There is no better example of this than the current focus on Social Security. It is perceived as either a race-neutral issue that has an impact only on the voting elderly, or an issue that does not bring up the ugly and uncomfortable subject of racial inequity and discrimination.

But Social Security is not just about the elderly, it is also about the young and more poignantly, about racial inequity in America.

Although Old Age Insurance (OAI) redistributes more wealth and costs more than any other government benefits program, it has traditionally received sacred-cow status because it is universal in nature: OAI and Medicare are the only “welfare” programs that benefit all recipients, regardless of income.

Both migrant farm workers and retired Fortune 500 CEOs receive OAI benefits. Virtually all workers now pay into, and are eligible for, Old-Age Insurance.

And although Social Security is available to everyone, the system continues to perpetuate racial, class and gender disparities, but in a somewhat disguised form.

Social Security taxes are regressive – that is, low-income payers are charged the same rate that wealthy people pay. A payroll tax of 12.7 percent is charged, regardless of whether a person makes the minimum wage and works for only one week per year or makes $76,200 annually. In addition, no Social Security taxes at all are paid on income above that level.

Once they retire, poorer individuals and couples get smaller monthly payouts than their affluent counterparts. The amount received is based on the total amount paid in by a recipient (and his or her spouse) over their work lifetimes: Therefore, the less you pay in, the less you receive. People of color have lower incomes than whites. They thus put fewer total dollars into the system and receive lower benefits when they retire.

Also, people of color receive these benefits for a significantly shorter period of time than whites because they retire older and die younger. For example, the life expectancy for African-American males is only 65 years – the age at which Social Security benefits typically become available -- compared to age 73, which is the current life expectancy for white men.

Many people of color die before ever receiving Social Security benefits, even though they’ve paid taxes into the system throughout their lives.

Notwithstanding these systemic inequities, Social Security represents the most reliable source of retirement income for most people of color. Because minorities typically have far fewer assets than whites and are much less likely to be covered by private pension programs, they tend to be more dependent on Social Security at retirement.

However, dramatic changes in our national demographics threaten the viability of the Social Security system. As baby boomers reach retirement, the U.S. population is rapidly aging. In 1960, there were there were five active workers paying into the system for each beneficiary. The ratio of workers to beneficiaries has since plummeted to 3.4 to 1. By 2030, there will be only 2.1 workers per Social Security beneficiary.

This trend means that a larger number of longer-living retirees will be supported by a shrinking number of younger workers. Unless substantial changes are made in the way Social Security is structured, the system is projected to go broke by 2037.

The aging baby boomers are disproportionately white, while younger and newer workers are increasingly people of color. This means that minority youth of today will be depended upon heavily as the workers of tomorrow. Unfortunately, due to inequities in education they receive from grade school through high school, they are inadequately prepared to enter the work force.

Yet during this century, this same poorly educated, underpaid population may be asked to shoulder an even higher rate of taxation to benefit elderly white baby boomers.

The solution to these potential intergenerational and racial tensions is not to cut benefits to the elderly. Corporations, which have enjoyed major tax cuts, and high-income employees who do not bear their share of the burden, must assume their fair share of taxes.

We must insist that existing budget surpluses be used to shore up Social Security and to finance infrastructure and educational improvements, especially in the inner cities.

And we must demand that Social Security benefits, upon which retirees of color are so dependent, continue to be guaranteed.

People of color and those who care about social justice cannot afford to allow race to be left out of political debates or subsequent moves to change our nation’s Social Security system.

john a. powell is the executive director of the Institute on Race & Poverty and holds the Marvin J. Sonosky Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.