★ Plate No. X · Volume I · The Du Bois Reappraisal ★

The Wealth of the Nation,
by Race, 1983–2022

La richesse médiane des ménages par race aux États-Unis, 1983 à 2022
Median Household Wealth in 2022 Dollars (Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances)
$300K $250K $200K $150K $100K $50K $0 1983 1989 1998 2007 2010 post-crash 2016 2019 2022 gap: $98K gap: $241K White median Black median the gap
Eight paired columns across four decades of Federal Reserve surveys. The gray bars climb. The red bars barely move. The dashed line between each pair measures the gap — and it grows wider with every survey. In 1983 the distance was ninety-eight thousand dollars. By 2022 it had reached two hundred and forty-one thousand. Both sides rose, but the distance between them more than doubled. Education was supposed to close this. It did not.

★ The Finding ★

$98K → $241K
The racial wealth gap did not close. It grew by 146% in four decades. In 1983, the median white household held $105,000; the median Black household held $7,000. By 2022: $285,000 versus $44,000. The ratio narrowed slightly — from 15:1 to 6.5:1 — but the absolute dollar distance more than doubled. The 2008 crash destroyed 37% of Black median wealth in three years. White wealth recovered. Black wealth has still not returned to its 2007 level in real terms.

★ The Underlying Data ★

YearWhite MedianBlack MedianGap
1983~$105,000~$7,000$98,000
1989~$130,000~$8,000$122,000
1998~$120,000~$12,000$108,000
2007~$192,000~$19,000$173,000
2010~$139,000~$12,000$127,000
2016~$171,000~$17,000$154,000
2019~$189,000~$24,000$165,000
2022~$285,000~$44,000$241,000

All figures in 2022 dollars, inflation-adjusted. Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, triennial.

Method Note

Du Bois drew Plate 22 of the Georgia Negro series to show "Assessed Value of Property Owned by Negroes in Georgia" from 1875 to 1899 — a climbing line that argued for economic progress. This plate is its descendant and its correction. The climbing line is still here — but the gap line climbs faster. Du Bois's optimistic framing (look how much we've gained) is reappraised with a comparative framing (look how much further behind we've fallen in absolute terms). Both readings are true. Both are incomplete without the other.

This is a preview plate for conversation, drafted April 2026. All figures are from the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, adjusted to 2022 dollars using CPI-U. The production plate will cite exact medians from published Fed tables and include confidence intervals for the triennial estimates.

★ This plate seeks its patron ★
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