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Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap – From Tulsa's Black Wall Street to Greenwood Banking and Racial Justice
A sweeping, deeply researched narrative history of Black wealth and the economic discrimination embedded in America’s financial system through public and private actions that created today’s Black-white wealth gap.
The early 2020s will long be known as a period of racial reflection. In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, Americans of all backgrounds joined together in historic demonstrations in the streets, discussions in the workplace, and conversations at home about the financial gaps that remain between white and Black Americans. This deeply investigated book follows the lives of seven Black Americans of different economic levels, ages and professions during the three years following this period of racial reckoning.
Drawing on intimate interviews with these individuals—three of whom are well known and four of whom most readers will learn about for the first time in the book—the authors bring data, research and history to life. Fifteen Cents on the Dollar shows the scores of set-backs that have held the Black-white wealth gap in place—from enslavement to redlining to banking discrimination—and ultimately, the set-backs that occurred in the mid-2020s as the push for racial equity became a polarized political debate.
Fifteen Cents on the Dollar is a comprehensive, deeply human look at Black-white wealth-gap history, told through the lives Black Americans as well as through the development of a new bank intended to help close the Black-white wealth gap. Seasoned journalist-academics Louise Story and Ebony Reed provide crucial insights on American economic equity, Black business ownership, and political and business practices that leave Black Americans behind. In chronicling how these staggering injustices came to be, they show how and why so little progress on the wealth gap has been made and provide insights Americans should consider if they want lasting change.
The early 2020s will long be known as a period of racial reflection. In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, Americans of all backgrounds joined together in historic demonstrations in the streets, discussions in the workplace, and conversations at home about the financial gaps that remain between white and Black Americans. This deeply investigated book follows the lives of seven Black Americans of different economic levels, ages and professions during the three years following this period of racial reckoning.
Drawing on intimate interviews with these individuals—three of whom are well known and four of whom most readers will learn about for the first time in the book—the authors bring data, research and history to life. Fifteen Cents on the Dollar shows the scores of set-backs that have held the Black-white wealth gap in place—from enslavement to redlining to banking discrimination—and ultimately, the set-backs that occurred in the mid-2020s as the push for racial equity became a polarized political debate.
Fifteen Cents on the Dollar is a comprehensive, deeply human look at Black-white wealth-gap history, told through the lives Black Americans as well as through the development of a new bank intended to help close the Black-white wealth gap. Seasoned journalist-academics Louise Story and Ebony Reed provide crucial insights on American economic equity, Black business ownership, and political and business practices that leave Black Americans behind. In chronicling how these staggering injustices came to be, they show how and why so little progress on the wealth gap has been made and provide insights Americans should consider if they want lasting change.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 18, 2024
47 people are currently reading
2353 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 12, 2024
Fifteen Cents on the Dollar is a well researched, adeptly written and eye-opening book. The authors weave the story of Black American wealth through the history of our nation, of specific firms, and of specific individuals. Their wide ranging research blends personal impacts, macroeconomic forces, cultural histories and microeconomic impacts to fully explore and illustrate the Black-white wealth gap’s origins and factors contributing to its continuance.
The variety of its approach keeps you engaged as a reader and provokes multiple critical analyses as you comprehend each historical layer and their interactions in actual events happening to individual Black Americans.
I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy learning about less told histories and understanding second-order effects of policy choices, as well as those who seek to better understand our world through the eyes of individuals.
The variety of its approach keeps you engaged as a reader and provokes multiple critical analyses as you comprehend each historical layer and their interactions in actual events happening to individual Black Americans.
I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy learning about less told histories and understanding second-order effects of policy choices, as well as those who seek to better understand our world through the eyes of individuals.
January 12, 2025
dnf 50%…
i was really intrigued by this book but i had a lot of problems with it:
1. the focus on individuals as examples of a broken system was not done well. the authors spent too much time on people’s individual stories to the point where it felt like i was reading memoirs with financial facts sprinkled in
2. the generalizations. “poor” “affordable” what do these mean? the authors use the same terms to describe people in the 1920s versus people in the 1990s. using income descriptions or at least percentiles would help conceptualize the data a lot more. especially when generation progression is so important, these vague descriptions don’t make the data sound credible
3. the marketing of the book is wrong. it should be more explicit that the book focuses on atlanta or greenwood bank. if it was really an american wealth gap book, there would be more focus on the impact of geographical regions on wealth, how racism has different forms based on location, etc. the inner flap description made it sound like a book focusing on all regions of america
4. more emphasis on facts. some extremely interesting facts were dropped and then moved on without explanation. ex: “a study found that white felons were more likely to be employed than black non-felons.” and then the paragraph completely moved on to a different topic. this is the kind of research that i wanted! how was this tested? did they find bias during resume screenings versus interviews? how was the system set up? etc.
i was really intrigued by this book but i had a lot of problems with it:
1. the focus on individuals as examples of a broken system was not done well. the authors spent too much time on people’s individual stories to the point where it felt like i was reading memoirs with financial facts sprinkled in
2. the generalizations. “poor” “affordable” what do these mean? the authors use the same terms to describe people in the 1920s versus people in the 1990s. using income descriptions or at least percentiles would help conceptualize the data a lot more. especially when generation progression is so important, these vague descriptions don’t make the data sound credible
3. the marketing of the book is wrong. it should be more explicit that the book focuses on atlanta or greenwood bank. if it was really an american wealth gap book, there would be more focus on the impact of geographical regions on wealth, how racism has different forms based on location, etc. the inner flap description made it sound like a book focusing on all regions of america
4. more emphasis on facts. some extremely interesting facts were dropped and then moved on without explanation. ex: “a study found that white felons were more likely to be employed than black non-felons.” and then the paragraph completely moved on to a different topic. this is the kind of research that i wanted! how was this tested? did they find bias during resume screenings versus interviews? how was the system set up? etc.
February 3, 2025
Ebony Reed and Louise Story's book "Fifteen Cents on the Dollar" is an extraordinary work of journalism, economics and history. It's about the wealth gap between Black and white Americans. I thought I knew something about this topic, but the causes and barriers to solutions are much more complex than I had imagined.
Particularly compelling are the many contemporary individual stories that the book chronicles in detail, through in-depth (and deeply empathetic) interviews, which really illuminate just how overwhelmingly difficult it is for Black Americans to get on solid economic footing — even when they have decent jobs — because of the legacy of slavery and institutional racism in government and corporate policies, the criminal justice system, real estate, banking, employment and everyday situations.
Warning: This book is not for the faint of heart. There's no happy ending and there's no pat prescriptions for solving this problem. But it's a thought-provoking and important book. Highly recommend, and bravo to the authors for an impressive feat of reporting and writing.
Particularly compelling are the many contemporary individual stories that the book chronicles in detail, through in-depth (and deeply empathetic) interviews, which really illuminate just how overwhelmingly difficult it is for Black Americans to get on solid economic footing — even when they have decent jobs — because of the legacy of slavery and institutional racism in government and corporate policies, the criminal justice system, real estate, banking, employment and everyday situations.
Warning: This book is not for the faint of heart. There's no happy ending and there's no pat prescriptions for solving this problem. But it's a thought-provoking and important book. Highly recommend, and bravo to the authors for an impressive feat of reporting and writing.
August 19, 2024
I struggled a bit with this one -- it felt erratic to me. Parts were very interesting -- and reminded me of The Sum of Us, which I loved. Parts (like the parts about Greenfield bank) went on WAY too long.
The basic premise is: showing how routinely the American tax / banking / home valuing systems are racist, thus hurting Black people.
Let alone the lack of reparations for slavery, the financial injury to Black people has continued into the modern day. Injurious practices include:
--red-lining
--the bailing out of white-owned banks (but not Black ones)
--taxing investments (which more white people have) at a lower rate than regular income
--etc, etc, etc
The authors use the lives of various Atlanta natives to demonstrate these forces at work.
The basic premise is: showing how routinely the American tax / banking / home valuing systems are racist, thus hurting Black people.
Let alone the lack of reparations for slavery, the financial injury to Black people has continued into the modern day. Injurious practices include:
--red-lining
--the bailing out of white-owned banks (but not Black ones)
--taxing investments (which more white people have) at a lower rate than regular income
--etc, etc, etc
The authors use the lives of various Atlanta natives to demonstrate these forces at work.
March 17, 2025
This book is filled with stories, history, data points, and the sincerity and introspection of the two authors is admirable. That being said, while this clearly reflects many years of research this could have used that magical editor hand to make more coherent the jumps from individual case stories to broad history, etc.
Most centrally this is the story of Greenwood Bank, the need for it, its promise and failure to deliver.
Most centrally this is the story of Greenwood Bank, the need for it, its promise and failure to deliver.
November 8, 2024
A journalistic exploration of the causes and contemporary manifestations of the racial wealth gap. It is rather centrist in its writing, not really critiquing our existing capitalist structures--but that might make it more palatable to a wider audience that could benefit from reading it.
January 25, 2025
Exceptional journalism on a topic that touches all Americans but still goes unacknowledged by so many. Through comprehensive reporting and narrative storytelling, authors Story and Reed outline the causes of the wealth gap and potential means to close it.
August 20, 2025
Well researched and this book has so much in it. I have a Greenwood account and have never used it and I know have a greater perspective on what was actually going on. This is the type of book that I might read again as there was so much here.
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December 11, 2024Notables 2024 #135
August 15, 2025
Highly illuminating. An invaluable resource for allies to understand systemic financial oppression in this country.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews