White poverty is not as distressing as Black poverty. Impoverished Black people are much more likely to live in neighborhoods where other families are impoverished, creating a poverty of resources and opportunities. Sociologists refer to this as the “double burden.” Impoverished Black people in metropolitan Chicago are ten times more likely than impoverished White people to live in high-poverty areas. With Black poverty dense and White poverty scattered, Black poverty is visible and surrounds its victims; White poverty blends in. Attributing these injustices and inequities solely to capitalism
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