Today the United States is becoming a place where a small percentage of the population holds most of the wealth and the rest of the people are left behind, losing their place in the American middle class.
Recent studies show that today the gap between the rich and the poor is greater than any other time in American history. As a result, the middle class is shrinking, pushing many Americans into the lower-income group. The "American Dream" is becoming more and more difficult to attain.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 11 million working Americans earn minimum wage, making less than $10,000 a year. In 2000, the richest one percent of Americans had more money to spend after taxes than the total income of the poorest 40 percent.
As the cost of homes, health care and education increase, many disadvantaged Americans cannot keep up.
"The cost of living has increased tremendously in the past few years," said Ali Diallo, a Howard University economics professor. "This situation is weakening the already difficult situation for poor people.
"The wealthiest people are able to take advantage of the last investment possibilities, primarily in high-tech, healthcare and real estate industries. The poor are already in vulnerable positions and cannot draw from savings or get a hold of any property they could sell and get some resources from."
Causes of this uneven wealth distribution can also be attributed to outsourcing and opportunities overseas.
"Rich people can easily take advantage of what is happening overseas, while poor people may not even have knowledge of such possibilities," said Diallo.
"Outsourcing is a problem," said Dr. Gaminie Meepagala, professor of economics. "Many manufacturing jobs go to places like China. We also use India as a source of technological production."
Many companies are hiring people overseas to do jobs in factories that were previously a major source of income for people living in urban settings.
In 2003, the Department of Health and Human Services classified the poverty threshold for a family of four as making less than $18,400 a year.
In 2001, 22.7 percent of African-Americans were classified as poor, compared to the national average of 11.7 percent.
"Although more blacks are going to college than ever before, black people as a whole are getting poorer," Meepagala said.
"The African-American community must be aware of what is going on and take necessary steps to protect their fragile situation," Diallo said. "The key ingredients are education and information. The empowerment of this community must be based on self-reliance and economic self-sufficiency."
As graduation day approaches, Howard seniors recognize that entering the workforce could be a challenge.
"It's going to be harder to get jobs, harder to get loans, harder to get a house," said Tarin Tinson, senior legal communications major. "That just means I have to try twice as hard."
Tinson also believes that in order to confront the battle of poverty in the black community, the financial focus should shift toward investing.
"Our generation might have a misconception of what the American dream is," Tinson said. "Having fancy cars and jewelry isn't always it. We need to realize that all of that can be taken away. We should put a downpayment on a house or invest in education before buying a $20,000 necklace. Home ownership is important."
Wunika Mukah, a senior telecommunications major and economics minor, discussed the importance of being knowledgeable about wealth.
"A lot of people aren't educated about saving," Mukah said. "No one is teaching us how to use our money. It's definitely going to affect us, but we're going to learn."
