Race-aware tax policy can close the wealth gap while restoring the system’s original intent

Evidence

I propose three key tax measures that would both reduce the existing gap and prevent it from perpetuating across generations: first, publish tax data by race, the way the IRS does currently for gender and age; second, return to a progressive income taxation system with no exclusions, a single deduction, and no reduced or preferential rates; and third, establish a tax credit—like the one L. G. Sherrod advocated for—as compensation for the historical, legal racism that was perpetuated well into the twentieth century and that has resulted in continued downward mobility for today’s black families. — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 514

Categorization

• SEED: Article angle: the author’s three-part reform proposal — publish racial tax data, flatten exclusions into one deduction, and add a reparations-style tax credit — as a concrete legislative agenda someone could evaluate or champion.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax…, 514