Income Disparity may be More than it Seems

After reading an article about the inequality in income between racial groups in Minnesota, I reflected on my own experiences growing up here. I never considered Minnesota to be a racist place and that was the implication of this article. Unfortunately I think this is a surface view of the problem. What I would like to know having been in Minnesota my entire life, is how many of these people have been here long term vs how many moved here from somewhere else to get a better life. Could it be more of an issue of people moving to Minnesota because there is a robust welfare system here? As my wife is from an immigrant family, we are aware of the traps involved in welfare. Once a person starts making money, they are cut off and that fear can keep people from achieving. So can this be dismissed as racism? Or is it a deeper problem within the welfare system? More than likely it is multiple factors. The more people are allowed to help themselves, the more success we will see in equality.