>Do you see the
>mixed priorities a result of the system?

First, what is the goal of the system...and who does it benefit most? What are the economic, educational, occupational, and political structures that determine the give-and-take between African Americans and Caucasian Americans? The answers are right under our noses. When my parents were growing up they learned that as long as blacks remained in “their place,” white folks would have no reason to remind them of the place that Black folks should occupy.  The implication is that Black people in America knew their place from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Movement.  This division has kept many Black and white people from stepping out of that roles (see LaLee's Kin).

As a pet project, starting when I was 16, I started looking into the demographics of the boards of major organizations and corporations. From Fortune 500 companies, to groups such as the NAACP on down to smaller nonprofits I found that the majority of the folks who are on these boards are white, wealthy, and male. Below that were the administrators and, more often than not, these folks were also white and male (with few exceptions).

I discovered that the further down the hierarchy I looked, the more diverse the folks were...all maintaining the status quo set by the folks at the top. I found that even the organizations who had a mission to close a "divide", or had a stake in Black communities in practice were narrowly restricted in outlook or scope. I was baffled but it began to make sense. This was the "status quo" I kept hearing about and it was/is racist...a better term would be white supremacist.

>if there are riches, as you say...
>it would seem those riches could easily become wealth

Riches are really individuals' disposable income and many Black people have not been taught how to make this income work for them in the long term.

>all it
>would take is smart investing. I would say the priorities are
>what keep the riches from becomming wealth.

Priorities AND the dynamics of the system...they are connected.