Saturday, May 4

Tag: racial

The Fed Doesn’t Have The Right Tools To Fix Huge Racial Income And Wealth Gaps
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POLITICS

The Fed Doesn’t Have The Right Tools To Fix Huge Racial Income And Wealth Gaps

BUSINESS Paul Wachtel, New York University Central bankers and economists from around the world are convening remotely for the annual Jackson Hole symposium on Aug. 27, 2021, to discuss the future of monetary policy. For the second year in a row, the annual conference will be virtual and the theme – Macroeconomic Policy in an Uneven Economy – seems appropriate given that the road out of the pandemic recession has been bumpy, with Black Americans lagging behind. Indeed, how central banks should address racial inequities in the distribution of wealth and income is a likely topic for discussion at the virtual retreat and could get a mention in Fed chair Jerome Powell’s highly anticipated speech. A ‘critical role to play’? It certainly is an issue that needs attention. Despite the vast cha...
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Not The Groups You Might Think But Racial Groups Suffer Disparate Consequences After Unfair Police Treatment
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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Not The Groups You Might Think But Racial Groups Suffer Disparate Consequences After Unfair Police Treatment

George Floyd’s high-profile death has become synonymous with unfair police treatment. His death has sparked discussions surrounding police reform and the long-term consequences for people who experience violent contact with police. But what does research say more generally about unfair treatment by police? One of the biggest questions that researchers like my colleague and I examine is whether different groups of individuals – young people, racial and ethnic minorities and those from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds – are more likely than their respective counterparts to report police treatment that they perceive to be unfair. We focus on perceptions of police interaction because research has long contended that “citizens’ perceptions of police stops may be considered just as important...
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Young Asian American Adults Are The Only Racial Group With Suicide As Their Leading Cause Of Death, So Why Is No One Talking About This?
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SOCIAL JUSTICE, VIDEO REELS

Young Asian American Adults Are The Only Racial Group With Suicide As Their Leading Cause Of Death, So Why Is No One Talking About This?

Racially motivated violence looks like the mass shootings that killed Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Chung Park, Hyun Grant and Suncha Kim in Atlanta on March 16, 2021. Racially motivated violence also looks like suicide, which is defined as a deliberate act of self-directed violence in order to cause injury to oneself that results in death. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. When broken down by race, suicide is the first leading cause of death among Asian American young adults age 15-24. This is true of no other racial group in this age range in America. Despite this disparity, very little attention is paid by society and by gatekeeping institutions like academe and private and public funding...
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Bringing More Attention To Solving Long-Ignored Racial Gaps In Health By Declaring Racism A Public Health Crisis
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POLITICS

Bringing More Attention To Solving Long-Ignored Racial Gaps In Health By Declaring Racism A Public Health Crisis

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has joined hundreds of cities and counties across the country in declaring racism a public health threat. On April 8, 2021, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky called racism an epidemic that affects “the entire health of our nation.” Declaring racism a public health threat will create a sharper strategic and operational focus on understanding and combating racism. Walensky said the CDC will invest more in communities of color and will work to create more diversity within the CDC. The agency will create a portal on the CDC site called “Racism and Health” to help provide resources and to educate people. As a professor and founding dean of the Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University, I agree drawing attention to the racial ga...
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Questions America Needs To Ask About Seeking Racial Justice In A Court Of Law – Derek Chauvin Trial
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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Questions America Needs To Ask About Seeking Racial Justice In A Court Of Law – Derek Chauvin Trial

There is a difference between enforcing the law and being the law. The world is now witnessing another in a long history of struggles for racial justice in which this distinction may be ignored. Derek Chauvin, a 45-year-old white former Minneapolis police officer, is on trial for third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man. There are three questions I find important to consider as the trial unfolds. These questions address the legal, moral and political legitimacy of any verdict in the trial. I offer them from my perspective as an Afro-Jewish philosopher and political thinker who studies oppression, justice and freedom. They also speak to the divergence between how a trial is conducted, what rules gove...
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The Racial Trust Gap – Black Students Have Far Less Trust In Their Colleges Than Other Students Do
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EDUCATION

The Racial Trust Gap – Black Students Have Far Less Trust In Their Colleges Than Other Students Do

Black undergraduates consistently said they trusted the people who run the colleges they attend – and society overall – substantially less than their white peers did. We have termed this difference the racial trust gap, and it was not a trivial difference. The trust gaps we observed were of a size rarely seen in education research. We also observed sizable trust gaps for Asian and Latino students, relative to white students. However, the magnitude of the differences were up to three times larger for Black students. Our study results tell us a lot not only about how college students trust, but also which individuals on campus they trust the least (“Not at all” or “Very little”). Campus leadership – that is, presidents, provosts, deans – are the least trusted personnel on college campuses ...
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How Lack Of Internet Access Has Limited Vaccine Availability For Racial And Ethnic Minorities
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SOCIAL JUSTICE, VIDEO REELS

How Lack Of Internet Access Has Limited Vaccine Availability For Racial And Ethnic Minorities

Racial and ethnic minority communities that lack internet access have been left behind in the race to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The average monthly cost of internet access, about US$70, can be out of reach for those who can barely afford groceries. Reporters and scholars have written about the effects of lack of internet access in rural areas in the U.S. and developing countries, but they have paid less attention to the harm of lack of internet access in racial and ethnic minority communities in major cities. We are researchers who study health disparities. We are concerned that even when vaccinations are offered in these communities, those at greatest risk for COVID-19 may be unable to obtain appointments without the help of family or friends. This includes racial and ethnic minority comm...
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Looking Beyond The Bare Numbers Of Racial Diversity In Social Accounting
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POLITICS, SOCIAL JUSTICE

Looking Beyond The Bare Numbers Of Racial Diversity In Social Accounting

From time to time, The Conversation asks leaders in America’s colleges and universities to address some of the most pressing issues in our nation. Here we ask Earl Lewis, director and founder of the University of Michigan’s Center for Social Solutions, and Nancy Cantor, chancellor of Rutgers University – Newark, a diverse, urban public research university, about how numbers and statistics matter when examining institutional racism, the Capitol riot and Black Lives Matter. How has media reporting on numbers and statistics affected the public’s view of race? Nancy Cantor. Rutgers University - Newark, CC BY-ND Nancy Cantor: Society’s accounting of the summer of 2020 through Inauguration Day 2021 demonstrates the hard way numbers play into a long-standing history of racism and white privilege....
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Many Still Persist, But Racial Stereotypes Drive Students Of Color Away From STEM
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EDUCATION

Many Still Persist, But Racial Stereotypes Drive Students Of Color Away From STEM

Dominique, a Black electrical engineering doctoral student, found herself in an awkward situation in the lounge of a hotel where she had been attending a conference on science. A white man at her table assumed a nearby Black woman was on the hotel cleaning staff, so he asked her to clean their table. The woman did as she was asked, but in the process she informed him that not only was she a scientist attending the same conference as he, but she was also the keynote speaker. Rather than apologize for his erroneous assumption, the man cracked a joke. “But she cleans so good,” the man told everyone at the table. “Can we say: ‘Dual career opportunity?’” – as if an accomplished scientist would need an “opportunity” to clean tables. All of the white folks at the table stared at Dominique (no...
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COVID-19 Racial Health Gap 4 Ways To Close It
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COVID-19

COVID-19 Racial Health Gap 4 Ways To Close It

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the reality that health in the U.S. has glaring racial inequities. Since March, people of color have been more likely to get sick and more likely to die from COVID-19 infection because they have been living and working in social conditions that worsen their physical health and mental health. These conditions are rooted in structural inequalities that are also responsible for the severity and progression of COVID-19. While the issues are complex, research has suggested some ways to repair the broken system. Now, at the dawn of a new administration, more effective strategies that look at the realities of these affected communities can be implemented. As research psychologists who study the social influences of health and mental health among marginalized gr...
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