While I do understand where the writer was coming from with the research, I have to point out what I believe to be a fundamental flaw in his position. The flaw is that the writer never mentions the fact that there are not as many white families of a middle to lower class income, as there are black families of the same income. That is the reason why you would find a $42,000 a year white family with mostly $62,000 a year white neighbors, and therefore not willing to participate in the "wealth signal" game. Yes, a $42,000 a year white family probably does spend the same as a $42,000 a year black or latino family on "wealth signals". However, when there are far more black families within that income range then white families, then the spending becomes illogical and unjustifiable. 1,000 poor white people burning money does not justify 10,000 poor black people doing the same.

Do you have any source for that information? Black people make up only about 13% of the population, while white people make up 75%. The median income for a white household was $49k in 2004. That means that 35% of the population of the U.S. is white and is lives in a household that earns $49k or less. I don't know what the distribution is beyond that, but it's obvious that the number of white people living below the middle class is far larger than the number of black people in the same situation.

There aren't even more black people living in poverty in the U.S. There are three times as many poor white people as black people in the United States, and the poverty rates for whites has risen faster in recent years than it has for black or Hispanic people. Poverty in the U.S. isn't even largely a problem just for black people. It's a problem that we all share, and I'm tired of people dealing inaccurate and racially-charged information about it.