7308. Taxation and Racism

The federal tax code is neutral on its face and does not explicitly benefit one race over another. Yet the tax law is not as color-blind as that neutrality would suggest. Historical racism and continuing racial prejudice and discrimination, through both public policies and private acts, have helped create disparate effects that determine tax liability. Racial barriers to economic opportunity have played a substantial role in determining today’s income and wealth distribution. The tax code, specific tax provisions, and the way the code is administered and enforced can affect different races and ethnicities in widely disparate ways, and changes in tax policy and administration can widen or narrow racial disparities. Unfortunately, the tax changes enacted in 2017 — the most recent major overhaul of the tax code — widen income and racial disparities. This course will identify many of the underlying causes of racial tax inequity and explore tax policy changes that would reverse this dynamic. Pre/co-requisite: Federal Income Tax.