What's most controversial is that there are some, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who attribute the wealth gap to financial illiteracy on the part of African Americans. This couldn't be further from the truth. The difference in family wealth can be more directly attributed to differences in family inheritance levels, which tends to be the dominant factor in the wealth levels of most Americans.

African Americans have far less inherited wealth than white Americans primarily because our country spent over 400 years promoting and endorsing policies that kept African Americans from building wealth to pass on to their children. Slavery led to trillions in dollars in free labor being passed on to whites, while Jim Crow laws kept African Americans from pursuing lucrative careers or building strong businesses. Most significantly, African Americans were unable to accumulate wealth through land ownership, which is a tremendous driver of family wealth in America. If you walk down any street in Manhattan with $100 million dollar buildings left and right, almost none of those buildings are owned by black people, even though blacks were among the first economic and cultural contributors to New York City.

The keys to closing the wealth gap must include a diligent effort made by our federal government to not only apologize for slavery, but also to use government resources to transfer wealth to the communities most affected. This can be done by equalizing the funding levels for inner city schools and creating community trusts that allow for economic development in areas most affected by the wealth gaps.

At the same time, within black America, there must be an increased commitment to financial literacy and wealth building. Teach your children how to start a business and invest. Also teach them the value of OWNING SOMETHING. Ownership is the key to wealth: if you don't own anything, you don't have anything. Black history includes many chapters in which African Americans were able to create and maintain wealth despite dire circumstances. Madame CJ Walker, a child of former slaves, became the first female millionaire in America of any color through her own efforts in an extremely racist and sexist environment. Now that things have dramatically changed for the better, it is up to our community to make the most of every opportunity -- especially given how far we have come.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce financial commentary delivered to your email, please click here.