May 2025

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đź“ś Closing the Gap: Race, Wealth, and Reparations

Reparations are not a question of if—but when.


Kirsten Mullen, William (“Sandy”) Darity Jr., and Tiffany Crutcher deliver a searing conversation on the racial wealth gap, historical injustice, and the case for direct compensation.

⚖️ The Racial Wealth Gap Isn’t an Accident—It’s Intentionally Devised

William Darity Jr.:
“The central source of wealth for this society is the transmission of resources across generations.” White families—supported by intentionally structured government policies—have consistently been given more to pass on to their offspring than Black families who had the same asset building handouts.

Kirsten Mullen lays out the historical foundation:

  • Homestead Act of 1862: 1.5 million white families received 160-acre land grants of western territories—feeding wealth across generations. Over 45 million white Americans benefit today.
  • 20th-Century Discriminatory Home-ownership Policy: From the New Deal to the home buying support programs under the GI Bill, Black families were largely excluded from homeownership and asset-building.
  • Urban Renewal: Entire Black neighborhoods bulldozed in the name of “progress”—homes, businesses, and wealth destroyed.

🕊️ Legacy of Violence, Demand for Justice

Tiffany Crutcher brought the conversation into the present, tying the long history of racial injustice. Her twin brother, Terence Crutcher, was shot by Tulsa police in 2016. The violence, she said, is not new—it’s historical.

“I’ve drawn very stark parallels between what happened to Terence and the Tulsa Race Massacre nearly 100 years ago. Back then, mobs of white rioters killed innocent, unarmed Black men with their hands in the air. With Terence, it was a mob of white police officers who fled to the scene. A helicopter loomed in the air, and an officer said he ‘looked like a bad dude.’ He was shot and tased simultaneously. No first aid was given. There’s been no repair, no respect, no restitution. It’s the same culture—the same police department.”

The same patterns of racial violence persist—and we must keep talking about it, and finally deliver the justice that’s long overdue.

đź“š Want solutions?
Explore the Four Pillars of Reparations in From Here to Equality by Darity and Mullen.

Don’t miss it—watch the full discussion on our YouTube channel.

đź“Ł Minor in Heterodox Economics in the Study of Capitalism

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Starting in Fall 2025 the Department of Economics at The University of Tulsa will offer a concentration of courses that comprise the new Minor in Heterodox Economics in the Study of Capitalism (also referred to as the “Het minor”). Open to all majors throughout the University, the Het Minor endeavors to provide the building blocks for understanding our economic system through a plurality of methods that go beyond the mainstream approach to the discipline of economics. 

  • Economics of Social Issues
  • Comparative Theories of Economic Growth and Distribution
  • Comparative Theories of Value, Price, and Distribution
  • History of Economic Theories
  • Special Issues on Heterodox Economics

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