In a strange city we were in a strange situation. At quarter to 5:00pm in a place surely named for my publishers’ wife, we were in Portland, the “Rose” capital of tie-dye and granola and had to mail a letter. Bad. It was April 15 so ours was the same one you had to mail. It was stuffed full of forms, headed to Ogden, Utah. Taxes.
There was much drama at first. Could we even find the main post office? But then the thought dawned: “Follow the most worried-looking drivers speeding fastest towards town.” Sure enough, the annual Neighborhood Mailbox Party was in full effect. Cars were lined around the post office and half way across the Broadway Bridge. And now, after the file-search and rescue; after the adding and subtracting; after the worrying and speeding; came the relief of the mailing. Then again, more drama. Were company W-2 figures right? Were our accompanying calculations right? And what in the world will we do about that old Black’s Tax?
!It beez growin ya’ know? !Show ‘nuff Since the Wealth Gap and the Service Deficit between Afrikan and Anglo Americans is growing while the rates we pay are the same, what’s supposed to be a race-neutral Tax Code is resultingly racist. Let’s review.
Voicing the NOI program, Malcolm X cited government involvement in race descrimination and police brutality as justifying our not being taxed at all. “Why should you be taxed,” Malcolm asked, “when you don’t get anything in return? How can you be charged the same tax as the white man when you don’t enjoy the same rights as the white man?”
“Four IRS mandated benefits can flow from home-ownership (alone):
Always remember three things about Rents vs. Housepayments.
The focus on Social Security is often put on how long it will last. Afrikan Americans might ask how long should we pay? SSI taxes are paid at a flat rate of income, while Afrikan American workers earn 48% less than Anglo American workers. (Hacker; 1992) So we pay a 48% higher SSI rate then they. We collect less too. Death occures for the average Afrikan American male at 62, but benefits start at 65; so our men don’t statistically collect at all.
During exceptional collections even these are smaller for us. Since we spend much less of our working lives actually working, we accumulate less individually to collect. “Furthermore, since many more black women are single, divorced, or seperated, they cannot look foreward to sharing a spouses benefit.” (Oliver/Shapiro; 1995) “Angry white males”--and females-- are up in arms about the (exaggerated) dollars paid to Afrikan American AFDC payees whose men have been run or killed off by Racism. But the self same say nothing about Anglo American widows claiming SSI. Since AFDC programs prevent asset accumulation over $1500—although SSI does not—low income Afrikan Americans are kept from owning Tax Sheltered Accounts more often than Anglo Americans. That’s the Black’s Tax.
While government laws don’t directly keep middle and upper income Brodas an’ Sistas from owning Tax Sheltered Accounts, Racist Conduct does. For centuries many states, including Louisiana and Maryland, passed laws prohibiting our investing. Now, most North Americans tax-shelter their incomes with Mutual Fund and brokerage accounts to where “51% of whites said they have most of their money in brokerage or Mutual Fund accounts vs. 26% of blacks..” (USA Today; 4/7/98) Furthermore, “FOUR TIMES AS MANY WHITE HOUSEHOLDS INVEST IN I.R.A. OR KEOUGH PENSION (TAX REDUCING) ACCOUNTS AS BLACKS.” (Oliver/Shapiro; 1995)
Perhaps most unequal are business ownership related deductions. A careful analysis of all “Black Dollars” in the U.S. Exposes an underdeveloped market place to which Afrikan American entrepeneurs are still functionally RESTRICTED. Though often cited, little of the $500 Billion (combined income) of ours is really “ours” after essential bills are paid on the first of each month.
Comprising just 7% of this countries combined income, there are RELATIVELY few “Black Dollars” that our single-market business owners can target. Chattle Slavery significantly stunted two-way Continental Afrikan exchange markets. Segregation significantly stunted two-way Afrikan/Anglo American exchange markets while giving Anglo Americans easy one-way access to the Afrikan American market. Even back in 1949, fully 98% of our grocery dollars were spent at Anglo American grocery storers, leaving just 2% to be spent at stores like M. L. King Way Market. (Ofari; 1970)
Tiny markets, tinier sums saved and racist lending mean that 69 of 1000 Anglo Americans start their own businesses as compared to 9 Afrikan Americans of 1000 who do.(Emerge; 03/’95)
Entrepeneurs enjoy over 40 tax deductions that employees don’t. These fall into four neat catagories:
Correctly, then, we condemn Anglo Dominion, or Racist Conduct, for disrupting development of Afrikan culture and this includes “Black Economics.” (Kunjufu; 1993) Considering all the above concerns, should we worry if that letter got stamped?