The racial divide today 1612013 the Supreme Court struck down an important part of the Voting Rights Act,
making it easier for the nine states that had been covered by this provision of the law to
implement discriminatory practices. Also, in 2018 the Court upheld a voter purge law in
Ohio, despite evidence that the law had a disproportionate impact on minority voters.
However, legal challenges in many states pushed back against these changes in voting
laws. Those supporting voting rights won at least partial victories in eight states against
voter ID laws and restrictions on early voting that had a racial impact. Also, several
states passed laws to automatically register voters and restore the right to vote for those
with past criminal convictions.^29Socioeconomic Indicators
The racial divide is also evident in social and economic terms. Nearly three times as
many black families are below the poverty line as white families: 21.2 percent compared
with 8.7 percent in 2017. The poverty rate of 18.3 percent for Latino families in 2017 was
similar to that of black families. While white median household income (that is, income
from wages, salaries, interest, and disability and unemployment payments) was $68,145
in 2017, black median household income was $40,258 ( 59.1 percent of white family
income) and Latino median household income was $50,486 (74.1 percent of white family
income).^30 Moreover, the gap in overall wealth is much more dramatic. The average white
household has more than six times the assets of the typical nonwhite family. In 2016, the
median household net worth (that is, the sum of all assets, including houses, cars, and
stock) was $171,000 for whites and $17,600 for African Americans, and $20,700 for
Latinos.^31 Poverty is not distributed equally throughout the United States but rather is
concentrated in areas where the minority population is the highest (see Figure 5.2).
Other indicators show similar patterns. The rate of black adult male unemployment
has been about twice as high as that of white adult male unemployment for the past
45 years. In August 2018, the unemployment rate among blacks was 6.3 percent,
compared with 3.4 percent for whites and 4.7 percent for Latinos.^32 Moreover, 36.1 percent
of black children lived in two-parent households in 2017, compared with 73.6 percent
of white children and 61.2 percent of Latino children.^33 Also, blacks are significantlyDespite the removal of most formal
barriers to voting, Latinos are less
likely to vote and participate in
politics than whites, blacks, and Asian
Americans. Latino advocacy groups
like Mi Familia Vota work to engage
and register voters in their local
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