Over the last two years, there has been much discussion of a national “reckoning” on race. There can be no complete reckoning without strong analysis and substantive action to address the economic marginalization of Native Americans in 21st century America.

Through years of intentional governmental policies that took away their lands and resources, American Indians have been separated from the wealth and assets that were rightfully theirs. Today, we see a consistent lack of information on Native Americans and their socioeconomic issues.

Our organization, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, recently released a Native American Racial Wealth Divide Snapshot that examines data on social economic indicators like homeownership, poverty rate, and education attainment for Native Americans.

In several social economic indicators, Native Americans’ economic marginalization is similar to that of African Americans. Based on the 2015-2019 American Community Survey for the American Indian and Alaska Native population, the median household income was $43,825 – slightly higher than the median income of African American households, which was $41,935.

Addressing the racial wealth divide for Native Americans will require a radical shift of investment and policies of today, yesterday and tomorrow. As the previously-cited data shows, our country is still on the wrong path in addressing racial economic inequality. An important step in this change of direction is to have clear analysis and commitment to addressing the racial economic disparities that are at the heart of the founding of the nation and still run through its veins in the 21st century.  A fundamental part of this change is collecting stronger data on the Native American population and a greater focus on addressing our nation’s first peoples economic challenges.

Read the full article about the wealth gap for Native Americans by Connor Sanchez, Esha Kamra Dedrick, and Asante-Muhammad at Inequality.