john a. powell

Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and EthnicityWilliams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, Moritz College of Law

Four Freedoms FundApril 6, 2010

Dallas, TX

◦ Race in the Obama Era

◦ Structural Racialization

◦ Talking about Race

◦ Mind Science

◦ Universalism vs. Targeted Universalism

◦ Understanding the Role of Government

2

The younger generation should draw upon the Civil Rights movement because it clearly shows the change that is possible through social struggle

Shifting toward social/human justice movements◦ Each generation must define and shape these

Building movements around pressing issues, such as social and ecological sustainability

3

Why does race continue to play such a critical role in determining societal outcomes?

Haven’t we entered a post-racial moment with the election of Barack Obama?

While significant, Obama’s victory does not erase the persistent inequalities that hinder the life chances for marginalized groups

4

Black and Latino children are much more likely than white children to attend high-poverty schools

A white man with a criminal record is three times more likely than a black man with a record to receive consideration for a job

Minority home-seekers with good credit scores steered to high-cost, sub-prime mortgages thus devastating their communities in light of the foreclosure crisis

By prematurely proclaiming a post-racial status, we ignore the distance we have yet to travel to make this

country truly a land of equal opportunity for all, regardless of racial identity.

5

We have fluidity in terms of racial identities Situatedness racial space and identity. For example, where you live, go to school, how

much wealth, family education, your diction influence your experience of race. The British did not become “white” until

Africans became “black.”

• In order to notice race, society has to create this category/idea of race. After it is created, individuals can negotiate it using the social tools created by society. Race is about social space and meaning

6

Improvement of conscious racial attitudes does not entail improvement of racial conditions. Much of the work of race is done by unconsciously and by structural dynamics.

The democratic process is an important part of this dynamic structure.

Source: www.cartoonstock.com 7

Membership, the most important good that we distribute to one another in human community (Michael Walzer)◦ Prior in importance even to

freedom◦ Citizenship, a precondition to

freedom◦ Membership, a precondition to

citizenship

Distribution of membership It cost to not belong

8

The cost of membership in a democratic society ◦ Current estimate for family of four: $48,778*

Over three times as many families fall below family budget thresholds as fall below the official poverty line

How far do you fall (children in extreme poverty, skyrocketing bankruptcy rates, family homelessness)?

Are all neighborhoods are neighborhoods of sustainable opportunity?

Source: James Lin and Jared Bernstein, What we need to get by. October 29, 2008 | EPI Briefing Paper #224 9

How can we be sensitive to inter- and intra-group differences? Think situatedness

How do the ladders or pathways of opportunities differ for different people?

Every institution has built in assumptions, i.e. “stairways” are a pathway – but not for people in wheelchairs, baby strollers.

10

11

Not only are people situated differently with regard to institutions, people are situated differently with regard to infrastructure

People are impacted by the relationships between institutions and systems…

…but people also impact these relationships and can change the structure of the system.

People are “differentially situated”

12

…Some people ride the “Up” escalator to reach

opportunity

…Others have to run up the “Down” escalator to

get there

Neighborhood Segregation

School Segregation

Racial stigma, other psychological impacts

Job segregation

Impacts on community power and individual assets

Impacts on Educational Achievement

Exposure to crime; arrest

Transportation limitations and other inequitable public services

Source: Barbara Reskin (http://faculty.washington.edu/reskin/)

Segregation impacts a number of life-opportunitiesImpacts on Health

13

Zoning laws prevent affordable housing development in many suburbs

Municipalities subsidize the relocation of businesses out of the city

Transportation spending favors highways, metropolitan expansion and urban sprawl

Court decisions prevent metropolitan school desegregation

School funding is tied to property taxes

14

How race works today◦ There are still practices, cultural norms and

institutional arrangements that help create and maintain (disparate) racialized outcomes

Structural racialization addresses inter-institutional arrangements and interactions ◦ It refers to the ways in which the joint operation of

institutions produce racialized outcomes In this analysis, outcomes matter more than intent

15

Why “structural racialization” as opposed to “structural racism?”

When you use the term “racism,” people are inclined to see a specific person—a racist. However, a racist is not necessary to produce structural outcomes. Instead, institutional interactions generate racialized outcomes

16

Ongoing Racial Inequalities

Outcomes: Racial DisparitiesRacial inequalities in current levels

of well-beingCapacity for individual and community

improvement is undermined

Current Manifestations: Social and Institutional DynamicsProcesses that maintain racial

hierarchiesRacialized public policies and

institutional practices

Context: The Dominant Consensus on Race

White privilege National values Contemporary culture

17Source: Aspen Roundtable on Community Change. “Structural Racism and Community Building.”

The government plays a central role in the arrangement of space and opportunities

These arrangements are not “neutral” or “natural” or “colorblind”

Social and racial inequities are geographically inscribed

There is a polarization between the rich and the poor that is directly related to the areas in which they live

18

How we arrange structures matters◦ The order of the structures◦ The timing of the interaction between them◦ The relationships that exist between them

◦ We must be aware of how structures are arranged in order to fully understand social phenomena

19

Racialized policies and structures:◦ Promoted sprawl◦ Concentrated subsidized housing◦ Led to disparities between schools Opportunity gap

Discipline rates

Funding disparities

Economic segregation

Graduation rates

Racial segregation

20

Jobs are distributed through structures◦ Most teachers are women◦ Most construction workers are men

◦ When unemployment rates change, we need to be conscious of how people are situated,segmented, segregated into economic sectors

◦ There are racial and gendered outcomes to these structural arrangements

21

Moving from a transactional to a transformational paradigm requires structural change:◦ Institutions should allow for participation and dissent

of individuals in a democratic society.◦ For those in poverty, this participation is denied as they

lack access to power, influence, and choice; thus, poverty is maintained.

Structures act as filters, creating cumulative barriers to opportunity.◦ Reorganization of institutions to encourage the

“emergence of differences” is one example of transformative thinking.

22

23

Using “minority” to refer to people of color is outdated and tends to carry a subordinate connotation.

Whites are projected to no longer be a statistical majority by 2042.

○Context: Numeric or Sociological?

○We already have “minority-majority” cities, states

24

Speak on structures and systems rather than explicit individual action/reaction

Speak on the subconscious—the implicit bias that is stored within the mind

Speak on relationships—build collaborations and engage in real discussion

25

26

Talk about race can reinforce our conscious beliefs or challenge

our implicit biases

27

28

Only 2% of emotional cognition is available to us consciously

Racial bias tends to reside in the unconscious network

Messages can be framed to speak to our unconscious

29

How messages are

framed affects how

they are perceived.

Structures&

Policies

Implicit

Explicit

30

Racial attitudes operate in our “unconscious” (also called “subconscious”) mind

Usually invisible to us but significantly influences our positions on critical issues

◦ Negative unconscious attitudes about race are called “implicit bias” or “symbolic racism.”

31

Focus groups with swing voters: What pops into your head when you hear the word immigrants?1. Better life2. Hardworking3. American dream4. Don’t speak English5. Don’t pay taxes6. Get government benefits without paying for them7. Opportunity8. Law-breakers9. Nation of immigrants

32Source: Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research.

This indicates ambivalence in the minds of voters

Not different people thinking one thing, rather the same person has all of this

Drew Westen: “there is nothing about our brains that makes our unconscious networks of association consistent, it is only consciously that we try to get consistency in our attitudes”

33

34

35

An interlocking set of laws, government policies, and court decisions have ‘set the stage’ for the disparities we see today

The Role of Government

Sources: US Bureau of the Census (2002) Compendium of Public Employment: 2002 and US Bureau of the Census (2003) Statistical Abstract of the United States, Employment Status of the Civilian Population: 1929-2002.

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT IN THE U.S., BY LEVEL (MILLIONS) – HISTORICAL

2.1172.881 3.105 2.899

1.057

2.775

4.503 4.8773.228

7.392

10.76

13.089

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

1950 1970 1990 2000

Federal civilian

State

Local

FHA policies upholding segregation

◦ Redlining, discouraging mixed race neighborhoods

Blockbusting, racially restrictive covenants and other forms of discrimination in the housing industry

Urban renewal, highway construction and public housing policy

Suburban sprawl and white flight

38

“If a neighborhood is to retain stability, it is necessary that properties shall continue to be occupied by the same social and racial classes. A change in social or racial occupancy generally contributes to instability and a decline in values.”

–Excerpt from the 1947 FHA underwriting manual

39

The nation-state in an era of globalization

Shifting global power dynamics between U.S., China, India, Brazil, other rising powers

Influence of corporations in politics

Citizens United decision: Corporations, special interest groups may spend unlimited funds during elections

Corporate personhood, corporatist society

40

Drummond Pike Rest of the world more comfortable with idea of

active government◦ Social democratic systems taken for granted – state

plays important role in ensuring welfare of all citizens

On the other hand, there is deep skepticism in the US about the role of the government

“Government was the answer to the Depression andto the rise of fascism across the globe.”

41Source: Drummond Pike. “How do you say socialism in French?” http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2009/04/13/how-do-you-say-%E2%80%9Csocialism%E2%80%9D-in-french/

Saskia Sassen: Globalization has brought “transformations inside

the state, which are foundational and…more consequential than routinely understood”

Redistribution of power within the state

“A massive and growing democratic deficit is affecting many states across the world. It is part of a systemic trend that it is essential to address.”

42Source: Saskia Sassen. Globalisation, the state and democratic deficit. Open Democracy. http://www.opendemocracy.net/node/34067/pdf

43

Antagonism toward President Obama, anti-government attitudes, emergence of Tea Party

At the same time, 70% of Tea Partiers who were polled want a federal government that fosters job creation and reins in Wall Street/executive bonuses (Bloomberg survey)

The conceptualization of poverty:

◦ Role of the state (i.e. Rawls’ distinction between welfare capitalist society and a property-owning democracy)

◦ A nation’s history, geography and demography

◦ Working definitions of poverty (insufficient income vs. capacity to live life one has reason to value)

◦ Culture, stories, framing (Horatio Alger vs. “It takes a village”)

Minimal state with strong police and military, promotes deregulation, privatization, and a drastic reduction in spending on public services

Neoliberalism encourages individualism, self advancement and the notion that the market is a natural law.

◦ “Neoliberalism amounts to a form of market fundamentalism. The market is seen to be a morally and practically superior to government and any form of political control.” (Heywood 52).

45

However, explicit role for the state is granted: “the state must therefore use its monopoly of the means of violence to preserve these freedoms at all costs,” (Harvey 64).

Example: Augusto Pinochet, the former military dictator of Chile◦ Came to power in a bloody coup and implemented

neoliberal economic policies hand-in-hand with state repression against opposition.

46Source: David Harvey. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press, 2005.

47

While the U.S. devotes 11 percent of its GDP to transfers and other social benefits, the EU countries contribute more than 26 percent of their GDP to social benefits

◦ There are more poor people living in poverty in America than in the sixteen European nations for which data is available

EU countries also have higher minimum wage, better unemployment benefits, and generous family leave packages

Source: Jeremy Rifkin, The European Dream: How Europe’s Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream.

48

The variation in European and US social policy reflects two distinct ways of conceptualizing the purpose of the state◦ The Hobbesian (US) perspective that the purpose of the state is to

serve and protect property (or capitalism) Therefore social programs should only be sufficient enough to meet basic

needs in order to avoid social upheaval or revolt

◦ The countervailing (more European) perspective is that the purpose of the state is to promote a democratic society In order to meet this need the state must invest significantly in its

population so they can meet their human potential and best serve as members of a democratic society

49Source: Alesina and Glaeser, Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe

50

Constitutional differences◦ European constitutions were written more recently,

reflecting the influence of a stronger “left”

US Racial fractionalization◦ White resistance to redistributive policies that

disproportionately benefit people of color

The existence of strong labor or populist parties ◦ Influenced by both geography and racial conflict

Source: Alesina and Glaeser, Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe

51

Why this difference?◦ By more than six to one, Americans believe that people who

do not succeed in life fail because of their own shortcomings, not because of society

◦ The poor in the U.S. have been disproportionately people of color, and it is easier to dismiss people in persistent poverty as different (lacking) due to their “biology” or their “culture”

Source: Jeremy Rifkin, The European Dream: How Europe’s Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream.

If we fail to pay attention to the resources that communities possess, we are likely to repeat the mistakes of the New Deal.

◦ For example, Social Security benefits were initially denied to household and farm laborers – effectively excluding 65% of the Black population

How do we avoid the New Deal mistakes?◦ We must be intentional. ◦ Policies should be targeted and programs should be

structured so that they reach certain populations and communities.

The impulse to promote universal policies is seemingly sensible for democratically elected leaders.◦ Targeted policies may appear to favor some groups◦ Targeted policies often are perceived as zero-sum.◦ Advocating for targeted policies can be construed as

catering to “special interests” or advocating for “preferences.”

To avoid these perceived pitfalls, elected leaders often favor universal policies that appear to benefit everyone.

53

54

The G.I. Bill In the 7 years following WWII, approximately 8 million veterans received educational benefits Approximately 2.3 million attended colleges and

universities, 3.5 million received school training, and 3.4 million received on-the-job training

55

Despite the bill’s achievements, many barriers were placed in the path of Black soldiers

Implementation was left to states and localities, including those that practiced Jim Crow racism.

The access of Black people to primarily White colleges and institutions was limited

95% of Black veterans used their education vouchers at historically Black colleges (HBCUs) in the South

These historically Black institutions were limited in number and had limited space to admit the influx of Black veterans

The education gap widened instead of closed

The vocational training black veterans received was not held to any standards, thus often proving inadequate

“…despite the assistance that black soldiers received, there was no greater instrument for widening an already huge racial gap in postwar America than the GI Bill.”

Source: Katznelson, Ira. “When Affirmative Action Was White.” 2005. W.W. Norton. 57

If people in red receive job training through the universal program, Group B would seem to benefit more than Group A (more people in red)

Key:Red = job training Boxes = isolated neighborhood (not addressed by universal program)

UNIVERSAL PROGRAM

Group BGroup A

58

Although the universal program affected everyone in red, Group B is still constrained by living in isolated neighborhoods (the boxes).

Key:Red = job training Boxes = isolated neighborhood

UNIVERSAL PROGRAM

Group A Group B

59

Targeted policies alone are not desirable because they appear to show favoritism toward a certain group, thus stigmatizing them.

Universal policies alone are not truly universal.◦ They fail to account for the fact that people are situated

differently in the economic and social landscape◦ “Universal” policies are often based on a non-universal

standard

Ex: Social Security: able-bodied white males working outside the home full-time for pay

Thus… Targeted Universalism 60

Target universalism is a common framework through which to pursue justice◦ A model which recognizes

situatedness & our linked fate◦ A model where we all grow

together◦ A model where we embrace

collective solutions

61

What do racially sensitive policies look like?

◦ Targeted: They recognize the nature of our interconnected structures / larger inequitable, institutional framework.

◦ Pay attention to situatedness: They account for the fact that people are situated differently in the economic and social landscape of society.

◦ Driven by outcomes: It may seem great if unemployment is cut in half, but if all the jobs go to white males, serious problems remain.

◦ Include people of color in the process: Their input is vital.

62

Targeted universalism recognizes that problems faced by particular segments of American society are not isolated circumstances, but problems that could spill over into the lives of everyone.

63

Recognize the interconnectedness of our being and our fate

Focus on targeting within universalism Be the natural extension of an overarching, shared

vision and framework Reconceptualize society to promote the political, economic,spiritual, and psychological health of all

64

A Final Lesson

65

We must consider how we each stand differently with respect to our opportunities for work, education, parenting, retirement…

We must understand the work our institutions and organizations do, not what we wished they would do, in order to make them more equitable and fair

66

www.KirwanInstitute.org

KirwanInstituteon:

www.Transforming-Race.org

www.race-talk.org

67

Appendix

68

There have been multiracial coalitions in virtually every serious movement in the United States.

The most successful and progressive of these efforts have tended to be those that addressed race explicitly. Multiracial coalitions were critical in the abolition movement.

There were also important multiracial coalitions that helped to shape Reconstruction, the New Deal, and the Civil Rights Movement.

SEE: Michael Goldfield, The Color of Politics (1997) and Eric Foner, The Story of American Freedom (1998).

Recognizing common cause◦ Subprime/foreclosure crisis, racial profiling, police

harassment, hate crimes, economic justice (jobs, wages, training, safety), education reform (funding, resource equity)

Growing recognition that fates are linked

Many people urging a broad structural rather than a narrow cultural analysis of group challenges

Growing recognition that both groups command meaningful political, economic and social resources

New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice

“The Alliance is an association of guestworkersfrom different companies that have joined together in a fight for dignity. Workers support one another in the struggle for fair treatment on the job and for justice on an international level not only for H2B workers but for all workers.”

Source: http://www.nowcrj.org/about-2/alliance-of-guest-workers-for-dignity/

The Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network is a network that serves the working poor, mostly women and youth. It was formed in 1989 in Durham, North Carolina, at a time of plant closings and escalating racist violence in the U.S. South.

REJN is a regional organization that focuses on the South. The organization perceives the U.S. South as part of the global South. In 1992, it extended invitations to Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and South America.

Membership driven organization. It has 60 member organizations across the South, and eight member nations in the Americas.

Source: “African American-Immigrant Alliance Building: Five Case studies”By Andrew Grant-Thomas, Yusuf Sarfati, Cheryl Staats. (May 2009)

Created post-9/11 with the workers who lost their jobs at Windows on the World when the towers collapsed

Scope of organization: City-wide, and expanding to other cities across the nation

2,000 members:◦ 35-40% Latino (mostly Mexican and Guatemalan)◦ 25% Black (black Americans, Caribbean/African

immigs)◦ 5-10% white ◦ 10% Arab, and the remainder are Asians

A Workers’ Center that advocates an organic strategy