I think this post would be strengthened by the inclusion of average incomes for each quintile as well. Not only is income distribution more uneven among blacks (This surprised me actually), but the average black person has a lower income than the average white person across the board.

I think so too. If you have that data handy shoot it to me, because I don’t know if it’s just a matter of the poor dragging the numbers down (which is what I think), or whether it’s something else. Your ideas about taxation and revenue are on point too. What we end up with is the same dialogue within the race that we have between the rich and the poor in general. The well off in this case are implicitly asking for a lion’s share of the political attention (we fight for affirmative action but not for anti-poverty measures because of the class dynamics) because they bear the brunt of the costs?

Another more subtle point which merits inclusion is taxation and tax revenue. One fifth of blacks make more than one half of all black income. Given the US’s progressive tax bracket, this also means that those wealthy blacks likely account for upwards of 80 percent of all tax revenue from blacks. Given the reasonable assumptions that blacks with money will leave the ‘hood and that de facto segregation runs rampant in most US cities, you’re left with groups of poor blacks that contribute little in federal or state taxes and live in districts with a tax base composed entirely of themselves.

Those that do make it are almost certainly out in the burbs with 2-parent homes, and thanks to Cosby and Obama (to an extent) we know where the rest are.

There has to be a solution where federal funding can be targeted towards schools and infrastructure in poor areas while avoiding the stigma of welfare expansion or government handouts.

…

Those that lift themselves up by the bootstraps will do so regardless of circumstances or the exhortations of politicians. No speech about personal responsibility is going to give anybody an epiphany.