Black Tax: The devastating social phenomenon driving black workers into economic abyss

As a young person residing in Africa or in the First World, you have probably come across the term “Black Tax.” If you’ve not, well, this post is here to shed more light on the topic, its devastating consequences to workers financially and ways to mitigate if not completely remove it from your life.

Picture this; you are a young graduate who just got employed and have started to earn something to take of yourself, family and friends get to know this and boom it starts to happen without warning.

“Hello Kwame, your brother is in need of some money to go to school,” “Hello Dzifa, Uncle Ato is waiting for the money to clear his children’s school fees,” “Hello my son, I need money from you to join my colleague’s funeral and occasions union.” The list goes on and on.

Back at University or College you probably had your life mapped out so that things fall in place financially when you start working, plot twist, it is quite different in reality. Others especially family and friends seem to have ‘better plans’ for your own money.

There’s no single day or month that passes without your phone not ringing incessantly to fulfil one financial task or the other. You feel overwhelmed but seem to have no choice. What would they think about me if I don’t help? You keep asking yourself.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the painful world of “Black Tax.” These are financial obligations you are expected to meet due to the simple fact that you are working. It doesn’t matter how those people were living before you started work.

The simple fact that you’re a worker creates this massive expectation that you should always come through financially when the need arises. It doesn’t matter if it’s beyond your strength or not. Why does it even exist in the first place.

Origins

Look at it this way; Blacks are fundamentally family and social oriented unlike the Caucasians who favor the small family unit. A family among Blacks consist of parents, siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces, grandparents etc., the list goes on and on.

The typical Black home is usually a large one where everything is done together and resources are pooled to undertake any activity necessary. This was true in the days gone by. Times and modernity seem to slowly erode the large family unit into a smaller one.

Due to how things were done, it was always expected that those who were able to get employed return to take care of the others. This wasn’t bad in itself but it seemed to have created a certain uncontrollable monster we are just talking about; black tax.

Black Tax has created a certain entitlement mentality which has led to frustration among those who got fortunate to be employed. Workers started to realize that they were only useful as long as they were footing the bills for many things and people.

As a Black, you may be wondering; “Aren’t we supposed to help others?” Yes, the Holy Books admonish us to help other people in times of need when we can. The only issue is that it has made others feel entitled to your financial resources.

As an educated person who has seen first hand how having a large family can cripple your finances, you’ll be appalled to see others birthing many children all in the hopes that you will take care of them.

Someone somewhere will draw their budget based on your ability to provide, live a life even you as a worker will shudder to think of but will expect you to foot that lifestyle.

In the beginning, everything will look good and admirable to you, you’ll see yourself as doing a noble job required of you. Then, gradually it starts to feel heavy; you begin to get irritated at certain calls because you know what is coming.

Long term financial effects

As with many issues, there is bound to be long term effects. Black Tax has several devastating effects which can make one economically frustrated and worn out.

• Inability to budget effectively

How do you think you can effectively make and stick to budgets when you are always swamped with financial requests and obligations? Today someone needs money to engage in any activity which isn’t even necessary but you are supposed to foot that.

Tomorrow another person needs your help to pay his six children school fees even though you as a worker have just three. With all these constant requests, how do you draw and follow any meaningful budget?

That is the sticking point here. Any budget you draw becomes useless in the face of constant requests. It becomes virtually impossible to even know where your money goes to and how much. This leads us to the next effect.

• Investment becomes impossible

If you are not able to have an effective budget in which you follow religiously, how do you expect to put money down for use in investment vehicles? See how it becomes a cascading list of terrible effects?

Without any investment, how do you make sure your future or retirement is secure? You will work for decades but be unable to make any significant investments required to enjoy your retirement.

Any money that comes is automatically swallowed by the ever-opened jaws of Black Tax. It just doesn’t seem to be enough for you.

• Dream Chasing becomes impossible

How do you even chase your dreams when you barely meet your needs? You might have aspirations which are dear to you and would like to hit but guess what? That isn’t happening for you anytime soon.

You become stuck at one place unable to also enjoy what little fun life has to give you.

How to combat Black Tax effectively

As in every situation where solutions exist to curb or even clear, this post will thankfully share some few ways you can use to handle the question of Black Tax.

• Be Assertive

This is the most crucial way to handle this issue. You don’t have to create the impression that you can handle any financial request brought to you. Learn to say NO to some requests if not a lot of them.

Being assertive will make such persons wary of always coming to you with frivolous requests. Let such people know being a worker doesn’t mean you have infinite access to financial resources. This gradually forces them to begin looking at alternative ways of catering to their financial needs.

• Give out the ability to fish not fish for them

Instead of constantly sending money to attend to every need, why not enroll such persons to learn a skill or trade so that they can earn for themselves? This in the long term significantly takes away the financial pressure from you.

A word of caution with regards to this method; let it be perfectly clear that it’s a make-or-break issue for them else you won’t be taken seriously.

• Help in a piecemeal way

This might sound wicked but its not. Help sometimes but not always, this sends a signal that things won’t always go their way. Giving in to every financial request reinforces the belief that you can always come though.

Parting Thoughts

Black Tax is unfortunately here to stay. It requires tact and emotional skill to deal with. You can’t solve every financial issue; you’ll end up always broke and nothing to show for in all your years of working.

Do what you can do without creating a huge hole in your pockets and leave the rest. The sweet thing about humans is that we can always adapt. Drop a comment below to share your thoughts on this issue.