The Notre Dame fire shines a light on racial wealth gaps. As long as the distribution of wealth and power remains skewed towards Caucasians in first-world countries, societies will remain Eurocentric, only viewing issues concerning whites significant. And with great affluence often comes great influence, which means the change that happens is the change the wealthiest want to see.

According to statista.com, 76% of U.S. millionaires are Caucasian. This enormous domination of wealth by white people is largely due to a discriminatory social structure, where 37% of whites with a Master’s degree are likely to become millionaires, while Latinos and African Americans with the same degree have less than a 10% chance. As such, a big reason for the difference in reactions to the Notre Dame fire and other devastating occurrences is because most of the people with the wealth to donate outrageous amounts are white.

Notre Dame is an 850-year-old symbol of Paris and France, and is by all means deserving of millions for its rebuilding, but the issue at hand is how many donations were offered in such a short time span. The rich are investing in reconstructing a building when our planet needs the same, but they haven’t uttered a word about the declination of our Earth’s health. The Flint water crisis has been on the rise since 2014. People don’t have the basic human right to clean water, but the wealthy seem to turn a blind eye.

The wealthy were able to raise more than enough money in just two days. If they can channel that same energy into donating for organizations that fund more significant issues, they can alleviate problems that are directly impacting individuals’ rights to live. Not enough is being done to eliminate issues all over the world, issues that are significant to people of all demographics. The priorities of the wealthy are set in the wrong direction and it’s time to refocus.

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