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

Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

譯者: Claire Hsu 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

As last recorded by the US Federal Government,

美國聯邦政府最新紀錄顯示，

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

美國白人家庭的財富中位數 是 171,000 美元。

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

而黑人家庭的財富中位數 只有 17,000 美元。

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

奴隸制廢除已一百五十餘年， 仍有十倍差距。

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

我認為我們該問的首要問題是： 財富究竟是甚麼？

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

這個嘛，財富就是你的總資產、 你擁有的所有東西，

減去你的總負債後的部分。

minus all of your liabilities.

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

你的車子、房子、儲蓄帳戶、

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

支票帳戶、投資、 其他不動產、你的公司，

your business.

都是你的資產。

Well, that gap, that 10x gap,

至於，為什麼會有十倍的差距，

is partially because for many years,

部分原因是多年來，

decades in fact,

事實上，幾十年以來，

Black Americans were left off of that ladder

美國黑人被排除 在累積財富的階梯之外，

and didn't really have access to it.

而他們也沒有機會爬上那道階梯。

Well, why are we talking about this now?

為什麼現在我們要談論這件事呢？

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

2020 年，在全球疫情 與經濟衰退浮現的關口，

inequities are really laid bare

美國幾乎各個體制的不公正

across nearly every system in the United States:

都被暴露出來：

health care, education, criminal justice and finance,

包括醫療、教育、 刑事司法和金融等體制，

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

這些促使人們開始 在網路上、到街頭上、

in meetings at work, in corporate boardrooms.

在工作會議和公司的 董事會上採取行動。

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

而我，做為一個顧問， 我開始與一些客戶

that I thought I would never have.

談到一些意料之外的話題。

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

我想，我一直都在問自己的問題是：

在當下，我們如何確保 這些現象可以化為實質的行動與進展，

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

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

從而縮小美國黑人 與白人之間的貧富差距呢？

So who am I?

嗯，我是誰呢？

My name is Kedra Newsom Reeves.

我叫做凱德拉‧紐瑟姆‧里維斯。

I am a consultant for banking institutions,

我是銀行機構、避險基金

hedge funds, asset managers.

與資產管理的顧問。

But before any of that,

但我在擁有這些抬頭之前，

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

是一位美國黑人奴隸的後代。

And when we talk about the wealth gap,

當我們談到貧富差距時，

it's really important to understand the history,

了解它的歷史是很重要的，

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

所以我想講一個我家庭的小故事，

and how policy intersects with wealth.

以及解釋政策如何與財富交織在一起。

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

故事要從我的高祖父開始。

He was a man named Silas Newsom,

他的名字是西拉斯‧紐瑟姆，

and Silas was born a slave outside Nashville, Tennessee,

西拉斯是出生於田納西州納士維外

on Newsom Station,

紐瑟姆站的黑奴，

where he and his family worked on a quarry.

他和家人在當地的一個採石場工作。

He didn't own anything.

他一無所有。

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

沒有家、沒有房產、

He didn't really even own his own body,

連他的身體都不是他的。

his own labor, his children.

他的勞動、他的小孩，

Any of those things, all of those things,

任何東西、所有東西，

were here to create wealth for someone else.

都是用來為他人創造財富。

So we believe that he was a servant

所以我們認為他在美國內戰期間，

during the Civil War for a Confederate general

是一位同盟國將軍的僕人，

who was actually fighting to keep him enslaved,

服侍一個為了繼續奴役他而戰的人，

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

所以他真沒有甚麼財富， 他無法掌控他自己的人生。

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

在奴隸制度結束時， 有制立新政策的機會。

There was a question:

一個問題出現了：

what do we do for the hundreds of years of slavery

在我們正要終結奴隸制度， 國家正在團結起來之時，

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

我們要怎麼處置 幾百年以來的奴隸制度？

And there was a choice.

這時有兩個選擇：

We could make a settlement with the slaves,

我們可以付給奴隸調解金，

or we could make a settlement with the slave owners.

或者付給奴隸主人調解金。

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

但是在那個時候， 奴隸並沒有為自己發聲的力量，

and the country had to be united,

而國家也需要團結，

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

所以聯邦政府決定 將調解金發給奴隸主人，

essentially giving them money for the property that they had lost

在本質上為他們 在戰爭結束時失去的「財產」

at the end of the war.

提供金錢的補償。

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

這並不是要補償他們的 財產或房子，而是失去的人──

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

那些數十年來免費提供勞動的奴隸。

So Silas, at the end of the Civil War,

所以，西拉斯在內戰結束時，

had no wealth.

並沒有任何財富。

He was free but had no wealth.

他是自由了，但沒有財富。

He became a sharecropper.

他後來成為一個佃農。

My great-grandfather Silas was born

我的曾祖父西拉斯出生於

a number of years after the end of slavery,

奴隸制度結束的幾年後，

and he was drafted to serve in World War I

他被徵召在第一次世界大戰期間

along with 350,000 other Black American soldiers

與其他三十五萬個美國黑人士兵一起，

in segregated units.

到隔離的部隊中服役。

He served in the war.

他上了戰場。

When he came back to the United States,

當他在戰爭結束回到美國時，

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

國內瀰漫著非常強烈的反黑人情緒。

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

經濟正在緊縮，有很多的壓力來源，

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

黑人無法取得土地、 無法獲得房屋貸款，

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

時間過去，他們無法獲取 任何信用以建立財富，

so he also became a farmer.

所以他後來也當了農夫。

And he had a son, also named Silas --

而他有一個兒子，也叫做西拉斯

there are a lot of Silases in my family --

──我們家族裡 有很多人叫做西拉斯──

my grandfather.

也就是我祖父。

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

我祖父西拉斯也是一位 在二戰期間打過仗的軍人。

After World War II,

二戰過後，

the US Federal Government passed the GI Bill,

美國聯邦政府通過了軍人權利法案，

which provided support for veterans.

為退伍軍人提供支持。

And the bill provided for building of hospitals,

該法案提供資金以建立醫院、

student loans

提供學生貸款，

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

還有，最重要的，幫助退伍軍人 累積財富的低利息房貸。

In the years following the war,

在戰爭過後的幾年中，

the GI Bill accounted for four billion dollars of funding

軍人權利法案為九百萬個退伍軍人

to nine million veterans.

提供了四十億美元的資金。

But Black veterans largely did not benefit.

但是大多數黑人退伍軍人 並沒有從中獲益。

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

所以我的祖父西拉斯 回到了田納西州的納士維，

and he married my grandmother, whose name is Cinderella.

和我的曾祖母結婚，她叫做仙杜瑞拉。

Yes, my grandmother's name was Cinderella.

你沒聽錯，我的曾祖母 真的叫仙杜瑞拉。

And they had eight children.

他們有八個小孩。

But they never bought a home.

但他們從來沒有買房子。

And the highlight of their housing journey

而在他們找尋住宅過程中的重頭戲

was moving into a new public housing project

是在他們和孩子搬進

with their children

新的國民住宅，

and paying rent for that housing project,

並支付租金的時候。

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

住宅的品質方面上非常棒， 也比之前更好，

but did not allow them to build wealth.

但是這並不能讓他們建立財富。

My father, another soldier,

我的爸爸，又是一位士兵，

a 20-year veteran of the United States Marines,

已經從美國海軍陸戰隊退伍二十年，

bought his first home in his early 50s,

在他五十出頭的時後買了第一棟房子，

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

但是我的家族花了四個世代 才有人擁有房產，

and begin to build ownership and equity in a home.

並開始累積所有權和建立平等的地位。

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

這只是一個家族的故事， 而且我還沒提到很多

that happened between the end of slavery and today:

從奴隸制度結束之後 到今日之間發生的事情：

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

在 1970 年代《公平住房法案》 通過前的拒絕貸款門檻與歧視，

the really important role that Black-owned banks played

黑人擁有的銀行在建立黑人社群中

in building Black communities,

扮演了非常重要的角色，

the Savings and Loan Crisis of the 1980s,

1980 年代的儲貸危機

which crushed a lot of Black banks,

擊垮了許多黑人的銀行，

and the subprime crisis in 2008,

在 2008 年發生的次貸危機

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

剝奪了許多黑人、棕色人種房主的家。

There's a lot of history there,

其中有很多的歷史，

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

但這些故事可以提供你一些線索， 以了解我們是如何走到今天

where we are today.

這個十倍差距的地步。

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

當然，當我們考慮到差距的規模時，

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

聯邦政府需要迫切地採取一些行動。

That said, financial institutions play a really important role

不過，金融機構在授權提供

in providing access to credit, access to capital,

信用、貸款方面上扮演很重要的角色，

to build communities

以建立社群

and allow Black communities to thrive.

並讓黑人社群可以茁壯繁榮。

We have to be clear;

我們必須清楚明白；

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

即使更善加運用 17,000 美元 也無法幫助我們實現目標。

Better education does not get us there.

更好的教育也無法幫我們實現目標。

Access to credit and capital are critical.

能獲得信用與資本才是關鍵。

So I want to talk about four solutions today

所以我今天想要談談四個解決方案，

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

是金融機構可以為 縮減貧富差距做出貢獻的。

Number one is getting more people on the ladder,

第一個方案是讓更多人 可以爬上累積財富的階梯，

getting more people banked.

讓更多人到銀行存錢。

We know today that about half of Black Americans

我們知道今天大約有半數的美國黑人

are un- or underbanked.

是無帳戶者或次級銀行用戶。

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

無帳戶者指的是你沒有銀行帳戶。

Underbanked means that you have a bank account

次級銀行用戶是指你有銀行帳戶，

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

但是你用其他服務來兌現支票、 支付發薪日貸款、

or paying bills.

或支付帳單。

And that's not just expensive from a transaction perspective

從交易的角度上來說，

in terms of the fees that you pay,

不僅是你付的費用會很昂貴，

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

而為了付帳，也會使你花費掉 許多寶貴的時間。

Think about how you pay your utility bill today.

想想看你現在是如何付水電費的。

It probably comes out of your checking account.

大概會從你的存款帳戶中自動扣款。

你不會特別想到它。

You don't even think about it.

你已經事先設立好帳戶， 過程都是自動的。

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

Well, if you're unbanked,

但是，如果你沒有銀行帳戶，

你可能需要到某個地方取得匯票，

you are probably going to get a money order somewhere,

physically, a piece of paper.

它就是一張紙。

You then travel to City Hall or your DMV

接著，你要出門跑一趟市政府或監理所

to pay that bill.

去付帳單。

About 40 percent of people who are unbanked

約有 40% 沒有銀行帳戶的人

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

表示他們沒開戶， 是因為他們覺得他們沒有

to really maintain a checking account.

可維持存款帳戶的最低金額。

Well, that's just not true.

但這個理解是錯的。

In the last several years,

近幾年以來，

credit unions, community banks and major banking institutions

信用合作社、社區銀行 和主要的銀行機構

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

已經創造了低成本、無最低存款 或儲蓄金額帳戶的產品，

specifically made for this population.

是專門設計給這些人口的。

So we have an issue with awareness.

所以我們面對的是認知的問題。

Banks, community partners and others

銀行、地區分行及其他人

have to work together to increase the awareness of these products

必須通力合作以讓更多 需要這些產品的的社群

in communities that need them,

認識該產品，

so that we can start to reduce the number of people

如此我們可以開始減少

無帳戶者與次級銀行用戶的數量，

who are un- and underbanked

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

並讓他們爬上我們才剛談到的階梯。

The challenge is about 28 percent of Black and Latinx families

我們會遇到的挑戰是

大約 28% 的黑人或拉丁裔家庭的 信用是看不見的，

are credit-invisible,

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

意味著你的信用檔案的 記錄很少或沒有紀錄。

And the way that credit works and creditworthiness assessments work

而信用和信用等級運作的方式為，

is to say, if you can prove

如果你可以證明

that you have paid credit back consistently previously,

你先前一直有償還信用貸款，

那我就可以再借你更多的信用貸款。

then I can lend you more credit.

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

這就產生「雞生蛋，蛋生雞」的問題。

The interesting thing is that banks and financial technology companies

有趣的是，銀行與金融科技公司

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

在近幾年來已進行創新，使用另類數據

cable bills,

──例如：有線電視的帳單、

utility bills,

水電費、

rent payments, etc. --

租金支付，等等──

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

來衡量你有定期付款的能力。

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

而還有另外一個挑戰，

與上一個和認知較有關的問題不同，

which was more about awareness,

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

你必須有法規的支持來實現這些事情。

You need to prove to regulators

你必須要向管制者證明

that you are able to fairly use alternative data

你能夠公平地使用這些替代數據，

to lend credit to marginalized groups.

將信用貸款借給邊緣化群體。

What we need to see is, from the Federal Government

我們需要看到的是，

聯邦政府和銀行業

and the banking industry,

to come together to create innovation sandboxes

可以一起合作創造出創新的沙盒環境，

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

開始運用替代數據， 並擴展到邊緣化群體上。

Well, what about communities?

那社群呢？

Without community wealth,

沒有群體的財富，

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

個人的財富，比方來說， 就像是海上的孤島。

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

若你走進美國最主要城市裡的

to most communities of color,

大多數有色人種的社區，

what you'll find is underinvested communities.

你找到的會是未受到足夠重視的社群。

For every economic crisis, these communities have suffered severely.

遇到每次經濟危機， 這些社群都遭受沉重的打擊。

For every economic boom, they have not benefited.

遇到每次經濟繁榮， 他們也沒有享受到益處。

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

所以，我們在這個國家的 一些城市裡正在目睹的是

and I'll use Chicago as an example,

──我以芝加哥當作例子──

is the partnerships occurring

一個正在建立的夥伴關係：

between banking institutions,

銀行機構、

philanthropists,

慈善家、

the city and community leaders

城市與社區的領袖

to invest hundreds of millions of dollars

一同合作投資數億美元

to build community resources

建立社區資源

and communities that have historically been disinvested.

與發展歷史上不受重視的社群。

Lastly, we've got to talk about business,

最後，我們該來談談企業，

and not just small businesses.

不只是談小型的企業而已。

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

當你有個人的穩定、有銀行機構、

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

可以取得信用，又有社群的財富，

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

能夠有這些東西實在是太棒了， 但我們也需要創造就業機會。

Take all of the new tech companies,

舉那些新興的科技公司來說

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

──我雖然說「新興」， 但其實現在它們沒有很新──

but take Facebook, Google, Amazon.

但以臉書、谷歌、亞馬遜當作例子。

At some point, all of those companies were sole proprietorships

在某個時間點，這些公司 都是獨資經營的企業，

with one employee

由一個員工

or a few employees

或數個員工

that were building a technology that was not yet proven.

發展一項尚未得到認可的技術。

What those companies received early on

這些公司早期收到的是

was venture capital money.

創業投資基金。

And when you look at venture capital today,

當你看今日創業基金的情況，

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

只有百分之一的創業投資基金 為黑人的創業者享有。

So if Black entrepreneurs are largely shut out of those networks

所以，如果大多數的黑人企業家 被排拒在那些網絡之外，

they're not able to grow,

他們便無法茁壯，

and the only way for that to change

而改變這現狀的唯一方法，

is from within the industry itself.

來自於產業內部本身。

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

在這個世代，我們不只 要讓企業在黑人社群中

in Black communities.

蓬勃發展。

We must also be talking about seeing more Black-owned

我們必須看到更多

由黑人擁有、建立的企業上市。

and founded businesses going public.

Those are just four solutions.

以上只是四個解決方案而已。

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

還有許多其他事情 是我們能做且必須做，

to close the wealth gap.

以縮減貧富差距。

This gap is not new.

這段差距已經存在很久。

It was born and perpetuated by federal policy, social constructs

它是因聯邦政策、社會架構和商業運作

and business practice over time,

產生並延續到現在，

and all of those things need to change

而那些東西都需要改變

to start to close the gap.

以開始減少差距。

Financial institutions play a really critical role

金融機構在三個層次上 扮演非常關鍵的角色：

at the individual level, at the community level

在個人的層次、社群的層次、

and at the business level.

和企業的層次上。

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

這對我們的家庭、我們的社群、

and it's important to our economy.

我們的經濟來說都很重要。

Instead of talking about how the gap continues to grow,

與其顧著談論差距正持續擴大，

let's begin to close the gap now.

不如現在就開始著手減少差距吧。

Thank you.

感謝聆聽。