Sometimes we become so focused on arguing about race that we stop looking at the numbers.

I believe there is a better approach.

We should be able to acknowledge America's progress while also being willing to examine where significant disparities still exist.

We do not have to blame every White person, every institution, or every decision on racism to recognize that some of these differences are simply too large to ignore.

Start with wealth.

According to the Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the median White family held approximately $285,000 in wealth. The median Black family held about $44,900, while the median Hispanic family held roughly $61,600.

There is some good news buried in those numbers. Median wealth increased considerably for Black and Hispanic families between 2019 and 2022.

But because they started from a much smaller financial base, the actual dollar gap between White families and Black and Hispanic families still increased.

That deserves our attention.

The disparities extend beyond wealth.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission examined more than 300,000 federal cases from fiscal years 2017 through 2021. After controlling for available personal and offense characteristics, its analysis found that Black males received overall sentences 13.4% longer than White males.

There is an important detail here.

When researchers examined only cases resulting in imprisonment, the difference dropped to 4.7%. The Commission found that much of the overall disparity was connected to whether someone received probation or incarceration in the first place.

Healthcare presents another difficult picture.

According to the CDC, the maternal mortality rate among Black women in 2024 was 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births. Among White women, it was 14.2.

That means the rate for Black women was more than three times as high.

📊 The Numbers at a Glance

Verified Data Sources

Federal Reserve: The 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances documents the continuing racial wealth gap while also showing substantial wealth growth among Black and Hispanic families.
Federal Reserve racial wealth data and analysis

U.S. Sentencing Commission: Its updated federal sentencing study examines more than 309,000 individuals sentenced between fiscal years 2017 and 2021.

U.S. Sentencing Commission demographic sentencing study

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The CDC's 2024 maternal mortality statistics show substantial racial differences in maternal deaths.

CDC 2024 maternal mortality statistics

Closing Commentary

Numbers alone cannot tell us why every disparity exists.

They cannot tell us that every unequal outcome was caused by racism, discrimination, personal choices, economic circumstances, public policy, education, geography, family structure, or some combination of those factors.

But numbers can tell us when something deserves a closer look.

That is where I believe the conversation should begin.

We should be mature enough to recognize progress without pretending every problem has disappeared. We should also be careful enough not to label every disparity as proof of discrimination without examining the evidence.

The goal should not be winning an argument about race. The goal should be understanding what is happening, why it continues to happen, and what can reasonably be done to improve it.

Because ignoring uncomfortable numbers does not make them disappear.