIFY AND GIVE EXAMPLES FOR THIS MASSIVE WEALTH DISPARITY. GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OF ONE PERSON YOU PROFILED AND WHAT STOOD OUT TO THE BOTH OF YOU. >> AMONG THE SEVEN PEOPLE IS AMBASSADOR ANDREW YOUNG, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER. MANY PEOPLE REMEMBER HIM AS BEING THE FORMER MAYOR OF ATLANTA. WE HAVE MICHAEL RENDER, KNOWN AS KILLER MIKE, THE RAPPER. WE ALSO HAVE AN EXECUTIVE AND SOME PEOPLE THAT OTHERS ENCOUNTER FOR THE FIRST TIME AS THEY READ THE BOOK. ONE FAMILY'S STORY THAT STICKS OUT TO ME IS A YOUNG LEADER WHO WAS FORMALLY THE HEAD OF THE GEORGIA NAACP. HE WAS TRYING TO MOVE HIS LIFE FORWARD ECONOMICALLY WHILE ALSO FIGHTING FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND HE HAD MORE THAN $100,000 IN DEBT. THE DEBT OF STUDENT LOANS IS A VERY CRUNCHING THING -- CRUSHING THING FOR MANY BLACK FAMILIES. MANY BLACK STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE CARRY A LOT OF STUDENT DEBT. >> I AM GLAD YOU USE THAT WORD, CRUSHING. IT IS DIFFICULT FOR ANYONE WHO CARRIES THAT DEBT, PARTICULARLY IF YOU DON'T HAVE THOSE LINES AT HOME THAT YOU HAVE INHERITED. ONE THING THAT YOU BOTH TAKE GREAT EFFORT TO DO IS NOT TO TAKE ANY POSITION OF GOVERNMENT POLICY OR PERSPECTIVE BUT YOU DO LOOK AT HOW GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS HAVE AT LEAST EXACERBATED THE PROBLEM OR, IN SOME WAYS HELPED AMELIORATE IT. WHAT JUMPS OUT AS FAR AS GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS THAT ARE PARTLY TO BLAME AND CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? >> THERE ARE EXAMPLES THROUGH ALL OF HISTORY AND EVEN THROUGH TODAY OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS THAT HAVE BEEN MORE HELPFUL TO WHITE FAMILIES AND NOT AS HELPFUL TO BLACK FAMILIES. THEY HAVE BEEN UNEQUALLY APPLIED. SOME THINGS THAT JUMP OUT, WE COVERED A BANK FOR WARM EARLY -- FORMERLY ENSLAVED PEOPLE IN THE 1800S WHICH TOOK THEIR MONEY AND THEN LOST IT. WE TALK ABOUT THE NEW DEAL WHICH CREATED THE MOSTLY HELPED WHITE MIDDLE-CLASS BUT ACTUALLY THE NEW DEAL AND THE G.I. BILL WERE NOT SO EASILY AVAILABLE TO BLACK AMERICANS. WE ALSO TALK ABOUT THINGS TODAY LIKE THE SYSTEM WHICH IS RACE NEUTRAL. ANYONE COULD FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY BUT THE EXPERIENCE IS NOT A NEUTRAL EXPERIENCE AND BLACK AMERICANS WHO ENTER BANKRUPTCY ARE MUCH LESS LIKELY THAN WHITE AMERICANS TO HAVE THEIR DEBTS RESTRUCTURED OR FORGIVEN WHICH, BY THE WAY, IF YOU GET YOUR DEBT FORGIVEN, YOU ARE WEALTHIER BECAUSE SOME OF THAT DEBT IS GONE AND MORE WHITE AMERICANS ARE ABLE TO GET THE DEBT FORGIVENESS. >> I KNOW THAT YOUR EFFORT, FOR BOTH OF YOU MAKING THIS BOOK, PUTTING SO MUCH DATA, RESEARCH, TIME AND EFFORT INTO IT TO MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE AND THAT IS PARTLY BECAUSE -- LOUISE , I HEARD YOU MENTION THAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T BELIEVE OR DON'T KNOW THAT THERE EVEN IS A WEALTH GAP. WHY IS THAT? >> AGAIN, PEOPLE DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT WEALTH IS. PEOPLE CONFUSE WEALTH WITH INCOME AND ALSO PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT HIDDEN DEBT. WE ARE ALL QUIET ABOUT WEALTH. YOU MAY NOT EVEN KNOW THE WEALTH OF PEOPLE IN YOUR FAMILY. PEOPLE DON'T TALK ABOUT WEALTH IN THE SOCIAL CIRCLES AND THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT RELEASE MUCH INFORMATION ON WEALTH AND THAT LEADS TO A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHO HAS IT AND WHO DOESN'T. >> WHAT DO YOU WALK AWAY FROM THIS BOOK WITH? WHAT SUGGESTIONS CAN THE REST OF US TAKE TO ADDRESS THIS DISPARITY? THE STATISTIC AND WE ARE WORKING HARD TO TRY TO MAKE THIS A NATIONALLY KNOWN STATISTIC. LOUISE AND I HAVE BEEN HOLDING FORUMS AND COMMUNITY SYMPOSIUMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. >> BRIEFLY EXPLAINED THAT PREMISE. >> A TYPICAL BLACK FAMILY HAS $.15 IN WELL FOR EVERY ONE -- IN WELL FOR EVERYONE DOLLAR THE TYPICAL WHITE FAMILY HAS. IN TERMS OF WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO, ONE OF THE THINGS WE RECOMMEND AT THE END OF THE BOOK , OUR PERSONAL RECOMMENDATION IS, AT SOME POINT IN PEOPLE'S LIVES, THEY CONSIDER WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A PERSON WHO IS DIFFERENT FROM THEM TO UNDERSTAND ANOTHER PERSON'S LIVED EXPERIENCES IN THE ISSUES THEY FACE. WE HAVE DONE THAT WORKING TOGETHER ON THIS ONE. >> YOU GUYS ARE A MODEL FOR WHAT THE REST OF US COULD POTENTIALLY DO. IT IS AN INCREDIBLE READ AND I AM SO GRATEFUL YOU PUT SO MUCH EFFORT AND RESEARCH INTO THIS. EBONY REED AND LOUISE STORY, AUTHORS OF FIFTEEN CENTS ON THE DOLLAR: HOW AMERICANS MADE THE BLACK-WHITE WEALTH GAP, THANK
