Did you know the Social Security Act of 1935 excluded farmworkers and domestic workers from receiving old age and unemployment insurance? This meant that 65% of African Americans were ineligible to receive Social Security.
This is one of the many facts that 80 attendees discussed at the Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation co-sponsored by the LWVCC, NAACP of Collier, and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples on February 5, 2023. Florence French Fagan, from Bread for the World, led the group in a simulation learning activity concerning the economic impact of federal policies on Black Americans from 1865 into the 21st Century. The simulation highlighted the connections between poverty, wealth, hunger, and racial equity. It also examined Collier County history.
After 1865, Federal policies—regarding land, money, and their effect on both Black and White people—were developed. The simulation used well-researched land, money, and lost opportunity cards to visually represent what had or was occurring. With each policy, attendees were told how many land and money cards were to be added or taken away depending on which race participants were pretending to be. Those who were White experienced the simulation as a Black person and vice versa.
One policy examined was the Social Security Act of 1935. It was designed to help those affected by the Great Depression. African American families were twice as likely to be facing hunger as the “average” American family during this time. Yet because farmworkers and domestic workers were excluded from Social Security, 65% of African Americans were ineligible for Social Security benefits. Those experiencing the simulation as a Black person were told to add one lost opportunity card for the inability to receive unemployment and old age insurance although they were between two to three times as likely as whites to experience poverty and hunger. Those who were White were told to add one money card as they did receive Social Security benefits. Based on the 13 different policies used, Black people received far fewer money and land cards, and considerably more lost opportunity cards. The difference at the end of the simulation was astounding!
Florence French Fagan also researched Collier County’s racial history. Through an interview with Voncile Whitaker, a Black woman who has lived in Collier County since 1952, attendees were able to glimpse the life of Black residents across the past 70 years. Voncile first lived in DuPont, a Black community across the river from Everglades City, where only White people were allowed to live. After Hurricane Donna destroyed DuPont, her family moved to Copeland where there was logging and sawmills. Creosote used to treat the wood in Copeland made the water undrinkable. Voncile was bussed to schools in Fort Myers and Immokalee as no other high schools accepted Black students. In 1949, a Mr. McDonald built houses in Naples, the McDonald Quarters, which was the only location Black people were permitted to live. There were about 99 homes on five acres. Because he did not connect the houses to any sewers, they were condemned in 1951 and torn down in 1981. Black people were not allowed to purchase homes in Naples Manor until 1980. Several other examples of segregation were discussed as well as the poor educational materials in the Black schools.
As 80 people learned, the Racial Wealth Gap is more than a simulation. It is a reality built on consistent Federal policies for over 150 years.
View the PowerPoint used in the simulation. Note: the simulation was created in 2015 after extensive study and research.