By Hubert Williams

Boston, Massachusetts, June 1, 2017 — GUYANESE and West Indians’ wealth run very low, but it is Black Americans who are at the very bottom of the household income heap in this 49-square mile city of 660,000 and who are expected to be the principal beneficiaries in planned official action to improve overall economic and social conditions to reduce the glaring disparity.
The massive development programme, styled “Imagine Boston 2030,” is already in draft and has been circulated for a month of public comment, following which it will be refined, with implementation likely to begin in July.
The city’s officials have been prompted into action by a 2015 study report called “The Color of Wealth,” which showed American White households in the city nearly 31,000 times better off in their earning capacity than their Black counterparts.
All other categories of citizenry, including Guyanese and West Indians, had household income ratings incomparably higher than the American Blacks.
The urgency of these social and economic issues within the city is thought to have been among the factors which occasioned withdrawal of the bid for Boston to host the 2024 Olympic Games.
A visitor to Boston would likely discern disparities, or anomalies, but without having the facts and figures to understand the depths to which the wealth problem goes, involving White Americans, Black Americans, Guyanese and English-speaking West Indians, and the large Puerto Rican segment of the city’s Hispanic population.
“The Color of Wealth” report underlined for the city’s administration how stark was the problem… as highlighted in “The Bay State Banner”, a Boston-based newspaper (Massachusetts is referred to as the “Bay State”).
Whites constitute the largest ethnic group in the city, are by far and away the highest income-earners, with the best quality of life; whereas Black Americans bring up the rear in the ratings.
The newspaper also examined the authorities’ plans for overall improvements in Boston’s quality of life — greater access to better housing accommodation, improved health care, increased employment opportunities, and improved facilities for education and recreation.
These are the figures presented in the “Color of Wealth” Report:
$247,500 — Median net annual worth of White households in the Greater Boston area;
$12,000 — Median net annual worth of Caribbean Black households in the Greater Boston Area;
$3,000 — Median net annual worth of Puerto Rican households in the Greater Boston Area;
$2,700 — Median net annual worth of non-Puerto Rican Hispanic households in the Greater Boston Area;
$8 — Median net annual worth of Black American households in the Greater Boston Area.