Weekly Newsletter, October 4, 2018
A C C E S S I B L E A L L Y S H I P
Definition of the Week
Systemic Racism
Systemic Racism, also called Institutional Racism, is a form of racism that is integrated into social and political institutions. It encourages the unconscious adoption of racism into society. Systemic Racism shows up in disparities between white people and POC in wealth, income, criminal justice, employment, education, housing, health care, and politics. This week, we will begin to illustrate this reality through numbers.
Wealth and Income
According to one study, white families hold 90% of the national wealth, Latino families hold 2.3%, and black families hold 2.6%.
For every $100 white families earn in income, black families earn just $57.30. (source)
A white woman makes 77 cents to every white man's dollar, whereas black women make 64 cents to the dollar and hispanic women make 56 cents to the dollar.
Out of the ten richest Americans, 100% are white (seven of them are the richest in the world). (source)
Employment
The black unemployment rate has been consistently twice that of whites.
According to the data, blacks with college degrees are twice as likely to be unemployed as all other graduates.
This study found, job applicants with white-sounding names get called back about 50% more of the time than applicants with black-sounding names, even when they have identical resumes.
Education
While black children constitute 18% of preschoolers nationwide, they make up nearly 50% of suspensions.
When all age groups are examined, black students are three times more likely to be suspended than white students, even when their infractions are similar.
Criminal Justice
When black people are convicted, they are about 20% more likely to be sentenced to jail time, and typically see sentences 20% longer than those for whites who were convicted of similar crimes.
Although blacks make up 13% of the population, they represent about 40% of the prison population. If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend watching 13th on Netflix.
In most states a felony conviction means you lose your right to vote. Right now in America, more than 7.4% of the adult black population is disenfranchised (compared to 1.8% of the non-black population).
Housing
Redlining started in the 1930's in our government's effort to improve the housing market. Loans were given to white people outside these redlined areas so they could become homeowners - one of the most effective ways to build wealth. Meanwhile people of color were refused loans or given the option of an unrealistically expensive loan. This created a deeper divide in the racial wealth gap, and some say redlining (though banned over 50 years ago) still hasn't left us.
Additionally, a recent study demonstrated that people of color are told about and shown fewer homes and apartments than whites. Black ownership is now at an all-time low (42%, compared to 72% for whites).
Surveillance and Policing
Statistics show that black drivers are about 30% more likely than whites to be pulled over by the police. They are also about three times as likely as white drivers to be searched after they were stopped.
As this article sates, "In 2013, nearly nine out of ten of those stopped were Black or Latinx – and about 90% were innocent.
Innocence makes no difference in these tactics of policing, as Miami resident Earl Sampson can confirm. Sampson was stopped by police a whopping 258 times over the course of four years, most frequently being accused of or arrested for trespassing at the store where he works."
More than half of all young black Americans know someone, including themselves, who has been harassed by the police.
Black people accounted for 31 percent of police killing victims in 2015, even though they made up just 13 percent of the US population. They are also statistically more often unarmed than their white counterparts.
Healthcare
Latinos and African-Americans experience 30 to 40 percent poorer health outcomes than white Americans. This disparity leads not only to shortened lives and increased illness. (source)
In low-income neighborhoods, patients with diabetes are 10 times more likely to undergo limb amputation than those in affluent areas.
Politics
As Robin DiAngelo outlines in her book White Fragility, the people who controlled our institutions in 2016-2017 were as follows:
U.S. Congress: 90% white
U.S. Governors: 96% white
President and Vice President: 100% white
U.S. House Freedom Caucus: 99% white
U.S. Presidential Cabinet: 91% white
Additionally, women of color were denied full access to vote until The Voting Rights Act of 1964. When you hear women refer to the 19th Amendment of 1920, that only wholly benefitted white women. Many WOC were still denied the right to vote. This means when Obama was elected President in 2008, women of color had only been voting for 44 years. That's 11 elections.
As I'm sure you noticed while reading, each of these statistics and figures produce a domino effect and/or are closely intertwined. Which is precisely what Systemic Racism is - these racially unjust systems feed into one another and uphold each other.
Challenge of the Week
Pick one or more of the following challenges.
1. Forward this newsletter to a friend or family member and ask them if they would like to join you in your work to become an effective ally to people of color. Going forward, use this person as someone to share your weekly reflections with. Not only will it help you become more comfortable in your ability to talk about race as well as keep you both accountable.
2. Share this week's media pick, a powerful TEDTalk by Mellody Hobson, Color Blind or Color Brave with a teacher or parent you know.
3. Watch Netflix Documentary 13th with a friend or family member.
4. Share one of the above statistics and/or their accompanying article on one of your social media channels to raise awareness about the harsh and present-day realities Systemic Racism.
Weekly Media:
Take 15 minutes to watch this powerful TEDTalk Color Blind or Color Braveby Mellody Hobson about the importance of having conversations about race.
Weekly Quote:
“I tell my students all the time, when you learn something, you have to teach someone else what you learn — you have to always pay it forward because that’s what’s going to propel this world to evolve.” - Famatta Massalay
Weekly Reflection:
Last week we considered our own White Privilege. What was the most impactful realization for you? How often do you consider your own race? Have you considered your race more frequently since?