“The Black Tax: How Policy Has Historically Cost Us More”

Let’s talk about a cost you won’t find on receipts but it’s been eating away at Black wealth for generations.

They call it the “Black tax." Not a literal tax, but a historic and ongoing financial burden placed on Black people through systemic racism, discriminatory policy, and deliberate neglect.

From housing to healthcare, banking to education — Black people have had to pay more, earn less, and jump higher just to access the basics.

🏚️ Redlining & Housing Discrimination

Black families were locked out of homeownership for decades, thanks to redlining: a federal practice that denied loans to Black neighborhoods.

That means while white families were building generational wealth through real estate in the 1940s–1970s, Black families were either:

• Denied mortgages

• Given high-interest “contract loans”

• Or forced into public housing with no equity

We’re still catching up.Today, the median Black household has about 10% of the wealth of white households.

🎓 Student Loans & The Education Trap

Black students are more likely to:

• Take out student loans

• Borrow more

• Struggle to pay it back

We’ve been told education is the way out — but the cost of college and wage discrimination means the return on that degree isn’t the same for us.

💵 The Wage Gap (It’s Still Real)

Black workers — especially Black women — consistently earn less than white workers with the same education and experience.

Add in underrepresentation in higher-paying fields, workplace discrimination, and hiring bias?That’s the Black tax too.

🏥 Health Care, Safety & Quality of Life

From higher insurance premiums in Black zip codes to poorer healthcare access and outcomes Black Americans are often overcharged and underserved.

Whether it’s the cost of living in food deserts, dealing with police violence, or being underinsured in emergencies, the system keeps taxing us.

Bottom Line:

The Black tax is real. It’s not about bad luck it’s about bad policy, created and maintained by decision-makers who knew what they were doing.

Understanding the Black tax isn’t about staying stuck in the past it’s about naming what’s broken so we can fix it.

That’s how we move forward with justice.

🔗 Related Read: Is Juneteenth a Form of Reparations?

🗳️ Call to Action: Start asking candidates: What will you do to cancel the Black tax?