Key point: We need a dashboard to track our progress with racial equity in the United States. A specific proposal is made below. Is there a volunteer to create it?
Weeks after the tragic death of George Floyd sparked national and worldwide appeals for widespread address of racial injustices, news reports have predictably moved on to other lead interests such as COVID-19, the global economic outlook, the US Presidential election, etc. Corporate and government leaders have a daunting challenge balancing public health, revenue growth, social justice, economic challenges, long-term national competitiveness, and fiscal policy. From a personal (selfish?) perspective I am eager to preserve business growth prospects, but am resolved not to allow a little bit of time and fewer news headlines to distract from the need to keep pressing for a breakthrough in racial equity here in the USA.
There was no shortage of leadership declarations, news articles, employee posts to social media, funding commitments, and proposed policy changes in recent weeks. USA Today posted a summary of disparities African Americans continue to face, while Harvard Business School's African American Student Union wrote an open letter to corporate leaders with a pointed call to action. McDonald's Amazon, H&M, 3M (my employer), and many other organizations pledged millions in the fight for racial justice. The list could go on. Against the backdrop of an international outcry that racism specifically directed against African Americans has to change, these were welcome arrivals to help fight a scourge that has plagued too long. Yet, is it enough? Will the well-intended support for social justice achieve its end? How will we know?
I offer here the concept of a social justice dashboard with just a few metrics to comprehensively capture the status of racial (in)equity in the United States. The idea is all initiatives beneficial from a social justice perspective will show, whether directly or indirectly, in these metrics. In a sense this becomes a picture of social justice, an enduring guide for strategic planning, a progress tracking tool, a prioritization guide, and even a reflection of American integrity.
The dashboard should live in an open-access forum, preferably with a moderated Wiki and chat board to allow active community engagement. Metrics should be aggregated to the national level, but available by state or even at county/city metro levels to allow localized focus reminiscent of craigslist.com. In my thinking there are six leading metrics - spoiler alert, there will be controversy over some of them:
Life expectancy (link 1, link 2) - African Americans have among the lowest life expectancy out of any ethnic group. Access to health care, social health determinants, gun violence, poor maternal birth mortality, homelessness, stress, higher rates of chronic illnesses, and a host of other contributors quantitatively drive shorter life spans for black Americans & particularly black men. What an opportunity for the country to heal the condition of black men to contribute more to society, and live longer lives in the process.
Arrest / imprisonment frequency (link 1)/(link 2) - Arrest frequency would be preferred to use, but it is disappointing to see that in government-reported data White and Hispanic/Latino cases are combined, obscuring the disproportionate rate at which Black & Latino/Hispanic people intersect with active law enforcement. The reason this metric shows in a social justice dashboard needs no explanation.
Wealth gap (link) and better (link) which includes various ethnicities - No surprise, black Americans are far less wealthy as a group than other races. Exploring the causes for disparity, we will be confronted both with systemic bias as well as poor decisions by African Americans leading to financial stress. With less wealth come wide-ranging impacts on quality of life, creativity, education, and longevity in a capitalist society.
Average family structure - Almost 70% of black children are born to unmarried parents - easily the highest of any racial group. As my parents divorced while I was growing up, I have a sense for both single- and dual-parent environments. Every person and family situation is unique, and there is no attempt to attach any value judgement or moral edict to the very private decisions men and women make around the conception of a child. However, it is very clear that having a higher average rate of children being raised in single-parent homes (often by mothers, already facing financial stresses) correlates with many of the other disparities listed here. Intuitively, given the antecedent relation of birth circumstances to life experiences, one may credibly expect race-based differences in average family structure to share a causal relationship with average racial inequities. Queue fireworks, this is a controversial statement I know - but we have to have the whole conversation about racial inequity if we are going to make real progress. There is a discussion African Americans need to have about how babies - and their parents - are loved that is as central to racial equity as racial bias. I submit without this conversation and progress in parallel, investments in racial equity will woefully underperform, and US economic growth will lag under the weight of a poorly performing population that can no longer be 'safely' marginalized. Like all children, African American children need strong families to thrive.
The opportunity gap - Formerly referred to as the achievement gap, the well-known disparity in academic performance between children of different ethnicities correlates well with average family structure, wealth disparities, and imprisonment rates. (link, link)
US Senate representation - As arguably the most pointed quantitative example of systemic US racism, the most powerful seats of Congress have had just 10 African Americans out of over 1800 Senators overall, with just three out of 100 today (link/link). The inability of African Americans to win statewide Senate races has many causes, but necessarily results in poor long-term representation in governance. When we have 'arrived' at an equitable society, government officials will reflect the demographics of the US population. Consider the challenge at hand before America, to elect 13 African Americans to Senate at one time.
These six metrics seem to capture the impact of racial inequity in politics, healthcare, law enforcement, employment, and government. They do not absolve African Americans from the responsibility of making wise choices which, despite a racial social landscape - are not forced and yet have a tremendous influence on vitality. The ask: Is there anyone who would volunteer to create or refer to a web-enabled dashboard such as above, using data from public sources? Please let me know! Hopefully this article ages well. What do you think? It is just a start for what I would hope can be a vibrant conversation - in honor and respect for others - about how we progress.
[Footnote: For any ethnicity purists, I appreciate that 'race' itself is a social construct with significant drawbacks. Choosing my battles for now.]
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