How to reduce the wealth gap between Black and white Americans | Kedra Newsom Reeves

Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

Translator: Inés García Reviewer: Alba Méndez

As last recorded by the US Federal Government,

Segundo o último rexistro

do Goberno dos EUA

the median wealth for a white family in the United States was 171,000 dollars

a riqueza media

dunha familia branca nos EUA

foi de 171 000 dólares

and the median wealth for a Black family was just 17,000 dollars,

e a riqueza media dunha familia negra

tan só de 17 000 dólares

a 10x different over 150 years after the end of slavery.

10 veces menos,

150 anos despois da fin da escravitude.

I think first we have to ask ourselves, what is wealth really?

Penso que o primeiro é preguntarse:

que é a riqueza?

Well, wealth is all of your assets, all of the things that you own,

Ben, riqueza son todos os activos, todo o que un ten

menos todos os seus pasivos.

minus all of your liabilities.

Assets are things like your car, your house, your savings account,

Activos son cousas como o coche, a casa, a conta de aforros

your checking account, your investments, if you own other properties,

a conta corrente, os investimentos.

outras propiedades que se teñan,

your business.

o seu negocio.

Well, that gap, that 10x gap,

Ben, esa fenda de 10 veces

is partially because for many years,

débese en parte a que durante moitos anos

décadas, de feito,

decades in fact,

Black Americans were left off of that ladder

os afroamericanos foron expulsados desa escaleira

and didn't really have access to it.

e non tiñan acceso a ela.

Well, why are we talking about this now?

Ben, por que estamos a falar disto agora?

En 2020, no medio dunha pandemia e unha recesión inminente

Well, in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic and a looming recession,

as desigualdades quedan ao descuberto

inequities are really laid bare

across nearly every system in the United States:

en practicamente todos os sistemas dos Estados Unidos:

health care, education, criminal justice and finance,

atención sanitaria, educación, xustiza penal e finanzas

and people were moved to take action online, in streets,

e a xente pasou á acción na rede, nas rúas

in meetings at work, in corporate boardrooms.

nas reunións no traballo, nas salas de xuntas empresariais.

And I, as a consultant, started having conversations with clients

E eu, como consultora, comecei a ter conversas con clientes

that I thought I would never have.

que nunca pensei que ía ter.

I guess the question that I'd been asking myself is,

Supoño que a pregunta que me fago é:

how do we make sure that in this moment, this results in action and progress

como asegurarnos de que neste intre, isto se traduce en accións e avances

que comece a pechar esa fenda da riqueza

that starts to close that wealth gap for Black versus white Americans?

que enfronta afroamericanos e brancos?

So who am I?

Quen son eu?

My name is Kedra Newsom Reeves.

Chámome Kedra Newson Reeves.

I am a consultant for banking institutions,

Son consultora para institucións bancarias

hedge funds, asset managers.

fondos de cobertura, xestores de activos.

But before any of that,

Mais, por enriba de todo iso

I am a Black American who is the descendant of slaves.

son unha afroamericana

descendente de escravos.

And when we talk about the wealth gap,

E cando falamos da fenda da riqueza

it's really important to understand the history,

é moi importante entender a historia

so I thought I'd tell a little story about a family, my family,

así que pensei contar unha pequena historia dunha familia

and how policy intersects with wealth.

a miña familia

e como a política interactúa coa riqueza.

So we'll start with my great-great-grandfather.

Así, comezaremos polo meu tataratataraavó.

He was a man named Silas Newsom,

Foi un home que se chamaba Silas Newsom

and Silas was born a slave outside Nashville, Tennessee,

que naceu escravo nas aforas de Nashville, Tennessee,

on Newsom Station,

en Newsom Station

where he and his family worked on a quarry.

onde a súa familia mais el traballaban nunha canteira.

He didn't own anything.

El non era dono de nada.

He didn't own his home. He didn't own property.

Non era dono do seu fogar. Non era dono de propiedade ningunha.

He didn't really even own his own body,

Non era dono nin do seu propio corpo

his own labor, his children.

do seu propio traballo, dos seus fillos.

Any of those things, all of those things,

Calquera destas cousas, todas estas cousas

were here to create wealth for someone else.

estaban aquí para construír riqueza para outra persoa.

So we believe that he was a servant

Pensamos que foi un servente

during the Civil War for a Confederate general

durante a Guerra Civil para un xeneral confederado

who was actually fighting to keep him enslaved,

que de feito loitaba para poder mantelo escravizado,

so he really had no wealth, he had no control over his life.

así pois, el non tiña riqueza, non tiña control sobre a súa vida.

Well, at the end of slavery, there was a policy opportunity.

Ben, á fin da escravitude xurdiu unha oportunidade política.

There was a question:

Había unha pregunta:

como reparamos os centos de anos de escravitude

what do we do for the hundreds of years of slavery

now that we are ending slavery and the country is coming together?

agora que estamos rematando con ela e o país estase a unir?

And there was a choice.

E houbo unha elección.

Podiamos chegar a un acordo cos escravos

We could make a settlement with the slaves,

ou podiamos chegar a un acordo cos propietarios dos escravos.

or we could make a settlement with the slave owners.

Well, the slaves had no power to advocate for themselves in that moment,

Os escravos non tiñan poder para defenderse naquel momento

and the country had to be united,

e o país tiña que pórse de acordo

so the federal government decided to give that settlement to slave owners,

para que o goberno federal decidira

darlles aos propietarios dos escravos ese acordo,

essentially giving them money for the property that they had lost

esencialmente dándolles diñeiro pola propiedade que perderan

at the end of the war.

á fin da guerra.

And not their physical property, not their homes, but people,

E non se trataba de propiedades físicas, das súas casas, senón de xente

the slaves that had provided free labor for years and decades.

os escravos que forneceran man de obra gratuíta

durante anos e décadas.

So Silas, at the end of the Civil War,

Así pois, á fin da Guerra Civil

had no wealth.

Silas non tiña riqueza.

He was free but had no wealth.

Era libre, pero non tiña riqueza.

He became a sharecropper.

Converteuse nun parceiro.

My great-grandfather Silas was born

O meu bisavó Silas naceu

a number of years after the end of slavery,

uns anos despois da fin da escravitude

and he was drafted to serve in World War I

e foi recrutado para servir na Primeira Guerra Mundial

along with 350,000 other Black American soldiers

xunto con outros 350 000 soldados afroamericanos

in segregated units.

en unidades segregadas.

He served in the war.

Serviu na guerra.

When he came back to the United States,

Cando regresou aos Estados Unidos

at the end of the war, there was very anti-Black sentiment.

á fin da guerra existía unha animadversión moi forte contra os afroamericanos.

The economy was compressing, there were a lot of stressors,

A economía afogaba, había moitos factores estresantes

and Black people could not get land, they could not get loans for homes,

e a poboación negra non podía ter terras, non podía pedir préstamos para os fogares

they really could not acquire any credit to build wealth over time,

en definitiva, non tiñan acceso a créditos para construír riqueza co paso do tempo,

so he also became a farmer.

polo que se fixo granxeiro.

And he had a son, also named Silas --

E tivo un fillo, que tamén se chamou Silas

there are a lot of Silases in my family --

--hai moitos Silas na miña familia.

my grandfather.

O meu avó Silas foi tamén soldado e loitou na Segunda Guerra Mundial.

My grandfather Silas was also a soldier and fought in World War II.

After World War II,

Trala Segunda Guerra Mundial

the US Federal Government passed the GI Bill,

o Goberno Federal dos EUA, aprobou a Lei do soldado

which provided support for veterans.

que provía aos veteranos de ingresos.

And the bill provided for building of hospitals,

A lei prevía a construción de hospitais,

student loans

préstamos estudantís

and, most importantly for wealth-building, low-interest home mortgages for veterans.

e máis importante para crear riqueza,

hipotecas a baixo interese para veteranos.

In the years following the war,

Nos anos posteriores á guerra

the GI Bill accounted for four billion dollars of funding

a Lei do soldado desembolsou 4 millóns de dólares de financiamento

to nine million veterans.

para 9 millóns de veteranos.

But Black veterans largely did not benefit.

Mais os veteranos afroamericanos na súa maioría non se beneficiaron dela.

So Silas, my grandfather, came back to Nashville, Tennessee,

Así pois, o meu avó, regresou a Nashville

and he married my grandmother, whose name is Cinderella.

e casou coa miña avoa, Cinderella.

Yes, my grandmother's name was Cinderella.

Sí, miña avoa chamábase Cinderella.

And they had eight children.

E tiveron 8 fillos.

But they never bought a home.

Mais nunca mercaron unha casa.

And the highlight of their housing journey

E o momento culminante nesa busca dunha vivenda

was moving into a new public housing project

foi mudarse a un novo proxecto de vivenda pública

with their children

cos seus fillos

and paying rent for that housing project,

e pagar renda por aquel proxecto de vivenda,

which in terms of the quality of housing was fantastic for them and a step up,

que, en termos de calidade de vivenda, era fantástico para eles

e supoñía un paso adiante

but did not allow them to build wealth.

mais non lles permitía construír riqueza.

My father, another soldier,

Meu pai, outro soldado

a 20-year veteran of the United States Marines,

veterano logo de 20 anos na Marina dos Estados Unidos,

bought his first home in his early 50s,

mercou a súa primeira casa aos 50 anos

but it took four generations for our family to move into homeownership

mais fixeron falla 4 xeracións

para que a nosa familia fose propietaria dunha vivenda

and begin to build ownership and equity in a home.

e comezase a construír propiedade e equidade nunha casa.

That's one family's story, and I skipped a lot of things

Esa é a historia dunha familia, e saltei moitas cousas

that happened between the end of slavery and today:

que tiveron lugar entre a fin da escravitude e hoxe:

redlining, housing discrimination before the Fair Housing Act in the 1970s,

exclusión financeira, discriminación no acceso á vivenda

antes da Lei de vivenda xusta dos anos 70,

the really important role that Black-owned banks played

o importantísimo papel dos bancos rexentados por afroamericanos

in building Black communities,

na construcción de comunidades negras,

the Savings and Loan Crisis of the 1980s,

a crise de aforros e préstamos dos 80

which crushed a lot of Black banks,

que destruíu moitos bancos rexentados por negros

and the subprime crisis in 2008,

e a crise das hipotecas lixo de 2008

which stripped a lot of Black and brown homeowners of their homes.

que despoxou a moitos propietarios negros e latinos das súas casas.

There's a lot of history there,

Pasaron moitas cousas

but that story tells you a bit about how we get to this 10x gap

mais esa historia ilustra como chegamos a esa fenda de 10 veces

where we are today.

na que nos atopamos hoxe.

Now, certainly, as we think about the size of that gap,

Agora ben, pensando no tamaño desa fenda

it is critical for the Federal Government to take a number of actions.

é fundamental que o Goberno Federal emprenda unha serie de accións.

That said, financial institutions play a really important role

Non obstante, as institucións financeiras xogan un papel moi importante

in providing access to credit, access to capital,

ao facilitar o acceso aos créditos, o acceso ao capital

to build communities

para construír comunidades

and allow Black communities to thrive.

e permitirlles prosperar ás comunidades negras.

We have to be clear;

Temos que ser claros:

managing 17,000 dollars better does not get us there.

non o lograremos xestionando mellor os 17 000 dólares.

Better education does not get us there.

Non o lograremos con mellor educación.

Access to credit and capital are critical.

Precisamos acceso a créditos e capital.

So I want to talk about four solutions today

Así pois, hoxe quero falar de catro solucións

that financial institutions can contribute to start to close the wealth gap.

ás que poderían contribuír as institucións financeiras

para comezar a pechar a fenda de riqueza.

Number one is getting more people on the ladder,

A primeira é conseguir que máis xente suba á escaleira,

getting more people banked.

conseguir que máis xente use os bancos

We know today that about half of Black Americans

Sabemos que aproximadamente a metade dos afroamericanos

are un- or underbanked.

non deposita o seu diñeiro nos bancos.

Unbanked means that you don't have a banking account.

Ou porque non teñen contas bancarias

Underbanked means that you have a bank account

ou porque, téndoas, usan servizos alternativos

but you use alternative services for check-cashing or payday lending

no cobro de cheques, préstamos de día de pago

or paying bills.

ou nas facturas.

And that's not just expensive from a transaction perspective

E iso é custoso, non só dende a perspectiva da transacción

in terms of the fees that you pay,

e das taxas que se pagan,

senón que tamén é custoso polo tempo que dedicas a pagar a factura.

it's also expensive in terms of the time that you commit to paying a bill.

Think about how you pay your utility bill today.

Pense en como paga hoxe a factura de servizos.

It probably comes out of your checking account.

Probablemente sae da súa conta corrente.

Non ten nin que pensalo.

You don't even think about it.

Prográmao con antelación e faise automaticamente.

You set it up in advance, and it's automatic.

Well, if you're unbanked,

Ben, se non ten conta bancaria

probablemente deba facer un xiro postal nalgunha parte,

you are probably going to get a money order somewhere,

physically, a piece of paper.

físicamente, un documento.

You then travel to City Hall or your DMV

Despois ten que acudir ao Concello ou á oficina pertinente

to pay that bill.

para pagar esa factura.

About 40 percent of people who are unbanked

Aproximadamente o 40 % das persoas que non teñen conta bancaria

say they are unbanked because they think they don't have the minimum amount

din que non a teñen porque pensan que non chegan á cantidade mínima

to really maintain a checking account.

para manter unha conta corrente.

Well, that's just not true.

Pois ben, iso non é certo.

In the last several years,

Nos últimos anos

credit unions, community banks and major banking institutions

as cooperativas de crédito, os bancos comunitarios

e as grandes institucións bancarias

have created low-cost, no-minimum checking and savings account products

crearon produtos a baixo custo e contas correntes e de aforros sen mínimos

specifically made for this population.

especificamente feitas para esta poboación.

So we have an issue with awareness.

Así pois, temos un problema de concienciación.

Banks, community partners and others

Bancos, asociados locais e outros

have to work together to increase the awareness of these products

teñen que traballar xuntos para sensibilizar sobre estes produtos

in communities that need them,

nas comunidades que os precisan,

so that we can start to reduce the number of people

de xeito que podamos comezar a reducir o número de persoas

who are un- and underbanked

que non usan os bancos

and get them on the ladder that we talked about earlier.

e incluílos na escaleira da que xa falamos.

The challenge is about 28 percent of Black and Latinx families

O reto é o 28 % de familias negras e latinas

are credit-invisible,

que son invisibles para os bancos,

which means that you have a thin credit file or no credit file.

o que significa que teñen un feble historial crediticio ou que non o teñen.

And the way that credit works and creditworthiness assessments work

E os créditos e as avaliacións de solvencia funcionan así:

is to say, if you can prove

se pode demostrar que devolveu o crédito de maneira consistente con anterioridade

that you have paid credit back consistently previously,

then I can lend you more credit.

entón podo prestarlle máis crédito.

It's kind of a chicken or an egg situation.

É como o peixe que morde o rabo.

The interesting thing is that banks and financial technology companies

O interesante é que os bancos e as compañías de tecnoloxía financeira

have really innovated in recent years to use alternative data --

innovaron moito nos últimos anos para usar fontes alternativas de datos

cable bills,

facturas da tele por cable

utility bills,

facturas de servizos

rent payments, etc. --

pagos do alugueiro etc.

to show that you're able to consistently make payments.

para que vostede demostre que pode realizar pagos de xeito consistente.

The additional challenge on this one, unlike the last one,

O desafío adicional que isto supón, a diferenza do anterior

which was more about awareness,

que se trataba máis dun problema de concienciación

is that you need to have regulatory support to do these things.

é que é preciso contar con apoio lexislativo para facelo.

You need to prove to regulators

Hai que demostrar aos lexisladores

that you are able to fairly use alternative data

que é posible usar xustamente datos alternativos

to lend credit to marginalized groups.

para prestar crédito a grupos marxinalizados.

What we need to see is, from the Federal Government

O que precisamos ver do Goberno Federal

and the banking industry,

e da banca

to come together to create innovation sandboxes

é unión para crear mecanismos innovadores

to start to use alternative data to expand to marginalized groups.

e comezar a usar datos alternativos e expandilos aos grupos marxinalizados.

Ben, é que hai das comunidades?

Well, what about communities?

Without community wealth,

Sen riqueza comunitaria

individual wealth, in a way, is on an island.

a riqueza individual, dalgún xeito, está illada.

And if you go into most major cities in the United States

E se vai aos Estados Unidos, na maioría de cidades

to most communities of color,

na maioría de comunidades de cor

what you'll find is underinvested communities.

o que atopará son comunidades cun baixo nivel de investimento.

For every economic crisis, these communities have suffered severely.

Estas comunidades sufriron gravemente os efectos de tódalas crises económicas.

For every economic boom, they have not benefited.

E non se beneficiaron de ningún auxe económico.

And so what we're seeing in a number of cities across the country,

Así pois, o que vemos en varias cidades do país

and I'll use Chicago as an example,

e porei Chicago como exemplo

is the partnerships occurring

estase a producir unha cooperación

between banking institutions,

entre institucións bancarias

philanthropists,

filántropos

the city and community leaders

sociedades e dirixentes

to invest hundreds of millions of dollars

para investir millóns de dólares

to build community resources

na construción de recursos comunitarios

and communities that have historically been disinvested.

e comunidades nas que historicamente non se investiu.

Lastly, we've got to talk about business,

E por último, hai que falar de empresas

and not just small businesses.

e non só de pequenas empresas.

Now, when you have individual stability and a banking institution,

Ter estabilidade invidividual e unha institución bancaria

and you have access to credit, and when you have community wealth,

ter acceso á crédito, ter riqueza comunitaria

those are all fantastic things, but we need also job creation.

todas esas cousas están ben, mais é preciso xerar emprego.

Take all of the new tech companies,

Tome como exemplo tódalas novas compañías tecnolóxicas

and I say "new" because now they're not so new,

e digo ''novas'' porque agora xa non son tan novas,

but take Facebook, Google, Amazon.

mais pense en Facebook, Google, Amazon.

At some point, all of those companies were sole proprietorships

Nun momento dado, todas esas compañías foron empresas unipersoais,

with one employee

cun empregado

or a few employees

ou varios empregados

that were building a technology that was not yet proven.

que estaban a deseñar unha tecnoloxía que aínda non se probara.

What those companies received early on

O que recibiron esas empresas ao comezo

was venture capital money.

foi diñeiro de capital de risco.

And when you look at venture capital today,

E se se observa o capital de risco de hoxe

only one percent of venture capital funds go to Black founders.

tan só o 1 % dese diñeiro se destina a fundadores afroamericanos.

So if Black entrepreneurs are largely shut out of those networks

Así pois, se os emprendedores negros son excluídos destas redes

they're not able to grow,

non poden prosperar

and the only way for that to change

e o único xeito de que isto cambie

is from within the industry itself.

é que cambie a industria en si mesma.

In this generation, we must not only be talking about thriving businesses

A nosa xeración non só ten que falar de negocios máis prosperos

in Black communities.

nas comunidades negras.

We must also be talking about seeing more Black-owned

Tamén temos que falar de que cada vez son máis as empresas

and founded businesses going public.

fundadas e propiedade de negros que saen á bolsa.

Those are just four solutions.

Estas non son máis que catro solucións.

There's many other things that can and should be done

Hai moitas outras cousas que se poden e deberían facer

to close the wealth gap.

para pechar a fenda de riqueza.

This gap is not new.

Esta fenda non é nova.

It was born and perpetuated by federal policy, social constructs

Naceu e foi perpetuada por políticas federais,

construcións sociais e prácticas empresariais ao longo do tempo

and business practice over time,

and all of those things need to change

e é preciso que todas esas cousas cambien

to start to close the gap.

para comezar a pechar a fenda.

Financial institutions play a really critical role

As institucións financeiras xogan un papel clave

at the individual level, at the community level

a nivel individual, a nivel comunitario

and at the business level.

e a nivel empresarial.

It's important to our families, it's important to our communities

É importante para as nosas familias, para as nosas comunidades

and it's important to our economy.

e para a nosa economía.

Instead of talking about how the gap continues to grow,

En lugar de falar sobre como a fenda se agranda,

let's begin to close the gap now.

comecemos a pechala agora.

Thank you.

Grazas.