Using Data for Racial Equity in West Virginia AMERICA HEALING CONFERENCE 2013W.K. Kellogg Foundation – April 24, 2013 – Morning SessionTed Boettner, Executive Directortboettner@wvpolicy.org

The Stories We Tell

3 important techniquesMetaphors (e.g. metastasizing)

Numbers (e.g. 1/9): People can take the same facts and devise different conclusions. This is where values come into play.

Synecdoche (e.g. Ryan White, Willie Horton): manipulation of individuals or symbols for political ends or the same portion represents the whole.

Politics, unlike other arenas, opinion often counts as fact.

How do we package the numbers? Source: McDonough, Experiencing Politics

Constructing the Narrative

“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography,”

“If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated,”

Carter G. Woodson

In this case, it is impossible to discuss the difference in social outcomes between African American and white West Virginians without also discussing the emotionally charged issues of race and racism.

More Examples of Using Data

Sample Data Sources

U.S. Census Bureau (American Fact Finder): http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t

State Health Facts (Minority Health): http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparecat.jsp?cat=9&rgn=6&rgn=1

Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE): http://www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/

State level (e.g. WV Division of Correction): http://www.wvdoc.com/wvdoc/Portals/0/documents/2012-Annual-Report.pdf